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The study comprehensively examines the diversification of asparagus exports from Peru, concentrating its analysis on the strategic diversification of markets and companies as pivotal for fostering sustainable growth in the agricultural sector. Utilizing a descriptive and non-experimental quantitative methodology, the research analyzed export data spanning from 2018 to 2023. This analysis was performed using the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) (Arbulú Ballesteros et al., 2024), a tool designed to measure market concentration levels (Montes Ninaquispe, Pantaleón Santa María, Arbulú Ballesteros, et al., 2023). The findings reveal a significant ongoing dependence on the American market, highlighting it as the primary export destination. However, there is a noticeable trend towards greater diversification among export destinations and the companies involved in these processes. The study notes a progressive decline in market concentration, which suggests a shift towards a more competitive and diversified export environment. Conclusions drawn from the research underscore the critical need to develop strategies that not only diversify markets but also enhance overall competitiveness within the sector. Recommendations from the study stress the importance of tapping into emerging markets, creating value-added products, adopting advanced technologies, and supporting the inception of new businesses. Additionally, it advocates for the promotion of business development across various regions to mitigate risks and encourage more balanced and sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of tourism type concentration/diversification on tourism revenues in Türkiye. For this purpose, the study calculates an indicator that measures tourism type concentration using the normalized Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI) and the number of tourists in 10 different categories according to their purpose of visit and subsequently, examines the effect of this concentration in a model estimated for inbound tourism revenues. Findings of the study based on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model indicate that tourism type concentration positively affects inbound tourism revenues. More precisely, it was found that a certain increase in the concentration (decrease in the diversification) level causes an increase (a decrease) in inbound tourism revenues at approximately the same percentage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) has taken on increased importance in recent years for all stakeholders, with the S dimension now taking on a stronger focus in the real estate space. This paper proposes a new metric to be used in the S space to assess improvements in aspects such as gender equality and cultural diversity in real estate. It adds to the S metrics currently available to see the more effective delivery of the S dimension into real estate investment decision-making. Design/methodology/approach: A new S metric in ESG is proposed and validated. Using this metric, examples regarding gender equality and cultural diversity are assessed among leading real estate players in Australia. This S metric is assessed over a number of time periods to demonstrate the improvements in gender equality and cultural diversity in these major real estate players. Findings: This new S metric is seen to be highly effective and robust in capturing the changes in various aspects of the S dimension in ESG in the real estate space today; particularly concerning gender equality and cultural diversity. It is clearly able to demonstrate the significant changes in increased participation of women at the more senior leadership levels by leading players in the real estate space. Practical implications: With ESG becoming a critical issue in the real estate sector, issues involved in the S space will take on increased significance going forward. This is critical, as the elements of the S dimension such as gender equality and cultural diversity are important aspects for an effectively functioning real estate industry. The S metric developed in this paper can be used for benchmarking purposes over time, as well as between real estate players, between sub-sections within a real estate organisation, and comparing against other industry sectors. It is also relevant in all organisations, and is not just limited to the real estate sector. Additional metrics in the S space are an important development to further empirically assess the effective delivery of the S dimension of ESG in the real estate sector and more broadly. Originality/value: This paper specifically proposes this new S metric in ESG in the real estate industry. This is a key issue for the real estate industry going forward at all levels, as it will facilitate a more diverse real estate industry and more effective real estate investment decision-making. This S metric is applicable in all organisational sectors where the S dimension of ESG is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the past decade, private investments in health care including hospital have grown significantly, more than doubling. As the number of hospitals in Indonesia increases, a competitive business environment develops. Identifying hospital market structure can help various stakeholders to optimize the hospital's performance. Aims: This study analyzed the market structure and concentration of the hospital industry in Indonesia. Methods: This study used hospital characteristics data from Ministry of Health of Indonesia that retrieved in October 2020. Market concentration is determined by the number of industry players operating in a market, the distribution of services, and the types of services offered. The hospital market concentration was identified by measuring the Concentration Ratio (CR) and the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI). Results: The results showed that the market share of hospitals in Indonesia was still dominated by government hospitals, which represent 51.4% of the market share. The concentration ratio of four companies (CR4) remains

Background: Cambodia's health sector faces significant challenges exacerbated by aid fragmentation, where development aid is dispersed among numerous small, uncoordinated projects. This study examines the distribution of health sector aid among Cambodia's principal donors to identify priorities, overlaps, and potential collaboration opportunities, addressing the urgent need for aid efficiency and alignment with national health priorities. Methods: Utilizing OECD datasets and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for the years 2010–2021, this study quantifies aid fragmentation within Cambodia's health sector. It analyzes aid allocations from the top five donors—United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and Germany—across various health projects and initiatives, evaluating the extent of fragmentation and identifying areas for potential donor collaboration. Results: This study's findings highlight a pervasive issue of aid fragmentation within Cambodia's health sector, evident through the sector's low HHI score. This indicates a widespread distribution of aid across numerous small-scale initiatives, rather than targeted, unified efforts. A notable example includes Japan and Korea, which exhibit lower HHI scores, indicating a more pronounced fragmentation in their aid allocation. These countries' contributions are spread across various sectors without a dominant focus, contrasting with the United