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The issue of export instability exerts an enduring fascination for economists with an interest in the area of economic development. Over several decades a voluminous literature has emerged embracing debates on the domestic consequences and on the causes of export instability. The purpose here is to examine these debates and an attempt is made to set out different theoretical stances, to classify and examine empirical findings, and to indicate the directions in which the debates have moved. Such a statement of a review article's purpose is, of course, incomplete without more specific delineation of the boundaries within which the general objectives are pursued. Here that delineation has three facets.

This study develops a systematic analysis of the concentration and inequality levels of 20 Spanish industries over the period 1990‐2001. The methodology traced is based on the use of indices both for evaluating the inequality (Gini,MRD&Coefficient of Variation), and for studying the concentration (Herfindahl‐Hirchman, Theil & Hannah‐Kay). This article adopts a dynamic approach, through the Distributional Change Index. The analysis confirms the different behaviour within the durable and non‐durable goods groups of Spain’s industries. Significant differences also appear with respect to the characterisation of the sectors. These characteristics are centred on the intensity of capital and skill, the capacity for technological development and the intensive use of agricultural inputs. Another of the most relevant conclusions is that referring to the increase competition of certain industries in Spain, particularly those belonging to the non‐durable goods group.

The IRB capital requirements of Basel II define the minimum level of capital that the bank has to retain to cover the current risks of its portfolio. The major risk that many banks are facing is credit risk and Basel II provides an approach to calculate its capital requirement. It is well known that Pillar I Basel II approach for credit risk capital requirements does not include concentration risk. The paper aims to propose a model modifying Basel II methodology (IRB) to include name concentration risk.

The model is developed on data based on a portfolio of Greek companies that are financed by Greek commercial banks. Based on the initial portfolio, new portfolios were simulated having a range of different credit risk parameters. Subsequently, the credit VaR of various portfolios was regressed against the credit risk indicators such as Basel II capital requirements, modified Herfindahl Index and a non-linear model was developed. This model modifies the Pillar I IRB capital requirements model of Basel II to include name concentration risk.

As the Pillar I IRB capital requirements model of Basel II does not include concentration risk, the credit VaR calculations performed in the present work appeared to have gaps with the Basel II capital requirements. These gaps were more apparent when there was high concentration risk in the credit portfolios. The new model bridges this gap providing with a correction coefficient.

The credit VaR of a loan portfolio could be calculated from the bank easily, without the use of additional complicated algorithms and systems.

The model is constructed in such a way as to provide an approximation of credit VaR satisfactory for business loan portfolios whose risk parameters lie within the range of those in a realistic bank credit portfolio and without the application of Monte Carlo simulations.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze merchandise trade patterns among the GCC states with the backdrop of economic diversification within these economies.

This empirical research quantitatively analyses patterns of merchandise trade among the GCC states during 1995-2015 with specific focus on concentration, diversification and similarity of (export and import) trade indices as well as diversification within GCC economies.

The paper concludes that while Bahrain merchandise export structure shows dissimilarity when compared with other GCC states during 1995 and 2015, its imports appear to be very similar with those of the rest. The other five GCC states show more similarity among themselves in both merchandise exports and imports than that of Bahrain. Only UAE has shown an increase in both concentration and diversification indices though the increased numbers are still lower than those of the other GCC states and low in absolute terms.

The GCC has embarked on economic diversification; however, there is relatively less trade within the GCC as compared with other regional trading blocks. The paper considers trade within the GCC to explore the degree of similarity, diversification and concentration of traded products of each country. Further study should analyze the impact of diversification on intra-GCC trade. The results of this paper will be of value to GCC policymakers for providing a clear rationale for boosting trade and diversification with the long-term goal of a single currency economic union.

Amidst the backdrop of a wide array of structural developments that have revolutionized the competitive landscape of Indian commercial banking, this paper aims to empirically examine the role of two external monitoring mechanisms – competition and concentration on financial stability and further highlights the significance of bank-level heterogeneity in the nexus.

