IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jecfin/v44y2020i2d10.1007_s12197-019-09488-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Banking Competition and Bank Size: Some Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Paolo Coccorese

    (University of Salerno)

  • Laura Santucci

    (University of Salerno)

Abstract

This paper assesses the degree of competition of the Italian banking industry and investigates whether there are differences in the competitive behaviour related to the size of the intermediaries. Competition is measured using the Bresnahan-Lau model, estimated on a panel dataset of 125 observations over the period 1989-2013. Annual data are collected from the Bank of Italy, and are aggregated into dimensional categories: major, large, medium, small, and minor banks. The results suggest that the sector is rather competitive and that the level of competitiveness has increased over the observed period. Besides, the events occurred in the Nineties seem to have had a structural effect on banks’ market power, as well as the aftermath of the recent financial crisis. The estimates also point out that smaller banks enjoy a higher degree of market power, which is consistent with the relationship lending that characterizes the interaction between banks and borrowers in Italy.

Suggested Citation

  • Paolo Coccorese & Laura Santucci, 2020. "Banking Competition and Bank Size: Some Evidence from Italy," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 44(2), pages 278-299, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jecfin:v:44:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s12197-019-09488-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s12197-019-09488-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12197-019-09488-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12197-019-09488-2?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Panzar, John C & Rosse, James N, 1987. "Testing for "Monopoly" Equilibrium," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 443-456, June.
    2. Sapienza, Paola, 2004. "The effects of government ownership on bank lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 357-384, May.
    3. Patrick Bolton & Xavier Freixas & Leonardo Gambacorta & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli, 2016. "Relationship and Transaction Lending in a Crisis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(10), pages 2643-2676.
    4. Iwata, Gyoichi, 1974. "Measurement of Conjectural Variations in Oligopoly," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 42(5), pages 947-966, September.
    5. Shaffer, Sherrill, 1983. "The Rosse-Panzar statistic and the Lerner index in the short run," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 175-178.
    6. Leonardo Gambacorta & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli, 2014. "Bank Heterogeneity and Interest Rate Setting: What Lessons Have We Learned since Lehman Brothers?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(4), pages 753-778, June.
    7. Olivero, María Pía & Li, Yuan & Jeon, Bang Nam, 2011. "Competition in banking and the lending channel: Evidence from bank-level data in Asia and Latin America," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 560-571, March.
    8. 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.
    9. Arnoud W. A. Boot & Anjan V. Thakor, 2000. "Can Relationship Banking Survive Competition?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 679-713, April.
    10. Joe S. Bain, 1951. "Relation of Profit Rate to Industry Concentration: American Manufacturing, 1936–1940," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 65(3), pages 293-324.
    11. Robert DeYoung & William Hunter & Gregory Udell, 2004. "The Past, Present, and Probable Future for Community Banks," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 85-133, April.
    12. Shaffer, Sherrill, 2004. "Patterns of competition in banking," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 287-313.
    13. Neven, Damien & Roller, Lars-Hendrik, 1999. "An aggregate structural model of competition in the European banking industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(7), pages 1059-1074, October.
    14. Juan Fernández De Guevara & Joaquín Maudos, 2007. "Explanatory Factors Of Market Power In The Banking System," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 75(3), pages 275-296, June.
    15. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 1995. "The Effect of Credit Market Competition on Lending Relationships," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 407-443.
    16. David Aristei & Manuela Gallo, 2017. "The determinants of firm–bank relationships in Italy: bank ownership type, diversification and multiple banking relationships," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(15), pages 1512-1543, December.
    17. Gruben, William C. & McComb, Robert P., 2003. "Privatization, competition, and supercompetition in the Mexican commercial banking system," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 229-249, February.
    18. Bresnahan, Timothy F., 1982. "The oligopoly solution concept is identified," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 10(1-2), pages 87-92.
    19. Zardkoohi, Asghar & Fraser, Donald R, 1998. "Geographical Deregulation and Competition in U.S. Banking Markets," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 33(2), pages 85-98, May.
    20. Elsas, Ralf, 2005. "Empirical determinants of relationship lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 32-57, January.
    21. Shaffer, Sherrill, 1993. "A Test of Competition in Canadian Banking," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 25(1), pages 49-61, February.
    22. Michiel van Leuvensteijn & Jacob Bikker & Adrian van Rixtel & Christoffer Kok Sørensen, 2011. "A new approach to measuring competition in the loan markets of the euro area," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(23), pages 3155-3167.
