Real Effects of Bank Competition
Does banking market power contribute to the formation of non-financial industries populated by
few, large firms, or does it instead enhance industry entry? Theoretical arguments could be made
to support either side. The banking industry of European Union (EU) countries has been
significantly deregulated in the early 1990s. Under the old regime, cross-border expansions were
heavily constrained, while after deregulation banks from EU countries have instead been allowed
to branch freely into other EU countries. Concurrently to the process of deregulation, European
banking industries have also experienced a significant process of consolidation. Exploiting such
significant innovations affecting the banking industries of EU countries, this paper explores
whether changes in bank competition have in fact played a role on the market structure of nonfinancial
industries. Empirical evidence is derived from a panel of manufacturing industries in 29
OECD countries, both EU and non-EU members, adopting a methodology that allows controlling
for other determinants of industry market structure common across industries, across countries or
related to time passing. The evidence suggests that the overall process of enhanced competition in
EU banking markets has lead to markets in non-financial sectors characterized by lower average
firm size.