MEASURING THE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN NAMIBIA

This paper examines the efficiency of commercial banks in Namibia using the standard econometric frontier approach. Although two aspects of efficiency (scale and scope) receive our attention, the emphasis is on the latter which pertains to whether a firm produces as efficiently as it possibly can, given its size. Our results indicate that substantial economies of scale exist in commercial banking in Namibia. This will tend to suggest that commercial banks in Namibia can increase their efficiency by increasing their current scale of operation. The results for scope economies show that the current level of input combination does not make for maximum efficiency as sufficient scope exists for a more efficient combination of inputs. We believe this will reduce operating costs in the industry and stimulate efficiency.     

Advertising, Its Determinants, and Market Structure

This study derives a formal model of firm advertising behavior and applies it to the industry level to figure out the relationship between advertising and market structure. The firm advertising model shows that both consumer preference andfirm-specific advertising competence jointly determineprofit-maximizing advertising intensity. At the industry level, advertising intensity is represented multiplicatively by consumer preference and a measure of market structure, which reflects the joint distribution of the levels of advertising competence and market shares among firms. The new market structure measure suggests that those single-dimensional measures of market structure such as seller concentration and the Herfindahl index are inadequate in explaining interindustry differences in advertising intensity, and that the long-debated advertising-concentration relationship differs depending primarily on the appropriability of advertising. An empirical analysis of 426 five-digit Korean manufacturing industries shows that an inverted U-shaped relationship between the Herfindahl index and industry advertising intensity is observed for consumer goods industries but a lazy J-shaped relationship for producer goods industries.     

DOES MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION EXIST IN THE MENA REGION? EVIDENCE FROM THE BANKING SECTOR

The goal of this paper is to empirically assess the level of banking competition in selected Middle East and Northern African (MENA) countries. The analysis employs the estimation of a non‐structural indicator (H‐statistic) introduced by Panzar and Rosse and draws upon a panel dataset of eight MENA countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates) over the period 1997–2012. The empirical findings are robust towards three different panel data econometric techniques (Ordinary Least Squares, Pooled Generalized Least Squares with Fixed Effects, and Generalized Method of Moments) and consistent with other similar studies, providing sufficient evidence in favour of a banking monopolistic competition regime. Furthermore, the estimation of three other alternative measures of competition (Lerner index, adjusted Lerner index, and conduct parameter) provides similar results, revealing that the banking sector in the MENA region is characterized by a low level of Significant Market Power (SMP). Overall, the analysis shows that, despite similarities in the process of financial regulatory reforms undertaken in the eight MENA countries, the observed competition levels of banks vary substantially, with Algeria and Morocco consistently outperforming the rest of the region.     

Geographic concentration and vertical disintegration: Evidence from China

Existing theoretical literature predicts that geographic concentration encourages vertical disintegration of firms. Nevertheless, empirical evidence of this prediction is limited, especially in developing countries. Using data on manufacturing firms from China, this paper documents a positive correlation between geographic concentration and vertical disintegration. Additionally, this paper uses the instrumental variable approach to address the issue of endogeneity and finds that geographic concentration has a positive causal effect on vertical disintegration.     

股权结构、代理问题与公司现金持有——基于我国上市公司面板数据的分析

基于代理问题角度,利用我国2001~2005年上市公司面板数据,研究了我国上市公司股权结构与公司持有现金之间的相互关系。实证结果发现,两者之间的相互关系符合代理问题存在的基本表征,即代理问题较为严重的上市公司拥有更高的现金持有水平。控股股东尤其是国有股东,并没有随着持股比例增加产生通常意义上的地下利益攫取行为,而是更多地支持了控股股东提升公司绩效的假说。     

以银行经营转型促进经济均衡发展

近年来我国经济一直是在一种不均衡的状态下实现快速发展的。以间接融资为主的融资方式，对银行本身乃至整个经济的可持续发展构成潜在威胁。为此，通过银行经营转型，优化储蓄向投资的转化路径，推动储蓄向消费的积极转化，是实现经济均衡发展的重要举措，同时也是银行体系本身可持续发展的需要。