John W. Ryan Award Winner Announced

The Community Banking Research Conference research committee is pleased to announce the selection of “The Economic Payoff of Civic Engagement: Evidence from Community Banks” as the paper chosen for the "John W. Ryan Award for Most Significant Contribution to Community Banking Research" as part of the 2026 Community Banking Research Conference.

The authors of the winning paper are: 

• Khaled Obaid, Mississippi State University
• Alvaro Taboada, Mississippi State University

Here are the key findings from the paper: 

The authors assess the prevalence and impact of community banks’ civic engagement and examine its consequences for bank stability, lending, and local economic outcomes. They find that engaged banks subsequently exhibit lower deposit withdrawals, superior asset quality and greater small business lending. These advantages intensify when trust or information frictions are high, such as during banking crises and natural disasters. Their results suggest that civic engagement provides an advantage banks actively produce rather than passively inherit, rooted in social embeddedness, not brand awareness.