States' significant dedication to infectious disease control. However, beyond this specific area, the US's aid distribution across other priority health areas shows signs of fragmentation. This scattered approach to aid allocation, even amidst instances of focused support, illustrates the overarching challenge of aligning donor contributions with the holistic needs of Cambodia's health infrastructure. Conclusions: This investigation highlights the critical need for enhanced collaboration and strategic harmonization among international donors to mitigate aid fragmentation in Cambodia's health sector. It underscores the importance of adopting integrated and priority-aligned aid strategies to improve the efficiency and impact of health aid. By fostering synergistic partnerships and harmonizing donor efforts, there is a potential to create a more cohesive support framework that resonates with Cambodia's comprehensive health requirements and contributes to sustainable health outcomes. Such harmonization not only aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 3 by optimizing health services and outcomes but also strengthens global partnerships under Sustainable Development Goal 17, fostering a unified approach to international development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In many tax-based healthcare systems, policymakers have introduced reforms that promote provider competition with the intention of improving the quality and efficiency. Healthcare competition is usually defined spatially, with local markets often being identified as a circle around each provider. We argue that existing local market definitions can be improved to better capture actual local markets. For pro-competition reforms to potentially lead to the gains envisioned by policymakers, a crucial condition is the actual emergence of competitive markets. However, limited research has been conducted on competition in primary care markets, despite primary care constituting a vital part of a healthcare system. Aim: The study aims to contribute to the debate on how to define local markets geographically and to examine provider competition in Swedish primary care. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using data on all individuals and all primary care providers in Sweden. Local markets were defined as: fixed radius (1 km and 3 km); variable radius; and variable shape—our new local market definition that allows markets to vary in both size and shape. Competition was measured using the Herfindahl-Hirschman index and a count of the number of competitors within the local market. Results: Fixed radius markets fail to capture variation within and across geographical areas. The variable radius and variable shape markets are similar but do not always identify the same competitors or level of competition. Furthermore, competition levels vary significantly in Swedish primary care. Many providers operate in monopoly markets, whereas others face high competition. Conclusions: While the variable shape approach has the potential to better capture actual markets and more accurately identify competitors, further analyses are needed. Moreover, Swedish policymakers are advised to decide whether to still pursue competition and if so, take measures to improve local market conditions in monopolies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates export diversification among OPEC countries, emphasizing its importance for economic resilience and stability. The objective is to assess which factors influence export diversification in OPEC countries. Methodologically, the research analyzes panel data from 2011 to 2022 using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and the GINI coefficient to measure export diversification. The panel analysis considers GDP per capita, population (market size), FDI, trade openness, education, infrastructure, economic diversification, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employs both pooled and fixed effects (FE) models. The fixed effects model was employed to account for country-specific characteristics that may influence the results and was chosen because the Kruskal-Wallis test indicated statistically significant differences in the medians of HHI and GINI among countries, both for individual observations and average values. The Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) model was used to address heteroskedasticity. The Shapiro-Wilk test was initially used to test for normal distribution, and due to its results, the Kruskal-Wallis test was subsequently employed. The results from the PCSE model indicate robust findings, confirming the significant impact of trade openness, economic diversification, and education on export diversification in both models where the dependent variable is HHI and GINI. This study highlights the importance of understanding various economic and infrastructural factors contributing to export diversification, providing valuable insights for policymakers aiming to enhance economic stability and growth in OPEC countries. This research first quantified export diversification indices using HHI and GINI, revealing the countries with the highest and lowest export diversification. The quantification was based on the HS6 classification, which represents the highest level of aggregation in export data, allowing for a detailed analysis of export diversification. According to the HHI, Iraq has the highest market concentration and, thus, the lowest export diversification, while Indonesia shows the highest diversification with the lowest market concentration. On the other hand, the GINI coefficient indicates that Angola has the lowest level of export diversification, whereas Iraq has the highest. Despite using the same dataset, these differing results arise because the HHI measures market concentration across products or countries. At the same time, the GINI coefficient assesses the inequality in export shares, focusing on the distribution of export income among different entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, rooted in agency theory, explores the intricate relationship between stock price crash risk and customer concentration within the context of Iran, a developing nation. Utilising innovative indicators to measure corporate and government customers, we address inconsistent findings in existing research and offer fresh insights into stock price crash risk dynamics. Focusing on 82 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2020, our study employs a robust methodological framework, including panel data, multiple regression and three distinct metrics to measure customer concentration. Specifically, we introduce the proportion of significant customer sales, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, and a Ranking Index based on substantial customer sales. Our investigation reveals a noteworthy inverse relationship between the highest concentration level of corporate customer concentration, as measured by the Ranking Index, and stock price crash risk. Similarly, we establish an inverse association between the Ranking Index for government customer concentration and stock price crash risk. Moreover, institutional investors positively influence the correlation between corporate customer concentration and stock price crash risk but do not exert a discernible impact on the relationship between government customer concentration and stock price crash risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dynamic competition in a free market comprises its own mechanisms for balancing the supply and demand of goods