Bank Market Structure and Performance in Taiwan Before and After the 1991 Liberalization

Abstract

Two competing hypotheses regarding market structure and the performance of firms are the traditional "structure-conduct-performance" (SCP) hypothesis, in which high concentration lowers the cost of collusion and earns monopoly rents, and the "efficiency" hypothesis, which emphasizes the operating efficiency of particular firms. In this paper, we present the results from testing both the hypotheses in the context of Taiwan's banking market. Our goal is to understand the effect of the 1991 liberalization policy by examining whether market structure and firm performance in this industry differ in the periods before and after the 1991 revisions to the Banking Act. Prior to the 1991 revisions, our results do not support either the SCP or the efficiency hypothesis for Taiwan's banking industry. The industry's market structure seems to exhibit a kind of "quiet-life" competing environment. The results for the period after the 1991 revisions tend to support the competing efficiency hypothesis. Our findings suggest that the 1991 revisions to the Banking Act have stimulated competition and brought about an emphasis on efficiency in Taiwan's banking industry.

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