Search results

This paper analyzes the effect of the banking market (concentration and competition) on financial development.

In order to estimate the effects of banking concentration and competition on financial development, we conducted an empirical analysis using the System Generalized Method of Moments (S-GMM) through a dynamic panel data model.

The main results suggest that concentration and competition affect financial development. In particular, an increase in bank concentration may inhibit the country's financial development, due to the lack of competition. Our results do not confirm the controversy between concentration and competition, suggesting that concerning financial development, concentration is the reverse of competition.

The results of this study add a new perspective on banking market power: a financial system concentrated or uncompetitive constrains financial development.

The literature that combines the investigation of the effects of banking market structure (concentration) and banking market conduct (competition) on financial development is scarce. Although a concentrated banking sector can reduce competition through barriers to new entrants (which could expand financial services offer), it is also true that a concentrated banking sector can be competitive. In order to avoid the controversy, our paper chooses to look into a comprehensive approach considering independent measures of bank concentration and bank competition, which together refer to the banking framework.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of banking sector concentration, banking sector development and equity market development in corporate financial flexibility (FF).

The study used annual data for the period from 1991 to 2014 to examine the relationship between banking sector concentration, banking sector development, equity market development and corporate FF; hypotheses were tested using an unbalanced panel logistic regression model.

The paper provides empirical insights into the relationships between macroeconomic factors and corporate FF. The results suggest a substantial change in FF across firms; banking sector concentration discourages firms from borrowing, leading to the reduction of corporate borrowing, consequently an increase in FF can be observed. Banking sector development facilitates debt financing, hence reducing FF. Equity market development also has a positive impact on FF, as it is a substitute for debt financing.

The banking sector is an important provider of capital to business entities. A concentrated banking system discourages the provision of capital to firms; hence regulators have to take appropriate measures to resolve the problem of a reduced supply of capital. Banking sector development facilitates the provision of capital; further development may reduce bank lending rates to firms. Equity market development positively affects FF; hence, firm managers can use equity financing to resume FF. By following pecking order theory, managers use internal sources to finance value-maximizing investment projects, debt and issue shares as the last choice to get financing. When borrowing capacity is depleted, managers can obtain further funds by issuing stocks.

FF is an emergent area of research in advanced countries, while in developing economies, it is in the initial stages. Little work is available in this area to find the impact of banking sector concentration, banking sector development and equity market development, therefore, this study fills this gap in the existing literature.

This study investigates the role of market concentration and efficiency in banking system stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. We empirically test the hypothesis that market concentration and efficiency are significant determinants of bank performance and stability during the time of crises, using a sample of 575 banks in 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The main sources of bank data are the BankScope and BankFocus (Bureau van Dijk) databases, World Bank development indicators, and official websites of banks in MENA countries. This study combined descriptive and analytical approaches. We utilize a panel dataset and adopt panel data econometric techniques such as fixed/random effects and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator.

The results reveal that market concentration negatively affects bank profitability, whereas improved efficiency further enhances bank performance and contributes to the banking sector’s overall stability. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that during the COVID-19 pandemic, bank stability strongly depended on the level of market concentration, but not on bank efficiency. However, more efficient banks are more profitable and stable if the banking institutions are Islamic. Similarly, Islamic banks with the same level of efficiency demonstrated better overall financial performance during the pandemic than their conventional peers did.

The main limitation is related to the period of COVID-19 pandemic that was covered in this paper (2020–2021). Therefore, further investigation of the COVID-19 effects on bank profitability and risk will require an extended period of the pandemic crisis, including 2022.

This study provides information that will enable bank managers and policymakers in MENA countries to assess the growing impact of market concentration and efficiency on the banking sector stability. It also helps them in formulating suitable strategies to mitigate the adverse consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our recommendations are useful guides for policymakers and regulators in countries where Islamic and conventional banking systems co-exist and compete, based on different business models and risk management practices.

The authors contribute to the banking stability literature by investigating the role of market concentration and efficiency as the main determinants of bank performance and stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is the first to analyze banking sector stability in the MENA region, using both individual and risk-adjusted aggregated performance measures.

Academic research has intensively analyzed the relationship between market concentration or market power and banking stability but provides ambiguous results, which are summarized under the concentration-stability/fragility view. We provide empirical evidence that the mixed results are due to the difficulty of identifying reliable variables to measure concentration and market power.

Using data from 3,943 banks operating in the European Union (EU)-15 between 2013 and 2020, we employ linear regression models on panel data. Banking market concentration is measured by the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), and market power is estimated by the product-specific Lerner Indices for the loan and deposit market, respectively.

Our analysis reveals a significantly stability-decreasing impact of market concentration (HHI) and a significantly stability-increasing effect of market power (Lerner Indices). In addition, we provide evidence for a weak (or even absent) empirical relationship between the (non)structural measures, challenging the validity of the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) paradigm. Our baseline findings remain robust, especially when controlling for a likely reverse causality.

Our results suggest that the HHI may reflect other factors beyond market power that influence banking stability. Thus, banking supervisors and competition authorities should investigate market concentration and market power simultaneously while considering their joint impact on banking stability.