and services. The paper proposes an analysis of companies in the agri-food sector in Moldova, focusing on their turnover and geographical distribution by regions. Open-access articles from Clarivate, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate were used for the literature review. Official data provided by National Bureau of Statistics were utilized for the research. The results showed a significant increase in cumulative turnover for operators in the food industry during 2015-2021. In 2022, regarding the concentration level of companies across different geographic regions, the highest concentration was observed in Chisinau Municipality and the lowest in the ATU Gagauzia. The study highlighted an Inverse Herfindahl-Hirschman Index in Chisinau Municipality and a minimum the ATU Gagauzia Region. The analysis conducted is part of the doctoral training stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes post-socialist industrial development and policy in the Western Balkans through the lens of its regional specialization and spatial concentration. Against a conceptual framework revolving around place-based industrial policy, and using the Concentration index (modified Herfindahl-Hirschman index) and location coefficients (Balassa index), a comparative analysis over three decades (1990–2020) highlights weak regional diversification and intra-regional integration of industrial activity. The findings offer a new industrial policy that transcends regional specialization and spatial concentration to address regional development, planning and governance. The concluding remarks reveal some basic paths toward effective and pro-European regional industrial policy in the Western Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The virtual agglomeration of manufacturing realises the ubiquitous connection and efficient allocation of technological innovation resources, and becomes a new driving force for improving the technological innovation efficiency of enterprises and building a strong manufacturing country. This paper constructs a theoretical framework to investigate the impact of the specialised and diversified virtual agglomeration of manufacturing on the efficiency of enterprise technological innovation. This paper uses the adjusted location entropy and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index to measure the level of specialised and diversified virtual agglomeration of manufacturing. Using Chinese manufacturing data (2008–2021), empirical tests confirm that the specialised and diversified virtual agglomeration of manufacturing can improve the efficiency of enterprise technological innovation. Additionally, the mechanism test results show that the specialised virtual agglomeration of manufacturing improves the technological innovation efficiency of enterprises through competition and knowledge spillover, and the diversified virtual agglomeration improves the technological innovation efficiency of enterprises through knowledge spillover. However, the effect of specialised virtual agglomeration of manufacturing on the efficiency of enterprises` technological innovation will be adjusted by the age of enterprises. These results are pivotal for understanding the realistic path of virtual agglomeration of manufacturing to improve the technological innovation efficiency of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many institutions of higher learning aim to promote greater racial diversity to harness learning benefits and foster a sense of inclusion. Nevertheless, the institutional pursuit of racial diversity is difficult to benchmark. The current constitutional boundary limits the use of race to promote the diversity in college admissions to a "narrow," "holistic," and "case-by-case" strategy laden with definitional ambiguity. This ambiguity is deepened by constraints, such as institutional history, demographics, geography, and institutional rank, that often go unaccounted for in popular diversity measures. This article creates an expected diversity measure that describes the amount of racial diversity one would expect accounting for the home state of their incoming class. This initial step serves as an example that universities may follow when using their own internal data to account for a richer set of diversity constraints and to better monitor progress toward reaching their racial diversity goals. These measures can free universities from chasing unattainable external judgments on diversity targets, such as national benchmarks, thereby encouraging a more effective redistribution of resources for diversity-related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Asiaʼs Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP) is home to approximately 450 million people. This region is characterized by the highest global concentration of rural poverty and a predominant reliance on agriculture for nutritional sustenance and economic livelihoods. Agriculture in the EIGP is highly cereal-centric, making crop diversification indispensable for its development. This data article is part of the research conducted by an interdisciplinary team of researchers analysing the status and determinants of crop diversification in South Asiaʼs EIGP. The data presented here were collected from 1,400 farm households across 72 communities in eight locations within the EIGP of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh during the year 2023. The research employed a simple random sampling method for empirical data collection. The primary agricultural decision-makers were given a tailored questionnaire comprising seven modules. These modules sought comprehensive data on livelihood practices, changes in agriculture, aspirations, diet, food security, mechanization, demographics, and asset ownership. The questionnaire was translated from English into Nepali and Bangla to facilitate a thorough understanding of the farmers' livelihoods in the study areas. The survey successfully ended with 1400 properly filled and captured questionnaires, which was quite representative. The cross-sectional data presented here describe location-specific farm-level crop distribution, enabling the analysis of geographic variations in crop diversification. The generation of this dataset addresses a significant gap in the availability of information on the current state of crop diversification in the EIGP, offering a foundational baseline for future research and interventions by regional governments and development partners. We employed the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) to calculate crop diversification and a Tobit Regression Model to identify the region-specific determinants of crop diversification. The dataset is hereby made available as it is considered vital for regional policy and practical recommendations.

Integrating different land uses within a geographic area is essential to urban planning and development. Accurate and fast land use mix (LUM) measurement is necessary for evaluating urban diversity and sustainability. In this paper, we present landusemix, a Python package developed to calculate LUM using two distinct indices: the Entropy Index and the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI). The landusemix package provides tools for GIS researchers and urban planners to measure the diversity and concentration of land use. Detailed descriptions of the methodologies employed and examples of practical usage are provided. Researchers can use this package to calculate LUM quickly and in bulk, and its results can be easily incorporated into further analysis.

