IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/buecrs/v57y2005i1p67-91.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Market Structure, Efficiency and Rising Consolidation of the Banking Industry in the Euro Area

Author

Listed:
  • Panayotis Kapopoulos
  • Fotios Siokis

Abstract

Four factors are fundamentally altering the financial landscape in the Euro Area: deregulation, further disintermediation provoked by the common currency and common monetary policy, technological advances and increased competition from non‐bank intermediaries. Faced with the combined pressures of these factors, banks are devising strategies to do business in this new environment. They respond by attempting to improve their efficiency and/or market power through consolidation and balance sheet restructuring. This article examines whether the ongoing process of consolidation should be rationalized on the basis of the benefits of economies of scale and scope or to the attempt of banks to tackle excess capacity problems. Empirical findings reveal a significant effect of efficiency measures on banking profitability indices. Also, we argue that further disintermediation caused by common currency and common monetary policy poses a threat to banks' profitability. Finally, these results have some implications for merger and antitrust policy as well as for supervisory and regulatory practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Panayotis Kapopoulos & Fotios Siokis, 2005. "Market Structure, Efficiency and Rising Consolidation of the Banking Industry in the Euro Area," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 67-91, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:buecrs:v:57:y:2005:i:1:p:67-91
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8586.2005.00215.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8586.2005.00215.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8586.2005.00215.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Berger, Allen N, 1995. "The Profit-Structure Relationship in Banking--Tests of Market-Power and Efficient-Structure Hypotheses," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(2), pages 404-431, May.
    2. Ms. Agnes A Belaisch & Mr. Joaquim Vieira Ferreira Levy & Ms. Laura E. Kodres & Mr. Angel J. Ubide, 2001. "Euro-Area Banking At the Crossroads," IMF Working Papers 2001/028, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Kapopoulos, Panayotis, 2001. "Is There Excess Capacity in the Greek Banking System?," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 54(3), pages 361-383.
    4. Allen N. Berger & David B. Humphrey, 1992. "Megamergers in banking and the use of cost efficiency as an antitrust defense," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 203, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    6. De Bandt, Olivier & Davis, E. Philip, 2000. "Competition, contestability and market structure in European banking sectors on the eve of EMU," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1045-1066, June.
    7. Berger, Allen N. & Demsetz, Rebecca S. & Strahan, Philip E., 1999. "The consolidation of the financial services industry: Causes, consequences, and implications for the future," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(2-4), pages 135-194, February.
    8. Panzar, John C & Rosse, James N, 1987. "Testing for "Monopoly" Equilibrium," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 443-456, June.
    9. Demsetz, Harold, 1973. "Industry Structure, Market Rivalry, and Public Policy," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, April.
    10. Altunbas, Y. & Gardener, E. P. M. & Molyneux, P. & Moore, B., 2001. "Efficiency in European banking," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1931-1955, December.
    11. Gilbert, R Alton, 1984. "Bank Market Structure and Competition: A Survey," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 16(4), pages 617-644, November.
    12. Baumol, William J, 1982. "Contestable Markets: An Uprising in the Theory of Industry Structure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(1), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Smirlock, Michael, 1985. "Evidence on the (Non) Relationship between Concentration and Profitability in Banking," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 17(1), pages 69-83, February.
    14. David T. Llewellyn, 1999. "The New Economics of Banking," SUERF Studies, SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum, number 5 edited by Morten Balling, May.
    15. Allen N. Berger & Robert De Young & Gregory F. Udell, 2001. "Efficiency Barriers to the Consolidation of the European Financial Services Industry," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 7(1), pages 117-130, March.
    16. Hannan, Timothy H., 1991. "Bank commercial loan markets and the role of market structure: evidence from surveys of commercial lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 133-149, February.
    17. Short, Brock K., 1979. "The relation between commercial bank profit rates and banking concentration in Canada, Western Europe, and Japan," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 209-219, September.
    18. Molyneux, Phil & Lloyd-Williams, D. M. & Thornton, John, 1994. "Competitive conditions in european banking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 445-459, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Burki, Abid A. & Ahmad, Shabbir, 2010. "Bank governance changes in Pakistan: Is there a performance effect?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 129-146, March.
    2. Emilios Galariotis & Kyriaki Kosmidou & Dimitrios Kousenidis & Eirini Lazaridou & Trifon Papapanagiotou, 2021. "Measuring the effects of M&As on Eurozone bank efficiency: an innovative approach on concentration and credibility impacts," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 306(1), pages 343-368, November.