    23. Dario Focarelli & Fabio Panetta, 2003. "Are Mergers Beneficial to Consumers? Evidence from the Market for Bank Deposits," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1152-1172, September.
    24. Xiaoqing Maggie Fu & Yongjia Rebecca Lin & Philip Molyneux, 2015. "Bank Competition and Financial Stability in Asia Pacific," Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, in: Bank Competition, Efficiency and Liquidity Creation in Asia Pacific, chapter 3, pages 49-71, Palgrave Macmillan.
    25. Jacob A. Bikker & Sherrill Shaffer & Laura Spierdijk, 2012. "Assessing Competition with the Panzar-Rosse Model: The Role of Scale, Costs, and Equilibrium," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(4), pages 1025-1044, November.
    26. Bikker, Jacob A. & Haaf, Katharina, 2002. "Competition, concentration and their relationship: An empirical analysis of the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(11), pages 2191-2214, November.
    27. Angelini, P. & Di Salvo, R. & Ferri, G., 1998. "Availability and cost of credit for small businesses: Customer relationships and credit cooperatives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 925-954, August.
    28. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. "Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-1400, September.
    29. Riccardo De Bonis & Fabio Farabullini, & Miria Rocchelli & Alessandra Salvio, 2012. "A Quantitative Look at the Italian Banking System: Evidence from a New Dataset since 1861," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 26, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    30. Enrico Sette & Giorgio Gobbi, 2015. "Relationship Lending During A Financial Crisis," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 453-481, June.
    31. Claudia Girardone & Philip Molyneux & Edward Gardener, 2004. "Analysing the determinants of bank efficiency: the case of Italian banks," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 215-227.
    32. Lau, Lawrence J., 1982. "On identifying the degree of competitiveness from industry price and output data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 10(1-2), pages 93-99.
    33. Thorsten Beck & Barbara Casu (ed.), 2016. "The Palgrave Handbook of European Banking," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-52144-6.
    34. De Bonis, Riccardo & Marinelli, Giuseppe & Vercelli, Francesco, 2018. "Playing yo-yo with bank competition: New evidence from 1890 to 2014," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 134-151.
    35. Alexander, Donald L., 1988. "The oligopoly solution tested," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 361-364.
    36. Angelini, Paolo & Cetorelli, Nicola, 2003. "The Effects of Regulatory Reform on Competition in the Banking Industry," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(5), pages 663-684, October.
    37. Uchida, Hirofumi & Tsutsui, Yoshiro, 2005. "Has competition in the Japanese banking sector improved?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 419-439, February.
    38. 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.
    39. Jacob A. Bikker & Laura Spierdijk & Paul Finnie, 2006. "The Impact of Bank Size on Market Power," DNB Working Papers 120, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    40. Shaffer, Sherrill & Spierdijk, Laura, 2015. "The Panzar–Rosse revenue test and market power in banking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 340-347.
    41. Shaffer, Sherrill, 1989. "Competition in the U.S. banking industry," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 321-323.
    42. Klaus Schaeck & Martin Cihák, 2014. "Competition, Efficiency, and Stability in Banking," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(1), pages 215-241, March.
    43. Nadège Jassaud, 2014. "Reforming the Corporate Governance of Italian Banks," IMF Working Papers 2014/181, International Monetary Fund.
    44. 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.
    45. Bresnahan, Timothy F., 1989. "Empirical studies of industries with market power," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 17, pages 1011-1057, Elsevier.
    46. Fabio Panetta & Dario Focarelli, 2003. "Are Mergers Beneficial to Consumers? Evidence from the Italian Market for Bank Deposits," CEIS Research Paper 10, Tor Vergata University, CEIS.
    47. Monticelli, Carlo, 1992. "How Close Is Short-Run Co-ordination within Financial Groups?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 750-766, October.
    48. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1994. "The Benefits of Lending Relationships: Evidence from Small Business Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-37, March.
    49. Marta Degl’Innocenti & Tapas Mishra & Simon Wolfe, 2018. "Branching, lending and competition in Italian banking," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 208-230, February.
    50. Riccardo De Bonis & Annalisa Ferrando, 2000. "The Italian Banking Structure in the 1990s: Testing the Multimarket Contact Hypothesis," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 29(2), pages 215-241, July.
    51. Coccorese, Paolo, 2009. "Market power in local banking monopolies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1196-1210, July.
    52. Ferri, Giovanni & Kalmi, Panu & Kerola, Eeva, 2014. "Does bank ownership affect lending behavior? Evidence from the Euro area," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 194-209.
    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. Mariarosaria Agostino & Lucia Errico & Sandro Rondinella & Francesco Trivieri, 2024. "Leverage and SMEs financial stability: the role of banking competition," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 48(2), pages 345-376, June.
    2. Forgione, Antonio Fabio & Migliardo, Carlo, 2020. "CSR engagement and market structure: Evidence from listed banks," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    3. Xing, Tiancai & Li, Xue & Feng, Nianqiao, 2024. "Is bank competition conducive to corporate ESG performance?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).