The music industry, and in particular the recording and publishing sectors, has historically been controlled by a handful of large firms. In recent years, this tendency towards concentration appears to have spread to the promotion sector as well. Using a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) together with other North American tour industry figures, this study investigates the impacts of rising concentration in music promotion between 2010 and 2019. The results show a steady rise from moderate to high-level concentration over that time frame in large part driven by Live Nation alone. This rising concentration was found to be associated with higher prices for fans, bigger productions, less risk taking from promoters and more homogenous offerings, consistent with known monopolistic behaviours. Implications for theory and policymakers are suggested in closing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the effect of religious labor market concentration on clergy wages. Using data on the state-level Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) from the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), and data on individual clergy wages from the Census/American Community Survey (ACS), I estimate the effect of monopsony in the market for religion on clergy wages for the years 1980 to 2020. Ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates suggest the elasticity of individual clergy wages to the state-level HHI ranges between -0.05 and -0.17. These results are robust to the inclusion of controls for individual clergy characteristics, state-level religious tradition adherent shares, state-level labor market concentration, state- and year-fixed effects, and religious group-specific time trends. Application of the Oster (2019) test for selection on unobservables suggests that OLS understates the negative effect of concentration on clergy wages. The OLS results are supported by an instrumental variables (IV) specification exploiting a Bartik-style instrument interacting historic concentration with national concentration growth. The IV estimates suggest elasticities between -0.11 and -0.19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Academic research has intensively analyzed the relationship between market concentration or market power and banking stability but provides ambiguous results, which are summarized under the concentration-stability/fragility view. We provide empirical evidence that the mixed results are due to the difficulty of identifying reliable variables to measure concentration and market power. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from 3,943 banks operating in the European Union (EU)-15 between 2013 and 2020, we employ linear regression models on panel data. Banking market concentration is measured by the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), and market power is estimated by the product-specific Lerner Indices for the loan and deposit market, respectively. Findings: Our analysis reveals a significantly stability-decreasing impact of market concentration (HHI) and a significantly stability-increasing effect of market power (Lerner Indices). In addition, we provide evidence for a weak (or even absent) empirical relationship between the (non)structural measures, challenging the validity of the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) paradigm. Our baseline findings remain robust, especially when controlling for a likely reverse causality. Originality/value: Our results suggest that the HHI may reflect other factors beyond market power that influence banking stability. Thus, banking supervisors and competition authorities should investigate market concentration and market power simultaneously while considering their joint impact on banking stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine whether diversified economies enhance the growth benefits from foreign direct investment (FDI). Diversified economies benefit from stable export earnings, stable investment composition and greater factor endowments through forward and backward linkages that can leverage superior foreign technology embedded in FDI. This is crucial as many African economies suffer from dependency while FDI is concentrated in the primary sector. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use a dataset of 15 Economic Community of West African States from 1995 to 2020 and compile variables from various sources, including an export diversification index measured using the Herfindahl–Hirschman index of product concentration. The authors use a growth regression model estimated using dynamic panel estimators to control for endogeneity and simultaneity issues. Findings: The results show that the effects of direct FDI are insignificant to growth considering diversification and controlling for other confounding factors. Meanwhile, diversification is associated with growth, which highlights the importance of industrial policy. More importantly, the authors find that the marginal effects of FDI are positively and significantly associated with growth when diversification levels are low, implying that production structure matters for the FDI–growth nexus in developing economies. Originality/value: Previous studies have overlooked the role of export production structure on the FDI–growth nexus. Many developing economies are dependent on primary exports and suffer from dependency, which implies lower levels of factor endowments. As such, this reduces the growth gains from FDI. The authors provide new empirical evidence on the importance of export production structure on the FDI–growth nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversification within and outside of small-scale fisheries (SSF) is a common strategy to stabilize revenues and increase resilience following disturbances. Using SSF in Virginia, USA as a case study, Herfindahl–Hirschman Indices (HHIs) were used to characterize individual and fleet levels of income diversification, while generalized linear mixed models were used to examine drivers of diversification behavior. HHI income values indicate that fishers tended to exhibit specialized behavior. More diversified fishers tended to have less interannual revenue variability and higher annual incomes. Decisions to increase or decrease diversification were associated with various factors, including total years of participation, annual income, the type of licenses held, landings levels, participation in marine-related business outside of SSF, and market prices. An understanding of diversification levels and associated drivers of behavior can help fishery managers and governing entities predict how fishers will react to perturbations. Environmental changes that alter species distributions and increase the potential for invasive species, as well as shifting sociodemographics within the fishing industry, will likely continue to influence diversification behavior in the future. Developing strategies to reduce the impact of these events on fishers and fishing communities will help to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability in SSF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article augments the literature on the analysis of competitive balance, encompassing its measurement, comparisons across leagues and seasons, and ramifications for league management. Central to our examination is the notion of competitive balance, which is intimately tied to the concentration concept. This concept can be depicted as a dual metric—capturing both inequality and the number of competing teams. Historically, its magnitude has been gauged using standardised measures of inequality and concentration. Among these, the Herfindahl–Hirschman index and its subsequent refinements stand out. We employ the distance‐to‐competitive‐balance index, which, contingent upon the metric space chosen, qualifies either as an inequality or concentration measure. Our analysis spans the 2009/2010 to 2018/2019 seasons for both the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) championships in the pre‐COVID‐19 era. We discern a tangible and significant correlation between