    3. Jiang, Chunxia & Yao, Shujie & Zhang, Zongyi, 2009. "The effects of governance changes on bank efficiency in China: A stochastic distance function approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 717-731, December.
    4. Gajewski, Krzysztof & Olszewski, Krzysztof & Pawłowska, Małgorzata & Rogowski, Wojciech & Tchorek, Grzegorz & Zięba, Jolanta, 2012. "Integracja finansowa w Europie po wprowadzeniu euro. Przegląd literatury [Financial integration in Europe after the introduction of the euro. A literature overview]," MPRA Paper 42482, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Osuagwu, Eze Simpson & Isola, Wakeel & Nwaogwugwu, Isaac, 2018. "Measuring Technical Efficiency and Productivity Change in the Nigerian Banking Sector: A Comparison of non-parametric DEA and parametric SFA," MPRA Paper 112948, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Fotios Pasiouras, 2008. "International evidence on the impact of regulations and supervision on banks’ technical efficiency: an application of two-stage data envelopment analysis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 187-223, February.
    7. Chan, Sok-Gee & Koh, Eric H.Y. & Zainir, Fauzi & Yong, Chen-Chen, 2015. "Market structure, institutional framework and bank efficiency in ASEAN 5," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 84-112.
    8. Robert DeYoung & Douglas Evanoff & Philip Molyneux, 2009. "Mergers and Acquisitions of Financial Institutions: A Review of the Post-2000 Literature," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 36(2), pages 87-110, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carbó, Santiago & Humphrey, David & Maudos, Joaquín & Molyneux, Philip, 2009. "Cross-country comparisons of competition and pricing power in European banking," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 115-134, February.
    2. Natasa Koutsomanoli & Christos Staikouras, 2004. "Competition and Concentration," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2004 26, Money Macro and Finance Research Group.
    3. Shin, Dong Jin & Kim, Brian H.S., 2013. "Bank consolidation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence from the Korean banking industry," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 41-50.
    4. Valverde, S. Carbo & Humphrey, David B. & Fernandez, F. Rodriguez, 2003. "Bank deregulation is better than mergers," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 429-449, December.
    5. Barbara Casu & Claudia Girardone & Philip Molyneux, 2012. "Is There a Conflict between Competition and Financial Stability?," Chapters, in: James R. Barth & Chen Lin & Clas Wihlborg (ed.), Research Handbook on International Banking and Governance, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Marcel Canoy & Machiel van Dijk & Jan Lemmen & Ruud de Mooij & Jürgen Weigand, 2001. "Competition and stability in banking," CPB Document 15.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    7. Coccorese, Paolo, 2009. "Market power in local banking monopolies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1196-1210, July.
    8. Ronald Kumar & Arvind Patel, 2014. "Exploring competitiveness in banking sector of a small island economy: a study of Fiji," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 3169-3183, November.
    9. Céline Gondat-Larralde & Erlend Nier, 2006. "Switching costs in the market for personal current accounts: some evidence for the United Kingdom," Bank of England working papers 292, Bank of England.
    10. Goddard, John & Molyneux, Philip & Wilson, John O.S. & Tavakoli, Manouche, 2007. "European banking: An overview," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1911-1935, July.
    11. Abdul Rafay & Saqib Farid, 2018. "Competitive Environment in Banking Industry: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 10(3), pages 65-84, September.
    12. Hong Liu & Phil Molyneux & John O.S. Wilson, 2013. "Competition in banking: measurement and interpretation," Chapters, in: Adrian R. Bell & Chris Brooks & Marcel Prokopczuk (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Empirical Finance, chapter 8, pages 197-215, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Khan, Habib Hussain & Ahmad, Rubi Binti & Chan, Sok Gee, 2018. "Market structure, bank conduct and bank performance: Evidence from ASEAN," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 934-958.
    14. Evan Kraft, 2006. "How Competitive Is Croatia's Banking System?," Working Papers 14, The Croatian National Bank, Croatia.
    15. Coccorese, Paolo & Pellecchia, Alfonso, 2013. "Multimarket contact, competition and pricing in banking," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 187-214.
    16. Shaffer, Sherrill, 2004. "Patterns of competition in banking," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 287-313.
    17. Phil Molyneux & Hong Liu & John O.S. Wilson, 2010. "Measuring Competition and Stability: Recent Evidence for European Banking," Working Papers 10020, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    18. Neuberger, Doris, 1997. "Structure, Conduct and Performance in Banking Markets," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 12, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    19. Doris Neu Berger, 1998. "Industrial Organization of Banking: A Review," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 97-118.
    20. Douglas D. Evanoff & Evren Ors, 2008. "The Competitive Dynamics of Geographic Deregulation in Banking: Implications for Productive Efficiency," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(5), pages 897-928, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:buecrs:v:57:y:2005:i:1:p:67-91. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0307-3378 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.