    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. 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.
    2. Coccorese, Paolo, 2009. "Market power in local banking monopolies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1196-1210, July.
    3. Coccorese, Paolo, 2012. "Banks as ‘fat cats’: Branching and price decisions in a two-stage model of competition," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 64(5), pages 338-363.
    4. Coccorese, Paolo & Girardone, Claudia & Shaffer, Sherrill, 2021. "What affects bank market power in the euro area? A country-level structural model approach," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Li, Shaofang & Marinč, Matej, 2016. "Competition in the clearing and settlement industry," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 134-162.
    7. De Bonis, Riccardo & Marinelli, Giuseppe & Vercelli, Francesco, 2018. "Playing yo-yo with bank competition: New evidence from 1890 to 2014," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 134-151.
    8. Cruz-García, Paula & Fernández de Guevara, Juan & Maudos, Joaquín, 2021. "Bank competition and multimarket contact intensity," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    9. Manthos D. Delis & K. Christos Staikouras & Panagiotis T. Varlagas, 2008. "On the Measurement of Market Power in the Banking Industry," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7‐8), pages 1023-1047, September.
    10. 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.
    11. Andrei Dubovik & Natasha Kalara, 2018. "Can we measure banking sector competition robustly?," CPB Discussion Paper 386.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Trivieri, Francesco, 2007. "Does cross-ownership affect competition?: Evidence from the Italian banking industry," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 79-101, February.
    13. 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.
    14. Manthos D. Delis & K. Christos Staikouras & Panagiotis T. Varlagas, 2008. "On the Measurement of Market Power in the Banking Industry," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7‐8), pages 1023-1047, September.
    15. Tabak, Benjamin M. & Fazio, Dimas M. & Cajueiro, Daniel O., 2012. "The relationship between banking market competition and risk-taking: Do size and capitalization matter?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3366-3381.
    16. Andrei Dubovik & Natasha Kalara, 2018. "Can we measure banking sector competition robustly?," CPB Discussion Paper 386, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    17. Maruyama, Tomoya, 2024. "How competitiveness evolved in the Japanese bank loan market between 1977 and 2020," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Natasa Koutsomanoli & Christos Staikouras, 2004. "Competition and Concentration," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2004 26, Money Macro and Finance Research Group.
    19. Théo Nicolas., 2023. "Bank Market Power and Interest Rate Setting: Why Consolidated Banking Data Matte [Pouvoir de marché des banques et fixation des taux d’intérêt : de l’importance de prendre en compte les données ban," Débats économiques et financiers 40, Banque de France.
    20. Chaffai, Mohamed & Coccorese, Paolo, 2023. "Banking market power and its determinants: New insights from MENA countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Banking; Competition; Conjectural variation; Bank size;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

    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:spr:jecfin:v:44:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s12197-019-09488-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.