This study aims to investigate both market concentration and bank competition of banking across six emerging Asian countries (e.g., Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam) over pre and post the 2008 global financial crisis. The conduct parameter approach following the framework suggested by Uchida and Tsutsui (2005) is used to estimate bank competition in these countries. The study employs both seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) and three-stage least squares (3SLS) to estimate simultaneously the system of equations in our model. Generally we find a negative association between market concentration and bank competition across most of the countries in the study suggesting that banks in concentrated markets collude to generate higher profits. Monopolistic competition was the best description of competitive structure of banking across the majority of countries investigated by this study. The study fills the gap in the banking literature by investigating bank competition, concentration, and their relationship across emerging Asian economies over the 2008 global financial crisis. Moreover, several policy implications for banking industry are suggested.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of banking concentration on firm leverage in 21 major emerging countries from different geographical regions, controlling for firm determinant and macroeconomic determinant of firm leverage.

This study is based on a relatively large sample of 5,779 enterprises with total 48,280 numbers of observations over the period from 2006 to 2013 and the regression model is performed by applying two-step system general method of moment estimator methodology.

This study finds a positive and significant relationship between banking concentration and firm leverage. Therefore, the overall results follow the information-based theory which indicates lower firms financing obstacles as banks are more concentrated.

Bank-level data of all the countries to measure banking concentration is until 2013, which restrict the empirical analysis until 2013. Also, the study conducts the analysis.

The study enables policymakers, society, and academics to have better understanding on the beneficial effects of alternative banking market structure on firms’ access to credit and therefore, in determining the level of firm leverage in emerging countries.

The study represents one of the limited available empirical researches to examine the beneficial effect of alternative banking market structures of firm leverage in emerging countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree of concentration and efficiency in the Vietnamese banking system using the structural model.

The authors apply the concentration ratio (CR), Herfindahl‐Hirschman Index (HHI) and concentration‐profitability model based upon the Structure‐Conduct‐Performance (SCP) and Efficiency Hypothesis (EH) approaches to examine 48 Vietnamese commercial banks over the period 1999‐2009.

The authors' empirical results show that the Vietnamese banking industry has become substantially less concentrated; however, large commercial banks still dominate the whole banking system. Further, their results do not support either the traditional Structure‐Conduct‐Performance or the Efficiency Hypothesis.

The State Bank of Vietnam needs to have policies for restructuring the system and promoting competition in the banking sector of Vietnam.

This is the first such study of the Vietnamese banking system.

Keeping in view the robust growth of Islamic banking around the globe, this study aims to comparatively analyze the association between liquidity creation and liquidity risk for Islamic banks (IBANs) and conventional banks (CBANs) in Pakistan and Malaysia over a period of 2004–2021. The moderating role of bank loan concentration on the aforementioned relationship is also studied.

Regression estimation methods such as fixed effect, random effect and generalized least square are deployed for obtaining results. Liquidity creation Burger Bouwman measure (cat fat and noncat fat) and Basel-III liquidity risk measure (liquidity coverage ratio) are also used.

The results give us insight that liquidity creation is positively and significantly related to liquidity risk in both IBANs and CBANs of Pakistan and Malaysia. This relationship has been moderated negatively (reversed) and significantly by credit concentration showing the importance of risk management and loan portfolio concentration.

It is analyzed that during the process of liquidity creation, IBANs in Pakistan faced more liquidity risk for both on and off-balance sheet transactions in the presence of moderation of loan concentration than IBANs in Malaysia necessitating strategic policy-making for important aspects of liquidity risk management and loan concentration while creating liquidity.

Such studies comparing IBANs and CBANs comparison keeping in view liquidity creation, liquidity risk and loan concentration are either limited or nonexistent.

This study aims to examine the influence of institutional quality on the relationship between economic growth and banking sector concentration.

The sample of our study covers 15 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries over the period 1996-2010. The results are estimated based on static and dynamic panel data analysis.

The results reveal a positive and significant relationship between economic growth and each banking concentration and institutional quality. The results support the argument that banking concentration and institutional quality are matters for growth in MENA countries. The results also indicate that the interaction variable between concentration and institutional quality is negative and significant.

Building on Petersen and Rajans’ (1995) argument, this study suggests that in the absence of an appropriate level of institutional quality, banks in MENA region can depend on their market power to protect their benefits. This can be achieved by building long-term relationships with their borrowers to provide continuing credit and subsequently enhancing economic growth.

Under the low level of institutional quality in MENA countries, regulators and decision-makers should thoroughly think before imposing any policy that aims to restrict banking market power because such action could harm the economy.

In developing countries, banking concentration may have a positive impact on the economy. This outcome may lead to an improvement in the standard of living for the society.

This is the first known study, to the best of our knowledge, that examines the role of institutional quality in shaping the relationship between economic growth and banking concentration in MENA countries. The authors opted to select MENA countries’ data because they generally reflect an institutional setting similar to many developing countries. Therefore, the results could be applicable in many developing economies and will encourage other researchers to investigate this proposition.

The banking system has a huge impact on a nation's economic environment. A concentrated banking system has a negative impact on the economy. Therefore, the research in this paper has two main goals: to explore the main factors that impact the level of concentration in the banking system; and to demonstrate how a reform in a banking system can reduce the negative impact of high levels of concentration.

A sample of 42 nations was used with various levels of concentration in their banking system to examine factors influencing bank concentration. Logit and OLS regressions were conducted to highlight the impact of the independent variables on the level of concentration in those nations. The latest Israeli reforms in the banking system were used to illustrate how reforms reduce concentration.

The empirical results concluded that economic freedom had a positive impact on the level of concentration. It was also found that cultural variables had an impact on the concentration level. Finally, analyzing the banking sector in Israel, it was found that the reform did decrease the level of concentration of the banking system.

The innovation of this paper is that it adds Hofstede's cultural variables as explanatory variables for the level of concentration in the banking system. It also highlights the role of public regulation for achieving efficiency in the banking sector by using the example of Israeli banking reforms.