WORKING PAPER SERIES

Kansas’ Experiment with Private Deposit Insurance

Lee K. Davison

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Carlos D. Ramirez

George Mason University

April 2021

FDIC CFR WP 2021-05

fdic.gov/cfr

The Center for Financial Research (CFR) Working Paper Series allows CFR staff and their coauthors to circulate 

preliminary research findings to stimulate discussion and critical comment. Views and opinions expressed in CFR Working 

Papers reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the FDIC or the United States. Comments and 

suggestions are welcome and should be directed to the authors. References should cite this research as a “FDIC CFR 

Working Paper” and should note that findings and conclusions in working papers may be preliminary and subject to 

revision.
Kansas’ Experiment with Private Deposit Insurance 

Lee K. Davison 

Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation

Carlos D. Ramirez 

Department of Economics 

George Mason University

Revised: March 2021 

Abstract 

Between 1909 and 1922 a private deposit insurance company coexisted with the state-sponsored 

deposit insurance program in Kansas. This paper documents its development using primary 

sources. In addition, it examines if affiliation with the private deposit insurance (i) had an effect 

on risk-taking and the probability of failure; (ii) increased confidence among depositors, and (iii) 

was influenced by a neighboring bank’s membership in the state’s deposit insurance. We find that 

affiliation with the private deposit insurance did not affect a bank’s likelihood of failure, although 

smaller national bank members did increase risk-taking. The evidence does not support the 

hypothesis that the company enhanced depositor confidence. Lastly, we do find strong evidence 

that a bank’s decision to join the private deposit insurance was influenced by neighboring banks’ 

affiliation with the Kansas deposit insurance program. 

JEL Classification: G21, G22, N21, N22 

Keywords: private deposit insurance; Kansas state deposit insurance; moral hazard 

The Center for Financial Research (CFR) Working Paper Series allows CFR staff and their 

coauthors to circulate preliminary research findings to stimulate discussion and critical comment. 

Views and opinions expressed in CFR Working Papers reflect those of the authors and do not 

necessarily reflect those of the FDIC or the United States. Comments and suggestions are welcome 

and should be directed to the authors. References should cite this research as a “FDIC CFR 

Working Paper” and should note that findings and conclusions in working papers may be 

preliminary and subject to revision. We thank Haelim Anderson, Jennifer Rhee, Smith Williams 

and CFR seminar participants for their helpful comments, and Jelissa Cruz for superb research 

assistance. Ramirez thanks the FDIC’s CFR for financial and logistical support. All errors and 

omissions are the authors’ responsibility. Authors can be contacted at ldavison@fdic.gov and 

cramire2@gmu.edu. 
2 

I. Introduction 

With the objective of arresting banking panics and restoring depositor confidence in the 

banking system, eight states in the U.S. adopted some form of deposit insurance between 1907 and 

the early 1920s (White, 1983). Numerous papers have pointed out that these deposit insurance 

schemes incentivized banks to amplify risk (moral hazard), contributing to the high rate of failure 

of primarily small banks in agricultural states during the early 1920s, and ultimately, to the demise 

of these state-sponsored programs. (Calomiris, 1992); Hooks and Robinson, 2002; Wheelock, 

1992; Wheelock and Kumbhakar, 1994, 1995; White, 1983). Some of these studies have focused 

on the Kansas deposit insurance program because its voluntary feature permits an examination of 

the causes and consequences of deposit insurance affiliation at the bank level. The literature has 

generally found that both adverse selection and moral hazard were present in the Kansas voluntary 

deposit insurance scheme. 

It turns out, however, that between 1909 and 1922 a private deposit insurance company, 

the Bankers Deposit Guaranty and Surety Company (BDGSC), coexisted with the Kansas deposit 

insurance program (KDI). This private insurance catered primarily to national banks, which were 

disallowed from participating in the Kansas deposit insurance program. As we document in more 

detail further below, this company was popular among national banks, with a participation rate 

peaking at around 50 percent. Surprisingly, there is no modern literature that mentions, let alone 

analyzes, Kansas’ experiment with private deposit insurance. The purpose of this paper is to fill 

that gap in the literature. 

Specifically, we focus on three questions: (1) Given that numerous studies find that the 

KDI led to moral hazard among its participants (Wheelock, 1992; Wheelock and Kumbhakar, 

1995), we ask if affiliation to the private deposit insurance had similar implications; (2) Given that 
3 

some studies find that the state-sponsored deposit insurance programs generated deposits because 

of their confidence-enhancing feature (Aldunate 2019; Calomiris and Jaremski, 2019; Ramirez, 

2009), we ask if the BDGSC was also successful in that regard.; and (3) Given that contemporary 

accounts suggest that national bankers formed this company because they feared competition from 

the KDI, we investigate whether competition from the KDI actually did influence the decision to 

join the private deposit insurance company. 

Using data from the 1919 BDGSC’s annual report, we are able to identify the list of 

member banks for that year. The list enables us to address the questions raised above. Summarizing 

our main results, we have four key findings. 

First, BDGSC affiliation is not associated with a rise in the probability of failure in future 

years. This result stands in contrast with the literature, which on the whole, has found that deposit 

insurance affiliation elevated the risk of failure. As we explain in more detail below, this finding 

cannot be interpreted as an indication that the private deposit insurance scheme was somehow 

“superior” to the state-sponsored alternatives because the BDGSC phased out its deposit guaranty 

component in 1922, before the most severe phase of the agricultural crisis of the 1920s. Hence, it 

is difficult to determine what the failure rate among member banks would have been in subsequent 

years as the agricultural crisis worsened. 

Second, we find that private deposit insurance did encourage risk taking, particularly 

among smaller institutions. Specifically, we find that the capital-to-asset ratio (a standard measure 

of bank risk) declines by 12 to 18 percent for smaller national banks. The nonlinear specification, 

however, implies that the private deposit insurance effects on risk tapers off at about the 60th

percentile in bank size. 
4 

To further investigate the effect of the BDGSC on the capital-to-asset ratio, we also test 

whether this ratio declines for national banks in Kansas during the 1909–22 period using annual, 

state-level data. Since the national bank participation rate in the BDGSC was substantial, peaking 

at about 50 percent, it is not unreasonable to expect to detect an effect at the aggregate level. 

However, our aggregate level results do not suggest an overall decline in the capital-to-asset ratio 

among national banks. This combination of findings (risk taking among some institutions, but not 

at the aggregate level) suggests that the risk-shifting effects of the BDGSC may not have been 

substantial, and was limited to the smaller institutions. 

Third, we find that private deposit insurance was not successful in generating deposits 

among its member participants. Specifically, we find zero correlation between BDGSC 

membership and the bank’s subsequent deposit-to-asset ratio. Instead, we find that the bank’s 

deposit-to-asset ratio was higher for relatively safer institutions: those with a high cash-to-asset 

ratio, and/or relatively lower loan-to-asset ratio. From this standpoint, it appears that the old adage 

“Cash is King” was the mantra guiding depositor choices, not membership in the BDGSC. Thus, 

it appears that the private deposit insurance company was not successful in fostering confidence 

among depositors. 

We are able to corroborate this third finding using aggregate, annual data. Specifically, we 

test whether the deposit-to-asset ratio rises for all national banks during the 1909–22 period. The 

aggregate-level results do not show such an increase. Thus, our state-level results confirm what 

we observed using bank-level data: the private deposit insurance company did not appear to have 

been successful at stimulating depositor confidence. 
5 

Finally, we are able to confirm from an empirical standpoint that competition from the 

Kansas deposit insurance program did influence the decision to join the private insurance 

company. 

This paper contributes to the literature in at least two ways. First, we provide the first 

extensive modern historical account of the existence of a private deposit insurance scheme in 

Kansas during the 1910s and early 1920s. This scheme has escaped the notice of recent economic 

research on both the state-sponsored deposit insurance systems of the early twentieth century and 

of private deposit insurance in the United States, with work on the latter having been confined to 

systems dating from the 1930s and later.1

Second, given the fact the Kansas private deposit insurance was quite popular particularly 

among national banks, it stands to reason that the numerous papers that use national banks as a 

“control sample” against which to measure implications of deposit insurance affiliation among 

state banks may need to be revised. 