the competitive equilibrium of leagues and the performance metrics of national teams. Both the disparities in strengths of teams and the number of participating teams emerged as paramount variables shaping this competitive balance. Further, we delineate the elasticities of competitive balance relative to these determinants. Our insights bear implications for designing football championship structures and delineating sports policies; thus, they are valuable for relevant sports governing bodies and federations. The strategic decision to enlarge team count vis‐à‐vis curtailing discrepancies in team competencies is nuanced, varying across federations and confederations. The Big Five European leagues display heightened sensitivity to inequality factors (with interventions such as financial fair play, salary caps or revenue distribution yielding pronounced effects), whereas for CONMEBOL, elasticity in relation to team count holds greater significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurturing specialized and sophisticated enterprises is a vital strategic initiative to mitigate the dependency on crucial technologies and to promote the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing industry. Basing on a technology, organization, and environment (TOE) framework, combined with geographic concentration, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), and data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods, this article analyzes the conducive business environment for the growth of specialized and sophisticated "little giant" enterprises (LGEs) from configurational perspective. It takes the quantity and density of LGEs in different regions of China as the consequence event. The findings show that: (1) the spatial distribution of LGEs is highly uneven with a geographic concentration index (CR5) of 0.436 and a Herfindahl–Hirschman Index of 0.0599. (2) The presence of numerous technology‐oriented SMEs and a "favorable" business environment are not necessarily the regions where a larger number of LGEs are fostered. Indeed, the harmonious interplay of TOE is more important for achieving optimal outcomes. The differential configurations contributing to the regional output variations of LGEs can be classified with three patterns: technology‐organization‐environment synergistic promotion type (H1), innovation stimulation through effective financial support type (H2a), and compensatory type for inadequate innovation resources (H2b). While these configurations may lead to similar outcomes, they do not yield the same effectiveness. (3) The DEA reveals a tendency for "over‐optimization" in improving regional business environment under the TOE framework, indicating the presence of "input redundancy" and corresponding "output loss" issues in TOE factors. Local governments must adhere to the "barrel principle" and optimize the business environment that aligns with development of LGEs through the concept of dynamic adaptation. Adopting an organizational mindset of "stringing beads into chains" can help construct regional industrial chains with distinctive features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Nowadays, the competition is not only emerging from within the banking sector, but nonbanking companies like nonbanking financial companies (NBFCs) and FinTech are also growing in size and numbers, offering innovative financial products and services, giving a stiff competition to Indian banks. Thus, this study aims to investigate whether competition from within and outside the banking sector enhances or reduces the financial stability of the banking industry. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses Herfindahl–Hirschman index to measure market share and Z score to measure financial stability. The study further examines the role of NBFCs and FinTech companies in impacting the financial stability by introducing variables like innovation, cybercrimes, systemically important institutions, etc. Thereafter, panel regression has been applied. Findings: Empirical results show a positive relation of market share with financial stability, implying that increased competition in the Indian banking industry erodes the market power, adversely affecting the profit margins which encourages banks to take more risk and which may impact financial stability. The study shows a positive impact of innovation on financial stability which implies that the competition is acting as an enabler for banks. The authors find a negative relation of systemic important NBFCs with financial stability. The authors observe a negative association of cybercrimes with financial stability, reflecting that competition emerging from FinTech sector has exposed banks to new risks. Research limitations/implications: The policymakers should make sure that the competition of banks with other financial institutions, such as FinTech sector, remains healthy; otherwise, it can jeopardize the entire financial system. It is for the policymakers to define a boundary for FinTech sector, as the development of this sector has exposed the banking industry to new kinds of risks potential to create financial instability. The banks should do a comprehensive check on the company to which it is granting loans, and the government should amend laws. Though big banks have huge potential, consolidations can pose challenges at a macroeconomic level. Originality/value: FinTech firms are a new entrant in the financial world which are providing immense competition to the banking sector, and thus radically changing the entire financial system. Therefore, it is extremely vital to study and explore the role of NBFCs and the FinTech industry as the main variable to analyze bank competition, which to the best of the authors' knowledge is completely missing in the previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This data article provides a description of the labor market concentration dataset. Using the job vacancy data from Lightcast from 2007Q1 to 2021Q2 (2008 and 2009 data are not available), we measure labor market concentration by using Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) in labor markets defined at the occupation (six-digit SOC), commuting zone, and quarterly level. The HHI is calculated based on the share of vacancies among all the firms that post vacancies in that market. Data includes information on year-quarter, six-digit SOC, commuting zone, lower bound HHI, and higher bound HHI. Given the growing literature on labor monopsony power, this labor market concentration data can be used by researchers in various contexts, aiming to investigate the impact of employer market power on different labor market and social outcomes.

This paper evaluates the evolution of urban agglomeration from 2000 to 2020 in 66 developing and developed economies from Asia, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and examines how urban agglomeration changes impinge on economic performance changes. The aim is to overcome the limitations of the empirical literature by constructing a nuanced measure of urban agglomeration using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index calculation, which captures nations’ urban demographic structure more robustly than the indicators in the literature. The findings demonstrate that urban agglomeration has, on average, declined across world economies, contrary to a long-held assumption in the recent two decades. Empirically, the findings show a significant deleterious effect of urban agglomeration on economic performance in developing economies (i.e., Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia) and a beneficial effect in developed economies (i.e., Europe) in the short-run. However, the effect turns out to be beneficial in the developing economies in long-term. Based on the findings, we conclude that the relationship between urban agglomeration and economic performance is country-specific. Therefore, this paper professes that country-specific industrialization policy frameworks and governance effectiveness can enhance long-term positive economic effects of urban agglomeration in developing economies.

