Does Bank Competition Enhance or Hinder Financial Stability? Evidence from Indian Banking

The primary purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of bank competition on financial stability in India. We use a dynamic panel model to examine whether an increase in bank competition hindrances financial stability of commercial banks in India over the period 1996 to 2016. Findings reveal that in India, a higher degree of bank competition is positively associated with the prevalence of non-performing loans. Additionally, the positive impact of the Lerner index on Z-score lends support to competition-fragility hypothesis. However, we argue that both the views of competition-stability and competition-fragility can coexist in a single banking system like India.