Third, it contributes to the long and still ongoing debate on the relative merits of private 

deposit insurance (vis-à-vis government-sponsored deposit insurance schemes). Briefly, the debate 

revolves around the issue of whether deposit insurance could be provided more efficiently by 

private companies (Ely, 1985; England, 1985; O’Driscoll and Short, 1984; Wells and Scruggs, 

1986).2

 While this debate became less prominent after the passage of FDICIA in 1991, it remains 

ongoing.3

 

1

 English (1993) provides the most comprehensive overview of private deposit insurance companies in the U.S. Table 

1 lists 31 companies and their year of incorporation. Of those, only two were incorporated in the early 1930s. None is 

reported to have existed before then. 

2

 The debate on the relative merits of private deposit insurance goes back well before the 1980s. See for instance, 

Cooke (1910), 370-373. 

3

 See for instance, Bradley and Craig (2007a, 2007b), and more recently Danisewicz, Lee, and Schaeck (2020). 
6 

The rest of this paper proceeds as follows. The next section provides some historical and 

institutional background for the BDGSC. Following that section, we discuss the data used in our 

analysis. The empirical tests are then reported and discussed in the section after that. We complete 

the paper with some concluding remarks. 

II. Historical and Institutional Background 

This section first examines attempts by the Kansas state government to include national 

banks in the state scheme, then discusses the creation of the BDGSC and provides information on 

the bankers associated with the company. It then looks at political and legal conflicts that needed 

to be resolved before the BDGSC could begin full operations, and concludes with a brief discussion 

of the company’s market significance and its reorganization.4

 

II.1 Failed Attempts to Include National Banks in the Kansas Guaranty Scheme. 

The passage of the Kansas state deposit guaranty scheme (KDI) concerned the state’s 

national bankers, who worried that state bankers would gain a significant competitive advantage 

over them by offering depositors greater safety. Although many Kansas national bankers did not 

favor the KDI, some of them at least contemplated joining it if possible, and Kansas state 

authorities went to significant lengths to try to make that happen. The Office of the Comptroller 

of the Currency (OCC) had in 1908 ruled that national banks could not join Oklahoma’s deposit 

guaranty program, and this had been confirmed by the U.S. Attorney General, but Kansas 

legislators had tried to craft a law that would allow national banks to participate. Shortly after the 

 

4

 Some discussion of these events can be found in Cooke (1910), 348–52. 
7 

Kansas law was passed in March 1909 (to take effect on June 30) national bankers and the Kansas 

Bankers Association (KBA) asked the OCC if national banks could join: the answer was no.5

 

This led to Kansas Governor Walter R. Stubbs appealing directly to President Taft (who 

met to discuss the matter with both Kansas senators—Charles Curtis and Joseph Bristow), asking 

that the OCC ruling be reversed. On April 1, 1909 Stubbs, Kansas Attorney General Fred Jackson 

and most of Kansas congressional delegation led a much-publicized mission to Washington, 

meeting with U.S. Attorney General George Wickersham and the Comptroller Lawrence Murray 

to argue that national banks should be allowed into the KDI.6

 About a week later, Wickersham 

ruled that national banks could not participate unless Congress amended the National Bank Act, 

meaning that there was nothing Kansas officials or legislators could do on their own to include 

national banks.7

 

II.2 The Creation of the BDGSC and its Organizers 

As the back and forth over potential national bank participation in the KDI went on, Kansas 

national bankers, who had expected that they would not be permitted to join, were considering 

their path forward. There were a number of possibilities discussed in the contemporary press, 

including forming a currency association as provided for in the 1908 Aldrich-Vreeland Act.8

Through the auspices of the KBA, a meeting of the Kansas national bankers was called for March 

26 in Topeka. The meeting was well-attended and a number of plans were discussed, and it was 

 

5 The Evening Herald [Ottawa, KS] (Mar. 15, 1909), 6; The Hutchinson News (Mar. 17, 1909), 1. 6 The Hutchison News (Mar. 18, 1909), 1; Kansas City Globe (Apr. 1, 1909), 1. 7 The Topeka State Journal (Apr. 7, 1909), 10. Senator Curtis had apparently introduced a bill in Congress that would 

allow national banks to join state systems, but this did not become law. See Arkansas City Daily Traveler (Mar. 20, 

1909), 1. For Wickersham’s opinion, see “Opinions of the Attorney General of the United States and ‘State guaranty’ 

laws of Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota,” (1909), 8–16. This publication also includes the 

opinion of Charles Bonaparte regarding national bank participation in the Oklahoma deposit guaranty scheme from 

1908, see 4–7. 

8 The Hutchison News (Mar. 18, 1909), 1. 
8 

reported that “it was apparent that they [felt] that they must have some protection equal to that of 

state banks.”9

 The idea which apparently had the most favor was for a mutual deposit insurance 

company.10 

A committee of 25 bankers was created to draft a plan. Although the potential company 

was clearly designed to benefit national banks, the idea from the very start was to include state 

banks. Indeed, the KBA committee formed to draft plans for the new company had 3 bankers from 

each Kansas congressional district, one state banker and two national bankers, and it was claimed 

“thus the interests of both state and national banks are allied.”11 When later there was a tendency 

to equate the company with national banks, the company itself felt the need to refute that.12 

Bankers believed the new company could be in place by the time the state guaranty was 

scheduled to begin operating in July, and by the end of April, the committee had formulated a 

detailed plan; moreover, they had consulted the Comptroller and the U.S. Attorney General, who 

did not object to the company being formed.13 Just a few days later the State Charter Board granted 

the company’s application for a charter, and the company issued a prospectus on May 5. 

 

9 The Topeka Daily Capital (Mar. 26, 1909), 1. National bankers in Kansas thought there might be another way to 

level the playing field, and that was to have the Kansas state scheme ruled unconstitutional. See below. 10 It was reported that a similar company had been discussed a year earlier, in 1908, as a response to a then-failed 

attempt to create a Kansas state guaranty scheme, but the plan was never carried out. The Topeka Daily Capital (Mar. 

27, 1909), 1. The idea for a private company was at least present then, as Kansas Senator Balie P. Waggoner, president 

of the Exchange National Bank of Atchison, intended to introduce a bill to amend the Kansas corporation laws so as 

to authorize “the organization of bank deposit guaranty and insurance companies.” (Florence Bulletin, [Jan. 28, 1908], 

3). Although there is no indication that the Kansas bankers had heard of it, a similar company was envisioned by some 

New York bankers who announced the formation of the Hudson Surety Company in 1907, which was expected to 

insure bank deposits. There is no evidence that the company ever began operations. See Times Union [Brooklyn, NY] 

(Feb. 1, 1907), 10 and The New York Times (Feb. 2, 1907), 14. 11 The Topeka Daily Capital (Mar. 27, 1909), 2. Joseph Dolley, the Banking Commissioner, although he said national 

banks would be welcome in the state scheme (this was before Wickersham’s ruling), noted that the Kansas Banking 

Department had no objection to a private company and that he would assist them in every way possible. Of course, 

Dolley was also president of the Commercial National Bank of Alma, and being an advocate for deposit insurance, 

would himself benefit from the company. Dolley was reported to have been responsible for making sure state bankers 

were included in the process, stating that he favored the best insurance scheme possible, whatever that turned out to 

be. Iola Daily Record (Apr. 30, 1909), 1. 12 See for example, The Topeka State Journal (Jan. 22, 1910), 5. 13 It was reported that Senator Charles Curtis, ex-Senator Chester Long, and Kansas Congressman Ed Madison were 

engaged by the committee to lobby the Attorney General and Comptroller on their behalf, that they argued that national 
9 

Banks, upon a vote by their stockholders, would comprise the stockholders in the 

company.14 The total capital of the company would be $500,000, divided into 10,000 shares of 

$50 each.15 The company would pay a 6 percent dividend to stockholders.16 Its funds would be 

invested in U.S. “and other standard high grade bonds” which could be readily converted into cash, 

should that be necessary. It was expected that over time, with additional premiums, the fund would 

grow to approximately $1,000,000.17 It would guarantee deposits of national and state banks, and 

also issue depository bonds to protect municipal deposits. It also proposed to act somewhat like a 

clearinghouse, helping banks over “embarrassments” providing a bank could “put up the proper 

showing.” The company stated it was far better to rescue a going concern than have a bank fail 

and enter into a long liquidation. Deposit insurance pricing would be as follows: 50 cents per year 

per thousand dollars of deposits up to the amount of a bank’s capital and surplus, and one dollar 

per thousand dollars per year for deposits in excess of capital and surplus. In other words, 5 basis 

points on deposits up to capital and surplus and 10 basis points for deposits over that amount.18 No 

contract guaranteeing deposits would be written unless the bank or a bank’s stockholder subscribed 

for stock in the BDGSC equal to 2.5 percent of the capital and surplus of the bank at the time the 

 

banks would lose business because of their inability to join the state system, and that their efforts were successful. 

