Evolución de la estructura de mercado y de los indicadores de competencia en España en las dos últimas décadas
Series: Occasional Papers. 2612.
Author: Micaela Arias, Lucía Criado, Javier García-Verdugo, Eduardo Gutiérrez, Almudena Kessler, José Manuel Montero, Sara Pereira and Pau Roldán-Blanco
Non-financial corporations, businesses
- Spain
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Abstract
This paper analyses the performance of several indicators of aggregate market structure in Spain using microdata from the Banco de España Central Balance Sheet Data Office for the period 2004-2023. First, it documents a slight increase in concentration indices, which is concentrated in sectors that compete more intensively at the international level. Second, aggregate firm entry and exit rates have exhibited cyclical fluctuations associated with the financial crisis and the pandemic, but no persistent changes suggesting a broad-based increase in entry barriers are observed. Third, the paper finds that firms’ markups have increased significantly, although aggregate profit rates remain below their 2004-2007 levels. This aggregate pattern masks substantial heterogeneity, particularly among smaller firms, where both markups and profit rates have increased. These developments are accompanied by relevant changes in firms’ cost structures, with a greater weight of quasi‑fixed costs. Overall, the evidence presented suggests that there has been no widespread deterioration of competition indicators at the aggregate level in the Spanish economy over the past two decades.