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In 2013-2014, Bank Muscat and National Bank of Oman requested a merger and Bank Sohar and Bank Dhofar lodged a similar request. This paper aims to investigate the shape of the market structure, and it tries to answer whether approving such requests is good for the industry, economy and society.

The study examines the market structure of Oman Banking Industry, and it also presents the shape of the market structure if there had been an approval for these mergers’ requests. The Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) and the biggest k-banks Concentration Ratio (CRk), which measure concentration changes over 17 years during the period 1998-2014, are used in this study.

The study finds that Oman’s Banking Industry is highly concentrated, which should cause concerns over these two requests of mergers or similar requests in the future. In general, the concentration ratio shows decreasing trend. The concentration ratio in the deposit market implies a concentrated market with CR2 and CR3 recording 67 and 85%, respectively, while HHI reached 2,864 points in the 1998. However, in 2014, the concentration ratio had decreased, to CR2 and CR3 recording 52 and 65% respectively, and HHI standing at 2,112 points.

The researcher suggests future investigation and further research in setting a benchmark index as a guideline for mergers’ requests.

Exercising monopoly power, by fewer banks, is very harmful to the economy. Charging higher interest rates on business loans escalates the cost of production of products and services which will cause inflation; therefore, monopoly power will lead to slow growth of the economy.

Regulators in Central Bank of Oman (CBO) or in any central bank should be very careful in granting mergers, especially among big banks, because it enables newly bigger banks to exercise monopoly power, thereby harming depositors who will be getting low deposit interest rates and harming borrowers by charging them high loan interest rate.

Even though, this study discussed two requests of mergers between banks in Oman; however, it has presented formal approaches to the measurement of market structure in any country. Overall, it provides the policymakers in making the final decisions on mergers between banks in the future which are not limited to these banks or to Oman’s Banking Industry.

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 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.

The expansion of the Islamic banking industry seems to accentuate the banking competition in MENA and Southeast Asia where conventional and Islamic banks coexist. In this context, the research aims\ to examine the competitive conditions and the market power of the conventional and Islamic banks during the period 2004-2009 in MENA and Southeast Asia region.

The authors use a variety of structural and non-structural measures related to the traditional approach and the new empirical approach of the industrial organization. The methodology is based on set of measures of the competition and market power. The first measure is a set of concentration ratios (C3, C5) and Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI). The second measures are the Panzar and Ross H statistic and the Lerner index based on econometric estimations with the aim of evaluating the structure of market and measuring its power in terms of price setting.

The results indicate that under the HHI index, both markets are low concentrated, while according to the concentration ratios, the Islamic market is considered as moderately concentrated. The estimations results, through the H-PR-statistic of Panzar and Ross related to degree of competition and the Lerner index of market power, indicate that both markets are characterized by a monopolistic competition and the Islamic banking expressed a high degree of market power.

The research focuses exclusively on the countries where the data are available and excludes the other countries where competition and market power might have different forms.

In a competitive environment, each bank is required to analyze the structure of its market and competitive conditions, in order to develop a business strategy and effective action plans. In the context of the multiplication of the Islamic banks in the MENA and Southeast Asia, the enhancement of Islamic bank competitiveness by offering new products is determinant for their success.

To the best of the authors' knowledge few studies have examined this subject in a comparative analysis between the Islamic and conventional banks. So the authors contribute to the literature on Islamic banking by considering a sample of Islamic and conventional banks operating in the same countries in order to examine the existence or not of difference between them.

This article investigates concentration, efficiency, and profitability of commercial banks operating in Saudi Arabia, which is considering acceding to the World Trade Organisation whose rules on financial services liberalisation could pose a competitive challenge to local banks. We use regression analysis to investigate the underlying determinants of Saudi bank concentration, efficiency, and profitability. The significance of the study stems from the conventional premise that highly concentrated banking or credit market introduces inefficiencies that would harm firms’ access to credit thus hindering economic growth. If banks were found to be highly concentrated and hence inefficient, then the relevant policy question that should be addressed by Saudi Arabian policy makers is what should be done to alleviate the situation. Empirical results show that Saudi banking market is highly concentrated, and healthy competition through the Saudi adoption of corrective measures would ease the problem. The Saudi government may like to consider concurrently joining the WTO, and allow non‐banking institutions to enter into brokerage business, offer financial products and services (investment banking, brokerage, and portfolio management), and compete with commercial banks through fair participation in auctioning of government securities.

While organization theories acknowledge the influence of specific assets on dependence and increasingly represent the latter as a structure of mutual dependence (dependence of A on B and dependence of B on A), there is, to the best of our knowledge, no empirical test concerning the impact of specific assets on a structure of dependence. Our chapter aims to fill this gap. It is all the more original in that it considers a case study where dependence changes sides according to the characteristics of the transaction. We examine the dependence between Chilean exporters and European importers when trading fresh produce. Such dependence originates with the need for just-in-time coordination and compliance with a compelling demand in a context of high price uncertainty.