Abilene Daily Chronicle (May 4, 1909), 1. Wickersham had been asked a month earlier about a national bank voluntary 

association for deposit insurance, and had been doubtful, saying that he did not see how it could be done without 

action by Congress, but did refuse to give a final opinion “offhand.” The Topeka State Journal (Apr. 7, 1909), 10. For 

Wickersham’s opinion that individual national banks could contract with a private company for deposit insurance, see 

Opinions of the Attorney General (1909), 3. 14 It was not permitted for banks to subscribe for the stock. The workaround was accomplished by having the bank’s 

stockholders appoint an individual, usually the bank president, to hold the insurance stock as a trustee for the 

shareholders. The shareholders would authorize a dividend payment to the trustee in order to pay for the stock. 

Premiums would similarly be paid through the issuance of special dividends (See Cooke [1910], 350). 

15 The Wellington Journal (May 7, 1909), 2. 16 At some point in the company’s history, this dividend was apparently increased to 8 percent, as in 1921 the BDGSC 

declared what was described as a regular quarterly dividend of 2 percent. Manhattan Nationalist (Apr. 21, 1921), 2. 17 The Daily Mail (Wellington, KS), May 7, 1909, 1. 18 The Topeka Daily Capital (May 5, 1909), 4. In comparison, the state scheme’s assessment rate was 5 basis points 

on all deposits until the fund reached $500,000, but it also provided for up to four additional annual special assessments 

if the fund became depleted, so that the maximum annual assessment was 25 basis points. See Warburton (1959), II–

5. The lack of certainty about the annual assessments was described by contemporaries as an advantage to the 

BDGSC’s coverage. Fort Scott Daily Tribune and Fort Scott Daily Monitor (May 22, 1909), 7. 
10 

policy was issued.19 The company was at pains to note that rigorous examinations would be made 

of banks in order to qualify for insurance. They chose to hire examiners from the accounting firm 

Arthur Young and Company to examine prospective members.20 Perhaps not surprisingly, national 

banks in neighboring states that had state deposit guaranty schemes, would soon ask the BDGSC 

to allow them to become stockholders and take advantage of deposit insurance to compete with 

their state banks, but the company refused, stating it would only insure banks in Kansas.21 

Initially, only 24 banks (basically the company directors) became subscribers. By the end 

of May 1909, however, already 60 bankers appear to have expressed interest in it.22 By June of 

that year, it was reported that 240 banks had joined.23 Just one day after operations began, some 

member banks began advertising their membership in local newspapers parading that they too, 

would soon have deposit insurance.24 

Although it was clear that Kansas national bankers supported the creation of the new 

company, its credibility was enhanced by those who were chosen to incorporate it:25 fully five of 

 

19 See “Bank Depositors’ Guaranty in Kansas,” (1913), 13. This Senate publication contains the BDGSC’s bylaws, 

which were presented to Congress by Senator Joseph Bristow. 20 It was reported that the BDGSC had a contract with the firm for 15 of its accountants to examine banks that wanted 

to join the company. The Salina Evening Journal (Mar. 5, 1910), 1. 21 See The Daily Oklahoman (May 16, 1909), 5. Although it was suggested that bankers in Nebraska and Oklahoma 

might try to set up similar private companies chartered either within or outside their state, we have discovered no 

evidence that this occurred. There was some discussion at the time of large surety companies coming to national 

banks’ aid by providing them deposit insurance. A committee to study the idea was led by William Joyce, Chairman 

of the National Surety Company of New York. He noted that although the surety companies wanted to help the banks, 

because they did a significant amount of business with them, the surety companies would only provide deposit 

insurance if they could do so without undue risk, and called to attention to the fact that the events of 1907 had been 

quite costly. See The New York Times (May 23, 1909), 21. The committee was reportedly considering either a general 

guarantee, payable immediately upon a failure, covering an entire deposit, paying various percentages of a deposit 

over a series of set periods, guaranteeing payment of the deposit within a year, guaranteeing that the banker would 

“ultimately” get “100 [cents] on the dollar, or lastly that the surety company would guarantee to depositors an amount 

equal to the bank’s capital and surplus. The Guthrie Daily Leader [Guthrie, OK)] (May 29, 1909), 3. Despite these 

reports, we have been unable to find evidence these surety firms elected to provide deposit insurance. 

22 The Wichita Beacon (May 25, 1909), 10. The Wellington Journal [Wellington, KS] (May 26, 1909), 1. The Wichita 

Daily Eagle (May 26, 1909), 5. 23 The Topeka Daily Capital (Jun. 7, 1909), 6. 24 See, for instance, the advertisement by the Commercial National Bank, Hutchinson, KS in The Hutchinson Times 

(Jul. 2, 1909), 4. 

25 Twenty of these bankers had been on the committee appointed by the KBA in March. 
11 

them—Elmer Ames, J.W. Berryman, C.Q. Chandler, Scott Hopkins, and Peter Goebel—had 

served or would serve as president of the KBA. Berryman, James Morrow and Latham Harrison 

had each been members of the Kansas legislature; Morrow had at one time been the Republican 

leader of the Kansas State Senate. Most were bankers of long standing and owned or were officers 

in multiple banks in Kansas—Berryman was described as having organized and operated about a 

hundred banks at different times. The company’s chairman, Ames, had been the National Bank 

Examiner for Kansas and for Kansas City, Missouri from 1900 to 1906, and so not only would 

have been known by those operating Kansas national banks, but also would have had direct 

knowledge of those banks’ operations as well as having connections to the OCC. When the 

company began actually operating, they added as one of their vice presidents a former Kansas 

Governor, Willis J. Bailey.26 The company’s connections would later become evident in their 

being able to take advantage of a significant increase in the pricing for depository bonds in 1909. 

The BDGSC proposed to the KBA that it take over writing fidelity and depository bonds in the 

state at the old rate. The KBA approved the proposal, noting that “this is a Kansas company which 

confines its risks to the banking risks in the state of Kansas, and its solvency can not be 

questioned.”27 The BDGSC therefore for a time became the approved agent for those bonds issued 

through the auspices of the KBA. 

 

26 For biographies of many of these Kansas bankers, see Blackmar, ed. (1912). For the addition of Bailey, see The 

Topeka Daily Capital (Jan. 20, 1910), 10. 27 Kansas Bankers Association, Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the Kansas Bankers Association (1910), 11. 

This also provided some benefit to the KBA. For example, in 1911, the BDGSC issued fidelity and depository bonds 

with premiums of about $12,500—the KBA received commissions of almost $1,600, but the banks reportedly saved 

$5,000 in premiums due to the BDGSC’s lower rates. See Proceedings (1911), 98–99. The exclusive relationship 

between the KBA and BDGSC was no longer mentioned after 1913 in the KBA Proceedings—it is unclear if it 

terminated, or if by then it was standard practice and deemed not worthy of mention. 
12 

II.3 Two Deposit Guaranty Schemes in Conflict 

After what had seemed an amicable co-existence between the BDGSC and the state 

authorities, by June considerable friction had developed. The most contentious issue was the KDI 

limitation on deposit interest rates to 3 percent.28 National banks faced no such limitation: the shoe 

was on the other foot, as now state banks feared that they would face a competitive disadvantage 

in comparison to insured national banks. One state banker told the governor that he had lost 

$16,000 in deposits from one of his best clients to a national bank across the street offering 4 

percent interest.29 The BDGSC maintained that they wanted to eschew politics and that they only 

wanted state and national banks to operate on an equal footing. Nevertheless, despite reported 

negotiations over the matter, the national bankers did not want to change the BDGSC’s rules to 

limit the rates their banks could provide, and the Kansas press reported that “war between the state 

administration and the new bank surety company ... is inevitable.”30 Ex-Governor Bailey gave 

voice to the national banker’s view: he stated that BDGSC membership should be based on the 

bank’s condition, and that if a bank paid a good dividend, and was being run in a safe manner, the 

deposit rate it provided was immaterial; moreover, local conditions tended to govern interest 

rates.31 In 1911, the interest rate limit on KDI-guaranteed deposits was changed: the amended law 

allowed the Kansas Bank Commissioner to set a maximum rate that was to apply to both KDI 

member banks and nonmember banks with the rate being uniform within a county.32 The interest 

 

28 The interest rate limit was, according to the Kansas Bank Commissioner, required to “prevent incompetent and 

unprincipled people from engaging in the business” of banking. See Biennial Report of the Kansas Bank 

Commissioner (1908), xv-xvii. 