The study uses the Lerner index, defined through a translog specification, as a measure of market power. A system generalized method of moments technique accounts for the dynamic associations among the competition-concentration-stability nexus. The study further examines the moderating effect of ownership, size and capitalization on the nexus. The study also uses the Boone indicator and comments on the competition-bank stability relationship after controlling for bank governance.

The findings indicate that banks are less stable in a more competitive and higher concentrated environment. Exploring bank-level heterogeneity, first, the authors report that as competition increases, state-owned banks have greater incentives to undertake risky activities than private and foreign banks, which point to implicit sovereign guarantees that characterize the former. Second, the authors document an adverse influence of competition on the soundness of larger banks consistent with the “too-big-to-fail” assertion. Third, results corroborate the disciplinary role of regulatory capital and lend support to stricter capital norms under Basel III in a more competitive environment.

This paper is perhaps the first to capture competition and concentration in a single model; to reconcile conflicting evidence on competition-risk nexus; to shed light on the joint effect of competition and Basel accords for Indian banks.

In an earlier paper (House, 1973) the structural characteristics of manufacturing industries, as indicated by the number of competitors in relation to the size of the market, were related to their performance in Kenya for 1963. The index of concentration was constructed so that account was taken of the influence of foreign competition in the home market. This factor is relatively large in some markets of a developing country and could not be ignored as it has been in most other studies of the developed world. The results showed both a positive and continuous relationship between a measure of performance and the index of concentration. In addition, it proved impossible to establish any independent influence on performance of a proxy measure for the capital requirements barrier to entry, which has been found to be important in other studies (Bain, 1951; Mann, 1966).

The purpose of this paper is to propose the application of Gini, Theil and concentration indices for measuring inequality in water usage.

Gini coefficients and Theil indices have been used to estimate the overall inequality in domestic water use in a sample of 30 countries around the world. Along with Theil’s L (unweighted) index, liters per capita per day and gross national income weighted Theil index have also been estimated. Theil indices have been further disintegrated into within- and between-group inequalities. Concentration curve is also constructed to study the inequality in water use in accordance to the countries’ economic standing.

Domestic water use is high among the well-off countries considered in the study. Also, the Theil indices indicate that between group inequality contributes more to the overall inequality. It is observed that Theil indices, which consider only per capita water usage and can be decomposed, give a better insight into the existing inequality.

Different approaches were used to quantify inequality. The choice of index depends on the context of the study. The proposed approaches can contribute to planning of sustainable water management and development policies.

There is a dearth of metrics for quantifying inequality in water access or use. The study presents the application of indices, widely used in quantifying inequality in access to other resources such as income and energy, in assessing water inequality.

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into how citations are distributed and concentrated in the introduction, methods, discussion, results and other sections of journal articles to determine which section has received the most citations and whether the citation concentration score affects how articles rank.

The present study uses scite.ai and the Dimensions database to emphasize the significance of including multiple in-text citations in evaluating the impact and quality of journal publications. The study has two approaches: paper-based and author-based.

The study provides empirical insights into how variations in ranking are observed when citation concentration is considered in the evaluation process. It also suggests that in-text citations be used as an evaluation criterion or aspect for assessing the impact and quality of journals, publications and authors.

This study underscores the importance of considering citation concentration when evaluating journal articles. To assess highly cited articles, it suggests using the CC-index method, which is based on scite.ai.

Using an original product level database, this article analyzes the nature and dynamics of Swiss specializations during the “first globalization” (1850–1913). I study the comparative advantages, as well as the evolution of the trade structure, in order to understand economic performance differences between Switzerland and France. Despite differences in terms of market size, some common trends are identified. I also argue that Switzerland's skilled labor force, along with an intelligent choice of economic policy, allowed this country to adapt its specialization structure to global demand and enjoy rapid economic growth.