CONCENTRATION AND COMPETITION IN THE BANKING SECTOR OF TURKEY

The paper estimates the competitive conditions and concentration in the Turkish banking industry during the period 2002-2010. The period starts after implementation of the comprehensive reform in the banking sector and lasts until culmination of the global financial crisis. The concentration ratio and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index are applied to measure level of concentration. We found the banking sector to be almost non-concentrated with exemption of deposit market where we revealed a slight concentration. However, there is a clear trend of increasing concentration at all segments of the Turkish banking sector over the analysed period. The Panzar-Rosse model is used for estimation of competitive conditions in the banking market. Specifically, we use a panel with data for most of the Turkish banks to estimate the H statistics. We concluded that the Turkish banking sector can be characterized as an industry with monopolistic competition that closely approaches monopoly. The results imply that banks in Turkey do not operate in a competitive environment and enjoy monopoly rents. Moreover, we revealed decreasing level of competition during the entire period of estimation. Such a market structure can pose a threat for efficient intermediation of funds through the banking sector and promoting of economic growth.