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Competition and Stability: What's Special about Banking?

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  • Philipp Hartmann
  • Elena Carletti

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between competition policies and policies to preserve stability in the banking sector. Market structures and the relative importance of the three classical antitrust areas for banking are discussed, showing the predominance of merger review considerations for loan and deposit markets as well as the relevance of cartel considerations for payment systems. A core part of the paper is an analysis of the relative roles of competition and supervisory authorities in the review of bank mergers for the G-7 industrialised countries. A wide variety of approaches emerges, with some countries giving a stronger role to prudential supervisors than to competition authorities and other countries doing it the other way round. In search for explanations for this diversity the theoretical and empirical literature on the competition-stability nexus in banking is surveyed. It turns out that the widely accepted trade-off between competition and stability does not generally hold.

Suggested Citation

  • Philipp Hartmann & Elena Carletti, 2002. "Competition and Stability: What's Special about Banking?," FMG Special Papers sp140, Financial Markets Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:fmg:fmgsps:sp140
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    Cited by:

    1. Carletti, Elena & Hartmann, Philipp & Ongena, Steven, 2015. "The economic impact of merger control legislation," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 88-104.
    2. Brei, Michael & Jacolin, Luc & Noah, Alphonse, 2020. "Credit risk and bank competition in Sub-Saharan Africa," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    3. Stijn Claessens, 2009. "Competition in the Financial Sector: Overview of Competition Policies," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 24(1), pages 83-118, April.
    4. repec:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201603021033 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Carletti, Elena & Hartmann, Philipp & Ongena, Steven, 2015. "The economic impact of merger control legislation," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 88-104.
    6. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "Banks and Markets: the Changing Character of European Finance," CEPR Discussion Papers 3865, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Stenbacka, Rune & Takalo, Tuomas, 2019. "Switching costs and financial stability," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 14-24.
    8. Focarelli, Dario & Pozzolo, Alberto Franco, 2008. "Cross-border M&As in the financial sector: Is banking different from insurance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 15-29, January.
    9. Vesala, Timo, 2004. "Asymmetric information in credit markets and entrepreneurial risk taking," Research Discussion Papers 14/2004, Bank of Finland.
    10. Fiordelisi, Franco & Marques-Ibanez, David & Molyneux, Phil, 2011. "Efficiency and risk in European banking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1315-1326, May.
    11. International Monetary Fund, 2007. "Italy—Assessing Competition and Efficiency in the Banking System," IMF Working Papers 2007/026, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Donato Masciandaro, 2012. "Determinants of Financial Supervision Regimes: Markets, Institutions, Politics, Law or Geography?," Chapters, in: Kern Alexander & Rahul Dhumale (ed.), Research Handbook on International Financial Regulation, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Bhagat, Sanjai & Bolton, Brian & Lu, Jun, 2015. "Size, leverage, and risk-taking of financial institutions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 520-537.
    14. Mälkönen, Ville & Vesala, Timo, 2006. "The adverse selection problem in imperfectly competitive credit markets," Research Discussion Papers 26/2006, Bank of Finland.
    15. Sinha, Pankaj & Sharma, Sakshi, 2016. "Relationship of financial stability and risk with market structure and competition: evidence from Indian banking sector," MPRA Paper 72247, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Klüh, Ulrich, 2005. "Safety Net Design and Systemic Risk: New Empirical Evidence," Discussion Papers in Economics 662, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    17. Chu, Kam Hon, 2015. "Bank consolidation and stability: The Canadian experience, 1867–1935," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 46-60.
    18. Michalak, Tobias C. & Uhde, André, 2012. "Credit risk securitization and bank soundness in Europe," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 272-285.
    19. Sylwester Kozak, 2008. "The Influence of Consolidation and Concentration of the Banking Sector on the Price Level in the Banks. The Example of USA," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 21.
    20. Donatella Porrini & Giovanni B. Ramello, 2005. "Competition in banking: switching costs and the limits of antitrust enforcement," Chapters, in: Alain Marciano & Jean-Michel Josselin (ed.), Law and the State, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    22. Bhattacharyya, Aditi & Pal, Sudeshna, 2013. "Financial reforms and technical efficiency in Indian commercial banking: A generalized stochastic frontier analysis," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 109-117.
    23. Kemppainen, Kari, 2003. "Competition and regulation in European retail payment systems," Research Discussion Papers 16/2003, Bank of Finland.
    24. Farruggio, Christian & Uhde, André, 2015. "Determinants of loan securitization in European banking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 12-27.
    25. Mr. Gianni De Nicolo & John H. Boyd, 2003. "Bank Risk-Taking and Competition Revisited," IMF Working Papers 2003/114, International Monetary Fund.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L4 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies

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