We test the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) hypothesis for ASEAN, which predicts that the concentrated markets allow banks to collude and earn higher profits through monopoly pricing. We propose a new estimation approach that corrects the methodological issues in previous studies by including lags of explanatory variables and autoregressive terms in estimated models. The estimation results imply that the banks’ profitability in a concentrated market is entirely attributable to the anti-competitive behavior of banks. From a theoretical perspective, the findings exclude the alternative explanations – i.e. the efficient structure (ES) hypothesis or the relative market (RMP) hypothesis – for the SCP relationship in ASEAN.

我们检验了东盟的结构行为绩效（SCP）假设，该假设预测，集中市场允许银行串通并通过垄断定价获得更高的利润。我们提出了一种新的估计方法，该方法通过在估计模型中包含解释变量和自回归项的滞后来纠正以前研究中的方法论问题。估计结果表明，银行在集中市场中的盈利能力完全归因于银行的反竞争行为。从理论角度来看，研究结果排除了东盟SCP关系的替代解释，即有效结构（ES）假设或相对市场（RMP）假设。