This article presents an in-depth analysis of market power and its impact on firm research and development (R&D) investment in China. Two opposing theories have been proposed in the literature. The first, due to Schumpeter, suggests that monopoly power has a positive effect on firms' propensity to innovate hence their investment in R&D. The alternative view, first proposed by Arrow, suggests that firms invest in R&D in order to escape competition, and thus market competition stimulates innovation. In testing these theories, prior studies have measured market power in different ways. Some use the so-called Lerner index, which measures the profit margin of a particular firm. Others use measures of industry concentration, for example, the Herfindahl index. This article tests the competing theories using a sample of 300,095 Chinese manufacturing firms in 29 two-digit manufacturing industries. We unify the two measures of market power, using a hierarchical linear model, to determine whether industry-level measures add power to specifications based on firm-level markups alone. We find, first, that firms are less likely to carry out R&D activities as their market power intensifies. The effect is nonlinear: firms with higher markups spend even less on R&D than a linear specification predicts. This finding supports Arrow's theory and contradicts Schumpeter's theory. Second, for the sample as a whole, the impact of industry-level concentration is negligible. However, when we break the sample into large, medium, and small firms, industry concentration has a significant effect on large and medium-sized firms but no impact on small firms. Thus, large firms with high markups in concentrated industries spend less on R&D than large firms with high markups in less concentrated industries. We interpret this as further evidence in support of the escape competition theory: less concentrated industries are more competitive, forcing the leaders to invest more heavily on R&D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While universities are expected to exemplify sustainable practices, they often encounter high energy demands. This dichotomy highlights the necessity for research into their energy consumption. Through a Systematic Literature Review, we examined international research trends in this field and explored factors influencing energy consumption. The importance of this article stems from its novel approach to energy consumption in universities, addressed from a global and comprehensive perspective, offering generalizable insights. Additionally, it pioneers in the use of a market concentration indicator (Herfindahl–Hirschman index) to measure the level of diversity in various bibliometric aspects. The extended perspective of our approach helps to close knowledge gaps about scientific trends and common energy consumption factors. Our results show that this topic has been investigated with limited involvement of social sciences. Building function, research intensity, and disciplinary orientation are distinctive factors in energy consumption in this field. Most influential authors, countries, and journals in this area were identified. This analysis contributes academically, by mapping research trends and providing guidance for future studies; practically, by offering insights for educational administrators on common factors affecting energy consumption; and in terms of policy, by advocating for the promotion of social sciences-based investigations on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to identify the specifics of the competitive environment in the bread and bakery products market and evaluate the prospects for the development of bakery enterprises under the influence of COVID-19 and full-scale invasion. The analysis of the operating environment of enterprises in the Ukrainian bread and bakery products market revealed a number of key factors influencing their activities and competitiveness. The concentration on factors such as stable production, reliable logistics, the presence of a wide range of products, and active foreign economic activity underscores the importance of adhering to a developed and well-organized bakery sector to ensure food security in the country. The state of the bread and bakery products market during periods of turmoil (COVID-19 pandemic and war) has been investigated. The dynamics of key market parameters for bread and bakery products in Ukraine for the period 2015-2021 were analyzed. An analysis of the dynamics of import costs and export income of bakery products in Ukraine for 2016-2022 was conducted. The level of competition in the bread and bakery products market was evaluated using quantitative concentration indicators such as: the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, the Linda Index, the Gini Index. Based on the results of market concentration assessment in 2021, it was found that "Breadprom Concern", LLC KVF "ROMA", LLC "Kyiv Bread" entered the core of the analyzed market; in 2022 - Breadprom Concern", LLC KVF "ROMA", LLC "Kyiv Bread" and LLC "Kyiv Regional Bakery Complex". SWOT analysis was used to identify internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external factors influencing the bakery production sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China plays an increasingly important role in the international distant water fishery, and the distant sea squid fishing is an important part of China's distant water fishery. Studying the international competitiveness of China's distant sea squid fishing is conducive to the sustainable development of China's distant sea fishery. Taking China's ocean squid fishing as an example, this paper uses the trade data between China and major countries in the world from 2000 to 2020, adopts the Herfindahl-Hirschman index and the CMS model, and analyzes the trade structure and related main influencing factors of our country's ocean squid fishing products. The results show that in recent years, the United States, Japan and South Korea are the main import and export countries of China's squid products, and China's trade in frozen squid products with the United States, Japan and South Korea is in a surplus state. According to the calculation results of the model, the trade of China's distant-water squid fishing is divided into three stages: 2000-2008, 2009-2018, and 2019-2020. On the whole, the export market of our country's ocean squid fishing products is stable and can adapt to the adjustment and changes of the product structure in the international market, but there are also problems in the unbalanced import market, strong dependence on external market demand and showing a downward trend, and insufficient product competitiveness. Therefore, this paper puts forward suggestions for improving the development of our country's distant-water squid fishing from three aspects: optimizing the market structure, establishing an information platform, and revitalizing resource endowments, so as to improve the international competitiveness of China's distant-water fishery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes an analysis of the local gastronomic services market in Romania. The growing interest in culinary tourism through Local Gastronomic Points is evident both globally and nationally. Gastronomic tourism can provide unique culinary experiences, especially in rural households. Clarivate, Google Scholar, and Research Gate articles were used for bibliographic research. The necessary data for the research were selected from the reports of the National Agency for Mountain Areas and the statistics of the National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority. The information was statistically processed and graphically represented. The assessment of market concentration was conducted using the Herfindahl-Hirschman and Gini-Struck indices. The research results highlighted the dynamism of the sector against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic but also revealed some deficiencies at the local authorities' level. HHI and GSI values indicate a low market concentration at the county level. Local Gastronomic Point businesses have high development potential, significantly contributing to increasing people's income and rural area development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: In the wake of rapid banking consolidations in the USA, concerns have arisen about the accessibility of capital and financial services for new businesses. With fewer and more centralized banking options, the likelihood of these entities securing financing may be compromised. This study aims to explore the repercussions of this consolidation on entrepreneurial activities in the U.S. Midwest. Design/methodology/approach: To measure entrepreneurship, this study examines various business application metrics: total applications, high-propensity business applications (i.e. those with a high likelihood of evolving into businesses with payrolls), business applications from corporations (applications stemming from corporations or personal service entities) and applications with planned wages (those indicating a forthcoming payroll date). To assess the banking sector's consolidation, this study used the deposit-based Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), a well-known measure of banking concentration. Findings: This research underscores the detrimental impact of banking consolidation on various new business formations. To illustrate, a one standard deviation surge in the HHI, roughly 1253 points, correlates with a decline of approximately 16 total business applications, 7.3 high-propensity business applications, 3.72 applications originating from corporations and 3 applications indicating planned wages – all per 10,000 individuals. The findings indicate that reduced banking competition could slow down new business formations and negatively affect entrepreneurship. Originality/value: This study examines various business formation statistics and use deposits at the institution level to determine banking concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the relationship between market competition and corporate governance by analysing 562 non-financial companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market from 2010 to 2019. We used the quantitative method through oridinary least squares (OLS) robust and feasible generalised least squares (FGLS) regression to control heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation, which is suitable with panel data to test the above relationship. According to the research results, market competition has complementary and alternative effects on corporate governance, as reflected in the positive and negative effects of the variable Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a proxy for market competition, on corporate governance. Market competition has a support impact on corporate governance, which is more evident in board size, CEO duality, and CEO ownership. In contrast, the impact of market competition substituted corporate governance and reduced the role of corporate governance, as demonstrated by the independent board members. As a result, our study provides an extended understanding of the factors affecting corporate governance, primarily based on contingency theory. Furthermore, this study provides evidence for further research in this field and identifies a number of potential solutions for investors and regulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of property type and geographical diversification on the cost of public debt for U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs). We measure diversification using the negative of the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) and represent the debt cost by the yield spread of the debt issue. We find that property-type diversification has a cost-decreasing effect on public debt. For example, our estimations illustrate that a one standard deviation increase in property type diversification decreases the yield spread by 10.97 basis points on average. In contrast, geographical diversification has a cost-increasing effect. For example, we estimate that a one standard deviation increase in regional diversification increases the yield spread by 9.95 basis points on average. Moreover, we find that controlling for the S&P's credit rating of the debt issue does not entirely absorb the impact of diversification on the yield spread, suggesting a difference in the credit-risk assessment of diversification's effects between public lenders and credit rating agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: While existing research explores the impact of audit market competition on audit fees and audit quality, there is limited investigation into how competition in the audit market influences auditors' writing style. This study examines the relationship between audit market competition and the readability of audit reports in Iran, where competition is particularly intense, especially among private audit firms. Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprises 1,050 firm-year observations in Iran from 2012 to 2018. Readability measures, including the Fog index, Flesch-Reading-Ease (FRE) and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), are employed to assess the readability of auditors' reports. The Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) is utilized to measure audit market competition, with lower index values indicating higher auditor competition. The concentration measure is multiplied by −1 to obtain the competition measure (AudComp). Alternative readability measures, such as the Flesch–Kincaid (FK) and Automated Readability Index (ARI) are used in additional robustness tests. Data on textual features of audit reports, auditor characteristics and other control variables are manually collected from annual reports of firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Findings: The regression analysis results indicate a significant and positive association between audit market competition and audit report readability. Furthermore, a stronger positive and significant association is observed among private audit firms, where competition is more intense compared to state audit firms. These findings remain robust when using alternative readability measures and other sensitivity checks. Additional analysis reveals that the positive effect of competition on audit report readability is more pronounced in situations where the auditor remains unchanged and the audit market size is small. Originality/value: This paper expands the existing literature by examining the impact of audit market competition on audit report readability. It focuses on a unique audit market (Iran), where competition among audit firms is more intense than in developed countries due to the liberalization of the Iranian audit market in 2001 and the establishment of numerous private audit firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a cross-sectional analysis, this paper explores the influence of Product Market Competition (PMC) structure on conditional and unconditional accounting conservatism. The study utilizes financial data from the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2019. Conditional and unconditional conservatism are measured using Basu's (1997) and Beaver and Ryan's (2000) models, respectively. Additionally, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) is employed to introduce exogenous variations in PMC, allowing an assessment of how increased competition in market valuation impacts accounting conservatism in manufacturing companies. Despite previous findings by Dhaliwal et al. (2014) suggesting a positive association between intense PMC and conditional conservatism, the results of this study demonstrate that PMC does not affect the implementation of conditional conservatism. Furthermore, this investigation reveals that PMC has no bearing on applying unconditional conservatism in financial reporting. This aligns with the theory of unconditional conservatism, indicating that companies employ it based on their financial policies. The outcomes of this research contribute to the existing literature on conservatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A region's science output depends on several spatial factors. A generalized least squares function with random effects was estimated to gauge the impact of such factors in European NUTS2 regions. The main findings are that output is positively associated with the number of researchers in higher education institutions and