29 The Kansas Weekly Capital (Jul. 1, 1909), 3. 30 Chanute Weekly Tribune, (Jul. 2, 1909), 3. 31 The Leavenworth Weekly Times (Jul. 8, 1909), 6. 32 See Warburton (1959), “Deposit Guaranty in Kansas”, 3. 
13 

rate limit was described as a problem because, as Bailey had stated, regional variability in 

economic conditions in different parts of Kansas required greater interest rate flexibility.33

Nevertheless in 1909 how best to resolve the issue became a thorny political question for 

the Stubbs administration. There appeared to be essentially two ways to handle the interest rate 

problem. One was to call a special session of the Kansas legislature to pass a law that would forbid 

surety companies from insuring deposits that carried an interest rate higher than 3 percent, or, 

rather less likely, a law that would remove the limit on state banks. There was apparently little 

appetite for allowing state banks a higher rate, but there was also considerable antipathy to the 

special session, not least because of its expense, as well as a lack of confidence that it would deliver 

its intended goal. 

The second method was administrative. Although the BDSGC had obtained a charter, the 

company still needed a license from the Superintendent of Insurance, Charles Barnes, to 

commence business. Kansas Attorney General Jackson announced that he believed the 

superintendent had significant discretionary powers to impose conditions in granting such licenses, 

and that he could point to the 3 percent limit, already enshrined in state law, as what constituted 

safe banking.34 When the BDGSC applied for its license in late July, it was reported that Barnes 

had “instructions from the Governor and the Attorney General to refuse permission” unless the 

company agreed to a 3 percent interest rate limit.35 On August 10, Barnes refused to grant the 

BDGSC an insurance license. 

 

33 Robb (1921), 115. He notes that rates on guaranteed deposits ranged from three to five percent. 34 The Topeka State Journal (Jul. 13, 1909), 1. 35 The Clay Center Dispatch (Jul. 22, 1909), 1. At least one report later suggested that Stubbs, Jackson and Dolley 

feared the BDGSC would put the KDI out of business, which is why they told Barnes to refuse to issue the license. 

Clay Center Dispatch (Dec. 13, 1909), 1. 
14 

The BDGSC responded in the courts in two ways. The first was direct, taking the issue to 

the Kansas Supreme Court, demanding that Barnes demonstrate that he had the authority to refuse 

the license based on the reasons he had given, which included the interest rate limit. When Barnes 

filed his answer, he went well beyond the interest rate issue, stating that the charter board didn’t 

have the authority to issue the BDGSC a charter, and so the company did not even really exist. 

But should the court rule that the charter was valid and the company did exist, he believed that he 

had the authority to regulate it, determine what risks it should take, and what types of deposits it 

could insure.36 The BDGSC and Barnes were able to agree that the case should be held 

expeditiously, rather than in the normal timeframe which could have been as late as the autumn of 

1910.37 

The second legal response was to seek to invalidate the KDI as unconstitutional. Although 

the BDGSC did not sue under its own name, one of the plaintiffs was Frank S. Larabee, who sued 

as a stockholder in a state bank. It is possible that Larabee’s involvement was solely driven by his 

ownership stake in the state bank. However, Larabee, also cashier of the Farmers National Bank 

of Stafford, just happened to serve on the KBA committee charged with investigating a private 

deposit guaranty company, was among the BDGSC’s original incorporators, and was elected to 

serve on its Board of Directors. Moreover, the company apparently made an effort to solicit 

contributions in support of the lawsuit. It is at least plausible that Larabee’s affiliation with the 

BDGSC had something to do with his participation in the lawsuit. Although the motives and 

participation of the BDGSC cannot be ascertained with certainty, either a delay in the KDI being 

implemented, or it being invalidated, would have redounded to the company’s benefit. Indeed, had 

 

36 The Kansas Weekly Capital (October 21, 1909), 1. See also Bankers’ Deposit Guaranty & Surety Co. v. Barnes, 

Superintendent of Insurance, 81. Kan. 422 (1909). 

37 The Topeka State Journal (Oct. 21, 1909), 7. 
15 

the suit ultimately been successful, such a result would have obviated the need for the BDGSC 

entirely. After initially obtaining an injunction against the Kansas state guaranty plan being put 

into operation, that ruling was subsequently overturned and the plaintiffs finally lost in the U.S. 

Supreme Court.38

As for the suit against Barnes, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled on December 11 that Barnes 

only had the authority to impose the rules on the BDGSC that were enumerated in Kansas law, 

and as the company had complied with them, he was ordered to issue the company its license, 

which he did. 39 

II.4 The BDGSC’s Operations and Place in the Market until Reorganization in 1922.

The BDGSC was permitted to begin operations in full, held its first formal annual meeting 

in January 1910. Upon this success, Elmer Ames emphasized that both state and national banks 

were welcome, and that nearly every member of its Board had equal interests in both state and 

national banks. He said that bankers should be reassured that at least 25 percent of the company’s 

capital would be held in cash at all times, and that the large cash reserve would permit the company 

to aid banks and prevent them from failing. He indicated that at this time, about $327,000 of capital 

had been paid up.40 The company issued its first deposit guaranty policy on February 9.41 Figure 

1 provides an advertisement from May 1910 that features a reproduction of a bond that describes 

 

38 See Larabee v. Dolley, 175 F.365 (1909). Larabee was joined in the suit by the Abeline National Bank and the 

Assaria State Bank. The injunction was reversed by Dolley v. Abilene Nat. Bank of Abilene, Kan., C.C.A.8 (Kan), 

May 20, 1910, and finally decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Assaria State Bank v. Dolley, 219 U.S. (1911). 

39 See Bankers’ Deposit Guaranty & Surety Co. v. Barnes, Superintendent of Insurance, 81. Kan. 422 (1909). The 

ruling was unanimous and also awarded the BDGSC its costs. See also The Topeka Daily Capital (Dec. 12, 1909), 15. 40 The Topeka State Journal (Jan. 22, 1910), 5. The company does not seem to have ever reached its goal of $500,000 

in paid up capital. During much of its existence, the capital level remained just over $300,000. See for example, The 

Leader Courier [Kingman, KS] (Nov. 27, 1913), 7; Winfield Courier (Jan. 29, 1914), 6; Manhattan Nationalist (Apr. 

21, 1921), 2. 

41 Fort Scott Tribune and Fort Scott Monitor (Feb. 22, 1910), 5. 
16 

the terms of a bank’s deposit guaranty. A month later it was reported that the company’s executive 

committee was examining the applications of 166 state and national banks that had applied for 

coverage, and a year later that about half of the national banks in the state had deposits insured by 

the BDGSC.42 The company continued to examine banks that chose to use its deposit guaranty 

policies, and apparently charged banks examination fees in addition to premiums.43

In June 1922, it was announced the company would be reorganized and sold. President 

Elmer Ames’ illness appears to have been a significant reason for this decision, but the 

reorganization was to yield a significant to windfall to the stockholders, as it was to distribute 

$125,000 of its surplus as a special dividend.44 When the company was sold, it would become The 

Kansas Bankers Surety Company, and no longer engaged in the guaranty of deposits.45 It was 

reported, however, that even before the move to abandon deposit insurance, “enthusiasm” for 

deposit guaranty had “died out” and that the national banks had “long since ceased to fear any 

special competition from the guaranteed banks with the result that few of them feel the need of 

this insurance as an advertising feature, and many of those that insured their deposits ten years ago 

have permitted their policies to lapse,” although apparently about two-thirds of the banks that 

originally joined the company still maintained their deposit insurance ten years later (Robb, 

1921).46

 

42 The Salina Evening Journal (Mar. 5, 1910), 1; McPherson Freeman (Mar. 24, 1911), 1. 43 National Archives RG34, FDIC Historical Files, 1934-1965, Box 2, Folder 2, Interview of Kansas Bankers by 

Mortimer Fox (October 23, 1934). 

