Competition in the banking sector in Russia

In: Wiadomości statystyczne / Glówny Urza̜d Statystyczny, Polskie Towarzystwo Statystyczne: czasopismo Głównego Urze̜du Statystycznego i Polskiego Towarzystwa = ˜Theœ Polish statistician, Band 64, Heft 12, S. 27-45

Abstract

The Russian banking sector is composed of almost 500 banks, but does it mean it is competitive? The aim of the study is to determine the scale of competition in the Russian banking sector in the light of the undertaken reforms, whose goal has been to reinforce banks' and to limit their number. The analysis covering the period 2010–2015 was based on the financial statements of banks (balance sheets and profit and loss accounts) drawn from BankScope. The author examined the indicators of concentration and computed non-structural measures of competition, then comparing the scale of competition on the Russian banking services market with three emerging economies of a similar size: Brazil, India and China. The applied unstructured measures of competition (H statistics, Lerner index and Boone index) yielded results indicating that the type of competition on the Russian market of banking services could be defined as monopolistic. The structures of the market for banking services of the three other examined countries also correspond to the model of monopolistic competition, but nevertheless they allow more competition than the Russian one.