Description:
This paper proposes a framework to
analyze competition in the banking sector using Jordan as an
example. In particular, the paper pursues a multi-pronged
approach to analyze competition including (i) an examination
of the extent to which the market is contestable (that is,
has low barriers to bank entry and exit), (b) an evaluation
of the behavior of bank spreads, and (iii) an assessment of
non-structural and direct measures of bank competition such
as the H-statistic and the Lerner Index. This approach
provides a more comprehensive framework to examine
competition in the banking sector, compared with the
commonly used alternative of looking only at bank
concentration figures. In the case of Jordan, the analysis
indicates that although concentration has declined,
competition in the country is low and has decreased over time.