Title: Banking concentration and the price-concentration relationship: the case of Brazil

Authors: Benjamin Miranda Tabak, Solange Maria Guerra, Rodrigo Andres De Souza Penaloza

Addresses: Central Bank of Brazil; Universidade Catolica de Brasilia, Brazil, Banco Central do Brasil, Ed. Sede 13 Andar, DEPEP, Brasilia, DF, 70074–900, Brazil. ' Central Bank of Brazil, Brazil. ' Center of Research in Economics and Finance (CIEF), University of Brasilia, Brazil

Abstract: In this paper, we present a new measure of concentration that employs duality theory and a study on the evolution of banking concentration in the Brazilian banking system. We present evidence suggesting that this new measure of concentration is more informative than the usual Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI), which is commonly employed in concentration studies. Finally, we study the relation between the banking structure (level of concentration) and price using a panel data model, macroeconomic and risk variables being controlled. There is no evidence that banking concentration leads to uncompetitive practices.

Keywords: banking concentration; Hirschman-Herfindahl Index; HHI; duality theory; Brazil; banking structure; price; competition; banks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAF.2009.029147

International Journal of Accounting and Finance, 2009 Vol.1 No.4, pp.415 - 435

Published online: 06 Nov 2009 *

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