Using a unique dataset from international trade in fresh produce between Chile and the rest of the world, we justify the use of a concentration sales ratio as a proxy for dependence and test the influence of a variety of specific assets on the side of dependence by using both categorical and dimensional approaches. Original findings show that certain transaction attributes have a strong influence on the side of dependence. In particular, the higher the frequency and the level of specific assets such as volume, niche varieties, and joint sales with other products, in the transaction, the greater the likelihood of a higher ratio of dependence for the importer rather than the exporter. Conversely, in the event of low levels of specific assets and less frequent operations, dependence tends to be greater on the side of the exporter.

Mixed fruit nectars present a combination of different tastes and flavors with combined nutritional attributes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and optimize the process variables for blended nectar based upon papaya (Carica papaya) and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria).

The nectar based upon papaya and bottle gourd was prepared with varying levels of papaya/bottle gourd juice concentration (1.5:1‐ 4:1), sugar concentration (12‐21 per cent), citric acid concentration (0.30‐0.50 per cent) and optimized using response surface methodology. A central composite rotatable design (CCRD) with three levels for three independent variables was used for optimization studies. The responses measured were pH, TA, TSS, flavor and taste of the developed nectar. Responses were numerically optimized in combination with design expert software.

The models developed for all responses were significant without significant lack of fit. Papaya/bottle gourd juice concentration ratio, sugar concentration and citric acid level were optimized at 2.47:1, 20.95 and 0.30 per cent, respectively, in order to obtain a pH, titrable acidity and TSS of 3.99, 0.348 and 20.80, respectively, with hedonic scale sensory ratings of 7.43 and 7.18 for flavor and taste, respectively, of the nectar.

The commercial production of such nectar using these optimized conditions may add new dimension to the health beverage industry.

Development of such health‐promoting mixed fruit nectars will boost demand of healthy beverage foods in society.

The product can be developed successfully using these optimized conditions. Since both papaya and bottle gourd have beneficial nutritional and medicinal properties, the development of nectar using these fruits with high sensory acceptance can prove a boon for market promoting health foods.

The purpose of this paper is to test market structure-performance hypothesis in banking industry in Kenya. Specifically, the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) and market efficiency hypotheses were examined to determine how market concentration and efficiency affect bank performance in Kenya.

The study used secondary data of 44 commercial banks operating from 2000 to 2009. Three proxies to measure bank performance were used while market concentration and market share were used as proxies for market structure. Market concentration was measured using two concentration measures; the concentration ratio of the four largest banks (CR₄) and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, while market share was used as a proxy for efficiency. The study made use of generalized least square regression method.

The empirical results confirm that market efficiency hypothesis is a predictor of firm performance in the banking sector in Kenya and rejects the traditional SCP hypothesis. Thus, the results support the view that efficient banks maximize profitability.

The study provides insights into the role of efficiency in enhancing profitability in commercial banks in Kenya. It has managerial implication that profitable banks ought to be efficient and dispels the notion of collusive behavior as a precursor for profitability.

The paper fills an important gap in the extant literature by proving insights into what determines bank profitability in banking sector in Kenya. Although this area is rich in research, little work has been conducted in the developing economies and in particular no study in the knowledge has addressed this critical issue in Kenya.

Today's worries and doubts related to the use of mineral oils increased because of the worldwide interest in environmental issues. This issue has increased the use of vegetable oils as an alternative lubricating oil candidate, environment‐friendly lubricant and their additives. In this study, rapeseed oil (RSO) in different concentrations, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 (by volume percent), was added to base oil to obtain a lubricating oil candidate. Turkish originated RSO was studied as an additive candidate in this paper. The study of the effect of additives in mineral oils was carried out using a specially designed experimental system to compare lubricating oil candidates and high temperatures using engine journal bearings under statically loaded.

Under the traditional franchise value paradigm, competition in banking markets is considered to be risk enhancing because of its tendency to raise interest rates on deposits. Taking a contrarian view, Boyd and De Nicolo (2005) have argued that competition in the loan market can lead to lower interest rates and hence reduce bank risk-taking. Following these contradictory theoretical results, the empirical evidence on the relationship between risk and competition in banking has also been mixed. This paper analyses the competition–stability relationship for the Indian banking sector for the period 1999-2000 to 2012-2013.

Banking competition is measured using structural measures of concentration, namely, five-bank concentration ratios and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index as well as a non-structural measure of competition – the Panzar-Rosse H-Statistic. Panel regression methods are used to estimate the relationships.

Our results show that while concentration leads to lower levels of default, market and asset risks, it exacerbates the levels of capital and liquidity risks.

These results have interesting implications for banking sector policy in emerging economies. For instance, any strategy on entry of new banks has to be carefully coordinated with supervisory efforts and macro-prudential policy to derive the benefits of greater competition in the banking industry.

This is the first paper that analyses the competition – stability relationship using a large number of alternative measures for the banking sector, an emerging economy.