negatively associated with the Herfindahl index of disciplinary specialization. Regions with old universities and good accessibility are also more productive, but these effects are mostly limited to Europe's core. Most leading science regions are in western or northern Europe. They combine large agglomerations of university scientists, disciplinary diversity, old university traditions, and good interregional accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the in-depth effect of bank competition on liquidity hoarding by using a comprehensive strategy for empirical measurement. More precisely, we include all asset-, liability-, and off-balance-sheet items when generating our measures of bank liquidity hoarding. For a multiple-aspect assessment of banking market structure, we simultaneously employ non-structural proxies (Lerner index, Boone indicator, and H-statistic index) and structural measures (top-bank market concentration ratio and Herfindahl–Hirschman index). Through bank-level financial data from 30 Vietnamese banks during 2007–2021, we find strong and consistent evidence that higher bank competition increases total liquidity hoarding. Disaggregate analysis reveals that the increased accumulation in total liquidity hoarding is driven by asset and liability items on the balance sheet, though our findings indicate that bank competition reduces liquidity hoarding off balance sheets. We further shed light on how the impact of competition on liquidity hoarding depends on bank-level heterogeneity. The results suggest that the link is less pronounced for banks that are larger in size, hold more equity capital, and yield better profitability. Our set of results consistently supports the view that financially healthier banks are more effective in handling competitive pressures in the banking market, and thus they may have a better position to mitigate the liquidity hoarding effect from bank competition. Multiple robustness checks are employed to lend further strength to our conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating market competition is an important practice to assess how the forces and components at play in a select market interact. Healthcare markets are similar to any other market present in the world, where competition can be present or absent in the exchange of goods and services. Applying a standard measure of assessing market competition, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, to California's Medi-Cal managed care marketplace, it is found that there is no competition present in all of California's counties as defined by the common interpretation of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. A distinctive trend in markets is that when less competition is present, the cost of goods and services increases to reflect the principles of supply and demand. California Medi-Cal markets follow this trend of less competitive markets being associated with increased adult midpoint costs. These findings help further to elucidate California's Medi-Cal marketplace on a county-by county level.

The research compares three different market concentration metrics (Concentration Ratio, Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, and Gini Coefficient) over the share of revenue (market share) and their application in consumer packaged goods markets. The metrics are further extended into measuring the share of the ownership of brands and stock-keeping units, to provide further insights into the nature of market competition. These metrics are reported across 16 categories between 2010 and 2014 from the United Kingdom. The Concentration Ratio results show an average market share of 88% going to the top 10 manufacturers, despite accounting for 19% of all manufacturers on average. Similarly, Gini Coefficients show large disparities in revenue shares across manufacturers (0.85), while the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index classifies most markets as being moderately concentrated. The research highlights the advantage of observing multiple metrics in measuring market concentration, as a single metric is unlikely to convey the nature of market competition. The results show Concentration Ratio for the top 4 or top 10 to be good proxies for Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, while the top 10% or top 20% market concentration can be used as proxies for Gini Coefficients due to their strong positive correlations. Rather than applying onerous Herfindahl–Hirschman Index and Gini Coefficient calculations and requiring the details for all competing entities as required, the result enables researchers and industry practitioners to diagnose the state of the competition by simply calculating the aggregate market share of the top N and the top N% manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation and competition are two major pillars in the information technology (IT) industry. In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between product market competition and innovations in the IT industry. We measure the innovations from both the quantity (number of patents) and the quality (number of non-self citations) perspectives. Based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and natural experiments, we find robust evidence that the competition has a positive effect on the innovations of the IT industry. Specifically, after the exogenous shock to the market (import tariff cuts and thus increased industry competition), the number of patents per IT firm increases by 27.3 percent, and the number of non-self citations per IT firm increases by 38.2 percent on average. The effects are more pronounced in the more competitive sectors. Our study highlights the importance of the competition in the IT industry and suggests that the positive effect of competition on innovation in the IT context is likely to be driven by the parallel search effect. Our findings contribute to the recent policy debate and suggest that reducing import barriers may bring important welfare gains through innovations in the IT industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architectural design of hospitals worldwide is centred around individual departments, which require the movement of patients between wards. However, patients do not always take the simplest route from admission to discharge, but can experience convoluted movement patterns, particularly when bed availability is low. Few studies have explored the impact of these rarer, atypical trajectories. Using a mixed-method explanatory sequential study design, we firstly used three continuous years of electronic health record data prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, from 55,152 patients admitted to a London hospital network to define the ward specialities by patient type using the Herfindahl–Hirschman index. We explored the impact of 'regular transfers' between pairs of wards with shared specialities, 'atypical transfers' between pairs of wards with no shared specialities and 'site transfers' between pairs of wards in different hospital site locations, on length of stay, 30-day readmission and mortality. Secondly, to understand the possible reasons behind atypical transfers we conducted three focus groups and three in-depth interviews with site nurse practitioners and bed managers within the same hospital network. We found that at least one atypical transfer was experienced by 12.9% of patients. Each atypical transfer is associated with a larger increase in length of stay, 2.84 days (95% CI 2.56–3.12), compared to regular transfers, 1.92 days (95% CI 1.82–2.03). No association was found between odds of mortality, or 30-day readmission and atypical transfers after adjusting for confounders. Atypical transfers appear to be driven by complex patient conditions, a lack of hospital capacity, the need to reach specific services and facilities, and more exceptionally, rare events such as major incidents. Our work provides an important first step in identifying unusual patient movement and its impacts on key patient outcomes using a system-wide, data-driven approach. The broader impact of moving patients between hospital wards, and possible downstream effects should be considered in hospital policy and service planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]