In a retail banking sector characterised by both high concentration and low consumer switching, questions arise for Australian policy makers and regulators as to the effectiveness of competition as one important means by which economic outcomes are engendered, including innovation beneficial to consumers and consumer welfare generally. Such questions include the appropriate response to ‘digital...

Emerging rather less scarred than many from the most recent global financial crisis in 2008, Australia has a banking and finance industry evidencing long-term stability, but moderate to high concentration as a result of long prevailing policy. In 2015, whether that level of concentration signifies less than desirable levels of competition is very much a...

The Australian Government initiated two major reviews in 2014: the Financial System Inquiry and the Competition Policy Review. These have highlighted policy trade-off between competition and financial stability. Since the global financial crisis, policymakers and economic researchers internationally have highlighted the need for prudential regulation while sidelining the importance of competition. The working paper argues...

In the financial services sector, the failure of a single institution can have a compounding effect on the sector, and on national and global economies. In particular, there is systemic risk from inter-institution lending, and this effect is more complex in Australia due to the small number of major players. In retail banking in Australia...

This paper considers the effects of the most recent changes to the broadcasting regulatory regime in Australia, and compares the outcomes for commercial television broadcasters with those for commercial radio broadcasters. It begins by reviewing the path to the current regime and highlighting the differences in the review of regional radio compared with television. It...