Research questions prompted by observed changes in competition data. Each question identifies an empirical approach, evidence needs, and what current observations cannot establish.
Question field / domain × method
Where the public research program is concentrated46 source-custodied questions across 5 evidence systems and 7 declared methods.
Research questions
46
signal-derived
Declared methods
7
metric-specific
Source records
12
current custody
Evidence requests
184
work to collect
Observed signalExact metric, anchors, interval, unit, and universe remain attached.
Bounded questionThe monitor question is preserved verbatim and never converted into a verdict.
Evidence requestDeclared collection work is separated from evidence already in custody.
Move from an observed change to a testable research program
Questions stay in published signal order. Methods and evidence requests are declared; no priority score is calculated.
Questions shown
46
of 46 published
Entities
32
exact signal subjects
Methods
7
of 7 declared
Source records
12
unique custody rows
Evidence requests
184
work items, not findings
Published questions46 / 46
Q12 / Geographic systemsGeographic structure
How can the nearly stable national aggregate be reconciled with state-level movement, organization turnover, branch change, and nominal deposit growth?
United States branch-deposit screen / National bank-deposit HHI
2015410
-910 years
2025401
Observed signal
The national branch-deposit HHI moved from 410 in 2015 to 401 in 2025 (-9.0 HHI points).Difference between the independently observed 2015 and 2025 national Summary of Deposits aggregates; annual state cross-sections remain a separate geographic universe.
Bounded interpretation
The later branch-deposit screen is lower than the 2015 anchor. This descriptive movement does not define a legal banking market, identify a cause, or measure every banking product.Annual statewide and national rows are independent June 30 branch-deposit screens, not interpolated observations or legal market definitions. Reported ownership structures, branch booking, and jurisdiction coverage can change between vintages; deposit values are nominal and should not be read as inflation-adjusted growth.Empirical trackGeographic structure
Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.
Evidence base
11 national annual rows / 2015-2025
Status
estimated public / high confidence
Declared empirical tracks
7 methods, each tied to a published metric family
The method register makes the work program inspectable while leaving research importance and enforcement merit unranked.
01Market mechanism
Test entry, exit, switching, price, quality, capacity, and share pathways inside the declared market boundary.
6 questions / market-hhi
02Share accounting
Reconstruct participant-share movement while checking denominator, coverage, entry, exit, and transaction changes.
9 questions / market-cr4, market-leader-share
03Industry disaggregation
Trace a sector median back to strict six-digit Census rows before proposing a product or geographic market study.
17 questions / industry-median-hhi
04Geographic structure
Reconcile national and nested geographic concentration summaries with area-level distributions, provider or ownership paths, measurement boundaries, and local-market evidence.