La liberalización y desregulación del sector bancario español entre 1971-1990 y efectos sobre el poder de mercado

This study links the evolution of market power in the Spanish banking sector with financial liberalization between 1970 and 1990. A chronology of deregulation measures is carried out, and market power is empirically measured using a direct indicator, the Lerner index. It is found that banking deregulation was not linear, and banks competed even before the bulk of complete liberalization. It is observed that market power decreased in the 1970s due to increased competition through branch networks, followed by an increase in the 1980s, coinciding with a halt in liberalization measures. Since 1988, competition intensified again with the consolidation of liberalization measures. Furthermore, the results allow for the dismissal of the thesis that financial reforms were considered as a biased pact between banks and authorities that did not alter the competitive framework and allowed large banks to cartelize the sector.

Dols-Miró, Josep, Joaquim Cuevas and Juan Fernández de Guevara (2025). «La liberalización y desregulación del sector bancario español entre 1971-1990 y efectos sobre el poder de mercado». Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 1-34. Available at: https://doi:10.1017/S0212610925100876