Search results for "Market concentration"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
EXPLANATORY FACTORS OF MARKET POWER IN THE BANKING SYSTEM
2007
The aim of the study is to analyse the explanatory factors of market power in the banking system. Using as laboratory the Spanish banking system in the period 1986–2002, results show an increase of market power from the mid-1990s. Of the set of variables that the model posits as explaining market power, those with the greatest explanatory power are size, efficiency and specialization; concentration is not significant. This last result shows the limitations of the approaches, studies and decision-making rules of economic policy that uses market concentration as a proxy for the degree of competition.
Managing the liberalization of Italy's retail electricity market: A policy proposal☆
2020
Abstract Italy will phase out electricity retail price regulation by July 1st, 2020. Until then, residential customers and small businesses who do not choose their supplier are served under a regulated tariff named “maggior tutela” (greater protection), supplied by the local distributor at a price set by the regulator. We review the literature on electricity retail competition – with particular regard to its expected effects on prices, innovation, and customer engagement – and the conditions under which competition is expected to deliver benefits. We perform a Structure-Conduct-Performance analysis of Italy's retail electricity market for residential customers, finding two issues potentiall…
The dynamics of privatization and regulation of water services: a comparative study of two Spanish regions
2013
As in other economic activities, privatization of water delivery has not resulted in the retreat of the public sector, but rather a change in the way in which the government intervenes in the water industry. This paper illustrates this situation by comparing urban water services in two Spanish regions, Andalusia and Catalonia. Water service delivery is structured very differently in these two regions with respect to private involvement, the degree of market concentration and, as a result, problems in competition. The characteristics of the two regions' respective regulatory agencies reflect the different paths taken to privatization: in Catalonia private firms have much more tradition and o…
Determinants of Banks’ Profitability: Evidence from EU 27 Banking Systems
2015
Abstract In this study we assess the main determinants of banks’ profitability in EU27 over the period 2004-2011. We split the factors that influence bank profitability in two large groups: bank-specific (internal) factors and industry specific and macroeconomic (external) factors. We consider as proxy for banks profitability the return on average assets (ROAA) and the return on average equity (ROAE). The empirical findings are consistent with the expected results. Credit and liquidity risk, management efficiency, the diversification of business, the market concentration/competition and the economic growth have influence on bank profitability, both on ROAA and ROAE. An interesting and valua…
Contract Renewal in Urban Water Services, Incumbent Advantage, and Market Concentration
2020
Contract renewal with the incumbent is common practice in the contracting-out of public services. It could, however, affect competition by reinforcing trends towards market concentration. This article contributes empirical evidence on the determinants of the result of public tenders for the renewal of private provision of the urban water service. A dataset with information on 215 public tenders held in Spain between 2008 and 2019 is employed. The methodology is grounded in logistic regression techniques. The findings indicate that incumbents' size does not play a role in the proba-bility of alternating between service providers. Furthermore, competition−proxied by the number of bidders−and …
Concentration Dynamics in the Market for Audit of Public Interest Entities in Latvia
2020
This paper studies the dynamics of concentration levels in the market for audit of public interest entities (further PIEs) in Latvia from 2016 to 2018. This is important to identify initial effects on concentration and the likely consequences of the new EU statutory audit legislation (i.e. Directive 2014/56/EU and Regulation 537/2014) entered into force in June 2016. This paper relies primarily on the analysis of the annual reports of Latvian PIE audit firms and their associates and computes some key measures describing concentration – the Herfindahl-Hirschman index and concentration ratios CR1 or CR4. It also analyses market concentration in different categories of PIEs, notably banks. The…
Does market concentration affect prices in the urban water industry?
2015
This paper analyzes the relationship between market concentration in the private segment of the water industry and water prices with a sample of municipalities located in the Southern Spanish region of Andalusia. In doing so, several Heckman sample selection models are estimated with the main finding being that market concentration increases the price of water for residential use charged by private companies. The main policy recommendation is that urban water service privatization must be accompanied by the appropriate regulatory and institutional frameworks to promote competition among businesses and monitor water pricing.
Managing the Liberalization of Italy’s Retail Electricity Market: A Policy Proposal
2018
Italy will phase electricity retail price regulation by July 1st, 2020. This is the last step in the process of electricity market liberalization, that started in 1999. Until then, residential customers and small businesses who do not choose their supplier, will be supplied under a transitional, regulated service named “maggior tutela” (greater protection), which is supplied by the local distributor at a price set by the regulator. This paper reviews the literature on electricity retail competition – with particular regard to its expected effects on prices, innovation and customer engagement – and the condition under which its benefits may be delivered. Then a Structure-Conduct-Performance …
Banking in Spain
2016
This chapter aims to explore recent developments in the Spanish banking industry and the measures adopted in recent years to correct the imbalances that built up during the expansion, in order to give an up-to-date picture of the sector in the international context. To this end, the chapter is divided into four sections. The section following the Introduction examines the importance of the banking sector in the Spanish economy using various indicators of banking penetration. The next section, “Characteristics of the Spanish Banking Sector: Recent Trends”, looks at key features of the banking sector and its evolution in terms of a range of measures, including margins, profitability, efficien…
Network-Based Computational Techniques to Determine the Risk Drivers of Bank Failures During a Systemic Banking Crisis
2018
This paper employs a computational model of solvency and liquidity contagion assessing the vulnerability of banks to systemic risk. We find that the main risk drivers relate to the financial connections a bank has and the market concentration, apart from the size of the bank triggering the contagion, while balance sheets play only a minor role. We also find that market concentration might facilitate banks to withstand liquidity shocks better while exposing them to larger solvency chocks. Our results are validated through an out-of-sample forecasting that shows that both type I and type II prediction errors are reduced if we include network characteristics in our prediction model.