44 The Topeka State Journal (Jun. 14, 1922), 6 45 The Topeka State Journal (Sep. 14, 1922), 15. The executive committee of the KBA recommended that banks 

purchase the capital stock of the BDGSC so Kansas banks could continue to benefit from the low rates on insurance 

they had received in the past. The Augusta Daily Gazette (Oct. 18, 1922), 1. 46 Robb stated that about 100 banks had become members, and that by 1920, about 25 percent of covered banks were 

state banks, see Robb, 116. The press also noted, about a year later at the company’s reorganization, that the deposit 

guaranty feature had been “largely abandoned.” See The Topeka State Journal (Jun. 1, 1922), 1. 
17 

Between 1909 and 1922, however, the BDGSC served as a private alternative to the Kansas 

deposit insurance program. Newspaper reports indicate that the BDGSC was popular among 

national banks, with participation rates around 50 percent at its height. To get a more accurate 

sense of the market significance of the BDGSC we present in Figure 2 two metrics: the premiums 

received by BDGSC (relative to KDI assessments) and the relative assets of BDGSC to KDI’s 

bond and cash assets, from 1911 to 1921.47 Both measures display a similar pattern—during the 

early years the BDGSC received over $1 in premiums for every dollar of KDI assessments. 

Likewise, the BDGSC had over a dollar of assets for every dollar in bond and cash assets of the 

KDI program. As participation in the KDI program grew over the decade, the relative size of the 

BDGSC declined. However, even during the last two years for which data exists, we still see that 

the BDGSC had approximately $0.50 in premiums and assets relative to KDI figures. Thus, 

throughout the period, BDGSC was a significant player in the deposit insurance market in Kansas. 

The next section analyzes the sample of participating banks. 

III. Data

To identify BDGSC banks, we rely on the list of banks that had a balance due to the 

insurance company, as reported in the December 31, 1919 BDGSC Annual Statement filed with 

the Kansas Superintendent of Insurance.48 This year was chosen because it reflected the highpoint 

of the competing KDI system while the BDGSC still offered deposit insurance. To ensure that the 

list does indeed reflect membership, we also collected data for a sample of banks that reported 

 

47 Premiums and assets data for BDGSC are from the Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Insurance of the State 

of Kansas (various years). It should be noted that these reports reflect total premiums received by the BDGSC, and 

that the company received premiums not just from its deposit guaranty business, but also from its surety and fidelity 

business. It is a limitation of the data that it is not always possible to determine the exact proportion of premiums 

received from each of the company’s business lines. KDI assessments and bond and cash assets are from Warburton 

(1959). 

48 These manuscript statements are held by the Kansas Historical Society. 
18 

being members of the BDGSC in newspaper advertisements. We then conducted a logistic 

regression to evaluate how the odds of showing up in the newspapers would be affected by being 

listed in the BDGSC Annual Report. The logistic regression results indicated that those odds rose 

by nearly 400 percent—being in the annual report list increased the chances of showing up in the 

newspapers (advertising membership) by a factor of 4. The coefficient was statistically significant 

at the less than one percent level. This suggests that using this list we do capture the BDGSC 

membership as of year-end 1919. 

Because the vast majority of BDGSC member banks were nationally chartered, our 

analysis will be confined to national bank members and we therefore also collected data at the 

bank level for national banks from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s 1922 Annual 

Report. In addition, we collected data at the bank level for state-chartered institutions from the 

1920 Biennial Report of the Bank Commissioner in Kansas. For each bank, we recorded all balance 

sheet items, and whether they participated in the Kansas deposit guaranty program. We 

complemented our data by adding bank suspension figures from Davison and Ramirez (2014). 

Table 1 reports summary statistics for national banks, split by BDGSC membership. The 

first observation worth making is the relatively high participation rate. Of the 267 national banks 

in the sample, nearly 40 percent were members of the private deposit insurance company. The 105 

banks that participated in this program held approximately 47 percent of total national bank assets 

in Kansas. Thus, this private deposit insurance was quite popular. 

Beyond ascertaining popularity in the program, however, the rest of the summary statistics 

do not reveal any clear-cut pattern. For instance, the first four rows, which report key bank statistics 

in levels (loans, assets, total capital, and deposits), do not indicate that participating banks were 

significantly different from those that did not. While the means for those variables appear higher 
19 

for the insured group, the standard deviations are high enough to make the t-tests of the difference 

in means statistically insignificant at the 5 percent level. 

Among the remaining summary statistics—ratios typically used as measures of bank risk 

and performance—none of the pairs is statistically different (by a t-test) at the 5 percent level, 

except for the capital-to-asset ratio, which is lower for the insured banks. This finding suggests 

that insured banks appeared to be riskier. However, before making a more definitive conclusion 

we perform a more robust set of regressions in the following section. 

IV. Empirical Findings 

This section investigates how private deposit insurance affiliation may have affected 

deposit growth as well as other measures of bank performance for national banks. The first section 

of our analysis concentrates on results at the macro (state) level, investigating how national banks 

in Kansas fared in comparison with national banks elsewhere, over a span of more than two 

decades. The second section concentrates on results at the micro (bank) level, relying on the banklevel data discussed in Section III. 

IV.1 Macro analysis 

Our macro analysis seeks to evaluate how national banks in Kansas performed relative to 

national banks in other states. In particular, we focus on two aggregate (state-level) ratios for 

national banks for the period 1896–1929: the ratios of deposits to total assets and capital to total 

assets.49 To isolate the BDGSC period (from 1909 to 1922), we first estimate the regressions in 

the pre-1922 sample. Specifically, our regression equation is: 

 

49 The dataset used to conduct the analysis at the aggregate level is from Flood (1998). 
20 

൬

X

A

൰

i,t

ൌ α0 ൅ α1ሺ1909 െ 22ሻ ൅ α2ሺKansasሻ ൅ α3ሺKansas ∗ 1909 െ 22ሻ ൅ εi,t (1) 

Where X is either Deposits or Capital (defined as capital plus surplus), A is total assets, and the 

subscripts i,t refer to the state i in year t. 

We estimate equation (1) using OLS. Our coefficient of interest is a3, which captures the 

interaction of the Kansas dummy variable over the years 1909-22, the period that spans the 

existence of the BDGSC. Given that the BDGSC was quite popular among national banks in 

Kansas, any influence on deposits or capital should be detectable at the aggregate (state) level. For 

example, if 40 percent of the national banks chose private deposit insurance, and then decided to 

increase risk (i.e. lower their capital-to-asset ratio), we would expect to observe a decline at the 

aggregate level, driven by the action taken by 40 percent of the sample. Note that although it is a 

panel dataset for 48 states over the 1896 to 1922 period, we do not include state or year fixed 

effects, as their inclusion would not permit estimation of the coefficient of interest. 

The regression results are presented in Table 2. That table presents two regressions, one 

for the deposit-to-asset ratio, and another one for the capital-to-asset ratio. Since both regressions 

share the same set of explanatory variables, they can be combined in one table. Note that the 

coefficient of interest, a3, is statistically insignificant in both specifications. Therefore, there is no 

evidence that the BDGSC exerted a significant effect on either ratio, at least at the aggregate level. 

One potential concern that arises with the use of aggregate data is that the results could be 

masked with aggregation. We address this potential concern in three different ways. First, as 

mentioned above, the proportion of national banks that chose private deposit insurance was not 

insignificant. Indeed, by some contemporary accounts, membership peaked at nearly 50 percent 

during the sample period, a proportion sufficiently high to impart an effect at the aggregate level. 
21 

Second, we estimate a parallel regression (as in equation (1), but for state banks. 

Specifically, we perform the same regressions, but using aggregate data for state-chartered 

institutions. However, instead of “Kansas” and “1909-22” as the indicator variables, we replace 

them by “DI state” and “1907-22” dummies, since during this time period, eight states adopted 

some form of deposit insurance. The point of this second regression is to demonstrate that the 

effect of deposit insurance can be observed using aggregate (state-level) data. 

Table 3 presents the results for the state banks. A glance at the “DI state*1907-22” 

interaction terms reveal that states that adopted deposit insurance saw a rise in the deposit-to-asset 

ratio, and a decline in the capital-to-asset ratio. These results are consistent with what other 

researchers have found, and more importantly, suggest that the effects of deposit insurance can be 

detectable with aggregate level data. 

The third way of addressing the concern is by relying on more micro (bank-level) data. We 

do this in the next section. 

Before moving on to the analysis at the bank level, however, we conclude the aggregate 

level analysis by looking at the same two ratios in the post-1922 period, namely the years from 

1923 to 1929. The idea of looking at this subsample is to investigate the pattern of these ratios 

during the decline and downfall of the various deposit insurance schemes.50

The regression results for the post-1922 period are presented in Table 4. The table presents 

four columns: the first two focus on the capital-to-asset ratio, the last two on the deposit-to-asset 

ratio. These columns are further divided by bank charter type: either national or state. The 

coefficient of interest in these four regressions is the “Kansas” indicator variable. The results 

suggests that, for national banks, neither ratio seems to have significantly changed after the 

 

50 After the agricultural crisis of the early 1920s, all of the state-sponsored deposit insurance schemes began to get 

into trouble. Indeed, by 1924 most of these deposit insurance schemes were essentially moribund. 
22 

disappearance of the BDGSC. This result complements the “non-result” observed over the pre1922 period. If the BDGSC, in fact, did not impart a significant effect (at the aggregate level) 

during its “heyday”, we would not expect to observe any adjustment in the ratios after its departure 

in 1922. 

The results for state banks are, however, different. In particular, we observe that in the 

post- 1922 period state banks strengthened their risk profile by raising their capital-to-asset ratio. 

This result is consistent with straightforward intuition: as the state-sponsored program in Kansas 

weakened, state banks, expecting the impending disappearance of the program would have moved 

to strengthen their balance sheets. 

Interestingly, the table also indicates that the deposit-to-asset ratio for state banks did not 

appear to have changed significantly in the post-1922 period. This result suggests that, while 

bankers may have been more realistic about the fate of the Kansas deposit insurance program, 

depositors could have been more optimistic, and perhaps did not expect the complete demise of 

the program, at least during the sample period.51

IV.2. Micro analysis 

In this section we examine the impact of the BDGSC using micro (bank level) data for 

national banks. We first focus on estimating probability of failure models as this is a wellestablished metric of performance. 

IV.2.1. Probability of failure regressions 

One of the most common ways of estimating failure models is to fit probit regressions 

where the dependent variable is dichotomous: 1 if the bank fails by year-end 1929, 0 otherwise; 

and the independent variables include those commonly believed to impart an effect, such as 

 

51 Indeed, the Kansas state deposit insurance program was not discontinued until 1929 (Warburton, 1959). 
23 

measures of risk, asset quality, etc. Following that tradition, we also estimate probit regressions in 

our sample of national banks. 

Table 5 presents the probit regression results. Besides the private DI indicator variable, the 

independent variables included were: (Surplus/Assets), (Bonds/Assets), (Loans/Assets), 

(Cash/Deposits), (Deposits/Assets), (Payable/Assets), (Cash/Assets), and (Capital/Assets). These 

ratios are generally taken to be reasonable measures of bank risk and asset quality. 

The inclusion of the DI variable captures any influence on risk not already controlled for 

with the other ratios. Generally, this variable is expected to impart a positive influence on risk, as 

banks can engage in moral hazard in ways that are not completely captured by standard balance 

sheet ratios. We estimate a variety of specifications to examine the stability of the private DI 

coefficient under a different set of controls. However, regardless of the controls included, the 

private DI indicator variable is never statistically different from zero.52 This result differs from the 

general finding in the literature, which typically report a positive and statistically significant 

coefficient for deposit insurance indicator variables.53 

It may be tempting to claim that private deposit insurance was “superior” to the statesponsored alternatives given that: (a) none of the probit regressions suggest it did, and (b) by yearend 1929 only 11 national banks failed, compared to the 194 state bank failures (or in terms of 

ratios, a failure rate of 4.2 percent for national banks vis-à-vis a failure rate of nearly 18 percent 

 

52 In regression (5) (Table 2) the estimated effect of size (log(assets)) is positive and significant, which runs contrary 

to expectations. However, given that there are only 11 failures in the sample, and that particular specification includes 

8 covariates, overfitting may be particularly more problematic in this specification. It is worth pointing out that in 

specifications (2) and (4), which include fewer covariates (and thus a bit less susceptible to overfitting), the size 

variable is statistically zero. 

53 Given that only 11 national banks failed in Kansas during the 1920s, including too many covariates may run the 

risk of overfitting the model, particularly when many of the independent variables may be correlated. It is worth 

mentioning that we also estimated the probit model without the inclusion of the DI indicator. On balance, we found 

that the probability of failure increases with the loans-to-asset ratio and declines with the cash-to-asset ratio, as well 

as the deposit-to-asset ratio.
24 

for state banks). However, it would not be appropriate to make this conclusion. The reason is that, 

as mentioned above, the private company phased out its “deposit guaranty” feature in early 1922. 

Hence, we are unable to ascertain what the failure rate among member banks would have been in 

subsequent years as the agricultural crisis progressed. 

Given the phase out of the deposit insurance feature, a more appropriate question to 

investigate is whether or not private DI-member banks shifted their portfolio towards higher risk. 

The following subsection investigates this issue empirically and discusses the results. 

IV.2.2. Risk-shifting regressions 

Since the bank failure probit regressions are not able to provide a clear indication as to 

whether the private deposit insurance elevated the risk of failure, we examine whether it 

nonetheless encouraged banks to pursue riskier strategies. To conduct this test we regress the 1922 

banks’ total capital-to-asset ratio (a standard measure of risk) on the private DI indicator variable. 

Since the private DI variable is from December 31, 1919, the two year time gap should have been 

sufficient to allow for any adjustment in the risk portfolio among the participating banks. 

The regression results are presented in Table 6. The simplest specification, without any 

controls (specification (1)), indicates that the unconditional effect of private DI on the capital-toasset ratio is negative and statistically significant. However, after conditioning for size (log of 

assets in specification (2)) the overall effect of private DI is statistically nil. Size, therefore, is 

absorbing the effect of the private DI, suggesting that the overall effect of private DI on the capitalto-asset ratio may actually be nonlinear, depending on bank size. Hence, we examine the effects 

allowing for interactions with bank size. 
25 

Specification (3) examines the impact of the interaction of private DI with size. The implied 

effect is: 

∂ሺC/Aሻ

∂PDI ൌ െ0.606 ൅ 0.045 ∗ logሺAssetsሻ

Given that both estimated coefficients are statistically significant, we can infer that the 

effect is indeed nonlinear. A bank at the 25th percentile in terms of size that becomes a private 

deposit insurance member is expected to see a reduction in the capital-to asset ratio of about 29 

percent. At the median, the effect is -13.5%. At the 75th percentile, the effect becomes positive but 

relatively small, about 4.7%. Thus, private deposit insurance affiliation appears to have increased 

risk among the smaller institutions. 

The nonlinear effects, therefore, tell us that it was primarily the smaller institutions that 

took on additional risk, as they saw the largest declines in their capital-to-asset ratios. Thus, moral 

hazard appears to have been an issue, but among the smaller national banks. 

IV.2.3. Evaluating Deposit to Asset Ratios 

In general, one of the advantages of deposit insurance is that it enhances confidence among 

depositors, thereby making it easier (and cheaper) for banks to obtain deposits. Holding all else 

constant, banks with deposit insurance should see an increase in their deposit-to-asset ratio. In this 

subsection we investigate whether private deposit insurance was successful in that regard. To do 

so, we regress the 1922 deposit-to-asset ratio on the private DI indicator variable. As mentioned 

in the previous subsection, the two year gap between the private DI affiliation date and the balance 

sheet year should be sufficiently long to observe an effect. 

Table 7 presents five specifications of the deposit-to-asset regression in order to examine 

the effect of private DI robustly. The specifications differ by the set of controls included. The 

simplest specification (with no controls) can be seen as the benchmark case (specification (1)), 
26 

while other specifications control for asset quality and size. Nonetheless, regardless of the 

specification considered, the private DI indicator variable is never statistically different from zero. 

Hence, the regressions indicate that private deposit insurance does not appear to have been 

successful at attracting deposits. Instead, banks were able to attract deposits the old-fashioned 

way—through conservative banking practices associated with lower risk: a higher cash-to asset 

ratio and a lower loan-to-asset ratio.54 Thus, the old adage “Cash is King” seems to have been the 

mantra guiding depositor behavior, not private deposit insurance. Although previous research has 

found that the state-sponsored deposit insurance programs were successful at generating deposits, 

it appears that private deposit insurance did not foster the same level of confidence that the statesponsored program did. 

IV.2.4. Determinants of Private DI membership 

As noted in the introduction and in the institutional background section, the primary reason 

the BDGSC was formed was that national banks were disallowed from participating in the Kansas 

deposit guaranty program, giving state banks a competitive edge over deposit acquisition costs. 

This observation implies that a national bank’s decision to join the BDGSC should have been 

influenced by whether or not neighboring state-chartered banks were members of the Kansas 

program. This section examines whether that was indeed the case. 

To that end, we estimate probit regressions whether the dependent variable equals 1 if the 

bank was a BDGSC member, 0 otherwise. The independent variables include:55 the proportion of 

state banks that were KDI members in the county, the log of total assets for all state banks in the 

county (included to examine whether the size of the market was relevant), the ratio of cash to assets 

 

54 Specifications (3), (4), and (5) indicate that the deposit to asset ratio is negatively associated with bank size. This is 

not surprising as the largest national banks deal less on individual deposits, and more on interbank reserves. 

55 The independent variables were computed at the county level using data from the 1920 Kansas Bank Commissioner 

Annual Report. 
27 

and loans to assets for all state banks in the county (included to examine whether the portfolio 

composition of neighboring state banks were important), and the ratio of deposits to assets for all 

state banks in the county (included to control for the relative importance of the deposit market in 

the county). 

The results for the probit regressions are reported in Table 8. The table presents five 

specifications that vary by the set of covariates included, starting from the simplest one which 

includes the proportion of state banks that were KDI members, to the most complete one 

(regression 5), which includes all covariates. All specifications, and regardless of the set of 

covariates included, robustly indicate that a national bank’s decision to be a member of the private 

deposit insurance company was influenced by the proportion of state banks that were members of 

the KDI. None of the other covariates is significant. Perhaps more importantly, their inclusion does 

not affect the magnitude and significance of the KDI proportion variable. We are therefore able to 

confirm the contemporary accounts as for the reason national banks joined the BDGSC. 

We complement these results using illustrative evidence from newspaper ads. The idea was 

to ascertain the extent to which bank advertisements mentioned whether the banks were members 

of the KDI or the BDGSC. Thus, for a random sample of banks, we tracked advertisements in local 

newspapers. The observed advertisements suggest a pattern: national bank’s ads were typically 

displayed side-by-side the state bank’s ads, and whenever the state bank ads report KDI 

membership, the national bank ads report BDGSC membership. A representative example is 

displayed in Figure 3. In that figure, the State Bank of Winfield advertises membership in the KDI, 

while the Winfield National Bank advertises membership in the BDGSC. 
28 

V. Concluding Remarks 

Between 1909 and 1922 the Bankers Deposit Guaranty and Surety Company (BDGSC) 

coexisted with the Kansas deposit insurance program (KDI). The existing literature finds that the 

KDI was associated with higher risk-taking and a higher incidence of failures. Using aggregate 

(state) level data covering the period from 1896 to 1929, the evidence does not suggest that the 

BDGSC had any significant impact on either the capital-to-asset ratio or the deposit-to-asset ratio. 

However, using bank-level data, we find that, while private deposit insurance membership was not 

associated with a subsequent increase in bank failures, the BDGSC encouraged risk-taking as 

member banks were observed to have decreased their capital-to-assets ratio, at least among the 

smaller institutions. It is unclear whether the private deposit insurance would have survived the 

failure of a member bank because the company phased out its deposit insurance component in 

early 1922, just as the agricultural crisis was unfolding in Kansas. 

Existing literature also finds that banks that participated in the state deposit insurance 

programs of the 1920s experienced higher deposit growth (Calomiris (1992), Calomiris and 

Jaremski, Ramirez, Adulnate, and Wheelock, 1992). In contrast to those papers, we do not find 

that membership in private deposit insurance was associated with a higher deposit-to-asset ratio, 

despite the fact that many BDGSC-member banks heavily advertised their membership in local 

newspapers. This finding suggests that the private deposit insurance company did not generate the 

level of confidence among depositors that the state-sponsored programs did. 

Contemporary accounts suggest that owners of national banks formed the BDGSC because 

they feared competition from state banks using the state deposit insurance system. Our empirical 

analysis indicates that indeed the Kansas state system influenced the decision to join the private 

company, supporting the contemporary accounts. 
29 

Our research has implications for the literature on private deposit insurance. Specifically, 

some papers contend that, from an economic efficiency perspective, private deposit insurance may 

be more desirable than a government-sponsored alternative as presumably private deposit 

insurance fosters depositor confidence while preserving market discipline (Ely, 1985; England, 

1985; O’Driscoll, 1988; Demirguc-Kunt and Huizinga, 2004). The findings in this paper cast some 

doubts on those efficiency claims. In fact, in some respects, it may be argued that the private 

deposit insurance experiment led to an undesirable outcome by having encouraged risk-taking, 

particularly for the smaller institutions, while failing to foster overall depositor confidence. 

As a final remark, we note that some papers in the literature use national banks as a control 

group when analyzing particular features of the Kansas state deposit insurance program. The fact 

that a significant portion of national banks participated in the private deposit insurance scheme 

suggests that using national banks as the control group may not be entirely appropriate. It is 

unclear, however, whether correcting for private deposit insurance participation would end up 

altering any results. We plan on investigating this issue in more detail in future research. 

 
30 

Figure 1 

Source: The Belle Plaine News, Belle Plaine, Kansas (May 5, 1910), 1. 

 
31 

Figure 2 

Bankers Deposit Guarantee and Surety Co. relative to the Kansas Deposit Guarantee 

program 

Notes: This figure display the size of the Bankers Deposit Guarantee and Surety Company 

(BDGSC) relative to the Kansas Deposit Guarantee (KDI) program using two metrics: premiums 

and assets. Specifically, “Relative Premiums” is the ratio of premiums received by BDGSC 

divided by KDI assessments for the same year. “Relative Assets” is the ratio of the BDGSC assets 

divided by KDI Bond and Cash Assets. BDGSC data are from the Annual Report of the 

Superintendent of Insurance of the State of Kansas (various years). KDI data are from Warburton 

(1959). 

 

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921

Relative Premiums Relative Assets
32 

Table 1 

Summary Statistics 

 Insured N=105 Not Insured N=162 

 Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev. 

Loans $ 614,874 $ 811,426 $ 424,931 $ 938,278 

Assets $ 1,034,732 $ 1,599,926 $ 742,406 $ 1,700,942 

Total Capital $ 136,558 $ 189,556 $ 106,762 $ 171,653 

Deposits $ 700,726 $ 897,008 $ 498,157 $ 1,040,275 

 

Surplus/Loans 0.113 0.238 0.117 0.052 

Capital/Assets 0.155 0.127 0.191 0.042 

Bonds/Assets 0.097 0.062 0.097 0.054 

Cash/Deposits 0.354 0.128 0.197 1.525 

Loans/Assets 0.641 0.130 0.639 0.105 

Deposits/Assets 0.700 0.172 0.690 0.143 

Payable/Assets 0.048 0.084 0.050 0.064 

Notes: This table presents basic summary statistics for national banks in Kansas in 1922, split by 

private deposit insurance membership. The first four rows report figures in levels, while the last 

seven rows report ratios based on balance sheet figures. Source: Annual Report of the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency, 1922. 

 
33 

Table 2: 

Deposit and Capital to Asset Ratios for National Banks using State Level Data: Pre 1922 Period 

 (1) (2) 

VARIABLES Dep/Assets Cap/Assets 

 

1909-22 period 0.0476*** -0.0708*** 

 (0.000) (0.000) 

Kansas 0.0131 -0.0108 

 (0.574) (0.528) 

Kansas*1909-22 0.0185 -0.00422 

 (0.567) (0.859) 

Constant 0.673*** 0.241*** 

 (0.000) (0.000) 

 

Observations 1,296 1,296 

R-squared 0.079 0.253 

Notes: This table reports regression results of the ratios of deposits to total assets (Dep/Assets) and 

capital to total assets (Cap/Assets) for national banks in the pre-1922 period (to focus on the 

“heyday” period of the state deposit insurance schemes).“1909-22 period” is an indicator variable 

equal to 1 for the 1909-1922 period, when the BDGSC was in effect. “Kansas” is the indicator 

variable for Kansas, 0 otherwise. “Kansas*1909-22” is the interaction term. Data is annual, from 

1896 to 1922. Pval in parentheses *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. 

 
34 

Table 3: 

Deposit and Capital to Asset Ratios for State Banks using State Level Data: Pre 1922 Period 

 (1) (2) 

VARIABLES Dep/Assets Cap/Assets 

 

1907-22 period 0.0456*** -0.0280*** 

 (0.000) (0.000) 

DI state -0.0984*** 0.0173*** 

 (0.000) (0.00116) 

DI state*1907-22 0.0653*** -0.0151** 

 (0.000) (0.041) 

Constant 0.603*** 0.160*** 

 (0.000) (0.000) 

 

Observations 1,296 1,296 

R-squared 0.098 0.094 

Notes: This table reports regression results of the ratios of deposits to total assets (Dep/Assets) and 

capital to total assets (Cap/Assets) for state-chartered banks in the pre-1922 period (to focus on 

the “heyday” period of the state deposit insurance schemes).“1907-22” is an indicator variable 

equal to 1 for the 1907-1922 period, which spans the period of highest confidence on deposit 

insurance. “DI state” is the indicator variable for the eight states that adopted deposit insurance. 

“DI state*1907-22” is the interaction term. Data is annual, from 1896 to 1922. Pval in parentheses 

*** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. 

 
35 

Table 4: 

Capital to Asset Ratios for National and State Banks using State Level Data: Post 1922 Period 

 (1) (2) (3) (4) 

VARIABLES Cap/AssetsNational Cap/AssetsState Dep/AssetsNational Dep/AssetsState 

 

Kansas -0.0074 0.022** 0.0188 -0.00674 

 (0.010) (0.010) (0.302) (0.851) 

Constant 0.127*** 0.109*** 0.803*** 0.708*** 

 (0.000) (0.001) (0.000) (0.000) 

 

Observations 336 336 336 336 

R-squared 0.001 0.020 0.003 0.000 

Notes: This table reports OLS regression results of the ratio of capital to total assets (Cap/Assets) 

for national banks (Column 1) and state banks (Column 2), as well as the ratio of deposits to total 

assets (Dep/Assets) for national and state banks (columns 3 and 4) in the post-1922 period (after 

the “heyday” period of the state deposit insurance schemes). “Kansas” is the indicator variable for 

Kansas, 0 otherwise. Data is annual, from 1923 to 1929. Pval in parentheses *** p<0.01, ** 

p<0.05, * p<0.1. 

 
36 

Table 5 

Estimating Probability of Failure Including the Private Deposit Insurance Indicator 

Variable 

 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 

 

Private DI -0.0586 -0.122 0.0164 -0.116 -0.709 

 (0.837) (0.677) (0.965) (0.697) (0.165) 

Surplus/Assets 1.949 4.066* 

 (0.203) (0.0542) 

Bonds/Assets 7.257 -0.186 7.158 

 (0.269) (0.937) (0.373) 

Loans/Assets 8.974 12.84* 

 (0.124) (0.0652) 

Cash/Deposits -2.773 -6.185 

 (0.497) (0.251) 

Deposits/Assets -2.577 -5.102* 

 (0.187) (0.0524) 

Payable/Assets -4.627 -21.05** 

 (0.438) (0.0297) 

Log(assets) 0.161 0.233 1.788*** 

 (0.293) (0.217) (0.00157) 

Capital/Assets 3.209 

 (0.231) 

Constant -1.715*** -3.815* -6.588 -5.279* -30.42*** 

 (0) (0.0589) (0.263) (0.0562) (0.00387) 

 

Observations 267 267 197 249 197 

Notes: This table reports failure probit regressions for national banks. The dependent variable 

equals to 1 if the bank failed on or before 1929, 0 otherwise. The set of control variables is: “Private 

DI” (an indicator variable equal to 1 if the national bank was a member of the private deposit 

insurance company, 0 otherwise); “Surplus/Loans” (Surplus and undivided profits relative to loans 

and discounts), “Bond/Assets” (U.S. government bonds relative to total assets), “Loans/Assets” 

(Loans and discounts relative to total assets); “Cash/Deposits” (Cash and exchange relative to total 

deposits); “Deposits/Assets” (the sum of demand deposits and time deposits relative to total 

assets); “Payable/Assets” (“Due to banks” payable figures relative to total assets); “Cash/Assets” 

(Cash and exchange relative to total assets); “Capital/Assets” (total bank capital (capital + surplus) 

relative to total assets), and “Log(assets)” (natural logarithm of total assets). P-values reported in 

parentheses under the coefficients. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. 
37 

Table 6 

Capital to Assets Regressions 

 (1) (2) (3) 

VARIABLES Capital/Assets Capital/Assets Capital/Assets Private DI -0.0356*** -0.0113 -0.606***  (0.00595) (0.337) (0.000455) Log(assets) -0.0526*** -0.0676***  (0.000) (0.000) PDI*Log(assets) 0.0450***  (0.000561) Constant 0.191*** 0.871*** 1.064***  (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) Observations 266 266 266 R-squared 0.028 0.238 0.272 

Notes: This table reports OLS regressions of the bank’s capital to assets ratio. The dependent variable is “capital

Tables 2 and 3). The independent variables are: “Private DI” (private deposit insurance membership indicator)logarithm of total assets); and “PDI*Log(assets)” (the interaction of “Private DI” and “Log(assets)”). P-values r

under the coefficients. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. 
38 

Table 7: 

Deposit to Assets Regressions 

 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Private DI 0.00988 0.00737 0.0218 0.0261 -0.1 (0.636) (0.722) (0.302) (0.220) (0.23Cash/Assets 0.278** 0.366***  (0.0443) (0.00910) Loans/Assets -0.197** -0.272 (0.0234) (0.007PDI*(Loan/Assets) 0.26 (0.15Log(assets) -0.0322*** -0.0333*** -0.032 (0.00437) (0.00393) (0.004Constant 0.690*** 0.654*** 1.059*** 1.247*** 1.288 (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.00Observations 251 251 251 251 25R-squared 0.001 0.017 0.049 0.043 0.05

Notes: This table reports OLS regressions of the bank’s deposits to assets ratio. The dependent variable is “depos

in Tables 2 and 3). The independent variables are: “Private DI” (private deposit insurance membership indicator)

and exchange relative to total assets); “Loans/Assets” (Loans and discounts relative to total assets); “PDI*(Loan/A

of “Private DI” and “Loans/Assets”); and “Log(assets) (natural logarithm of total assets). P-values reported in coefficients. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. 
39 

Table 8: 

Determinants of Private Deposit Insurance membership 

 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 

 

K-DI 0.955** 0.984** 0.983** 1.003** 1.141*** 

 (0.0104) (0.0125) (0.0125) (0.0104) (0.00869) 

Log (assets) -0.0504 -0.0493 -0.0328 0.0156 

 (0.715) (0.722) (0.815) (0.917) 

Cash/Assets -0.335 0.300 2.782 

 (0.835) (0.869) (0.381) 

Dep/Assets -1.267 -2.018 

 (0.397) (0.276) 

Loan/Assets 2.243 

 (0.295) 

Constant -0.836*** -0.0963 -0.0500 0.637 -1.660 

 (0.000186) (0.962) (0.980) (0.767) (0.572) 

 

Observations 267 267 267 267 267 

Notes: This table reports probit regressions of private deposit insurance membership on countylevel characteristics. The dependent variable is one if the bank was identified as being a member 

of the private deposit insurance as of December 31, 1919. The independent variables are: K-DI—

the proportion of state banks in the county that participated in the Kansas deposit insurance 

program in 1920. “Log(assets)” is the log of bank assets for all state banks in the county in 1920. 

“Cash/Assets” is the ratio of cash to total assets for all state banks in the county in 1920. 

“Dep/Assets” is the ratio of total deposits to total assets for all state banks in the county in 1920. 

“Loan/Assets” is the ratio of loans to total assets for all state banks in the county in 1920. P-values 

are reported in parenthesis under the estimated coefficients. Significance levels: **p<|0.05|, 

***p<|0.01|. 

 
40 

Figure 3 

Source: The Winfield Daily Free Press, Winfield, Kansas (July 1, 1910), 8. 
41 

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