Stability, Competition, and Concentration in the Turkish Insurance Sector

Abstract This paper examines the impact of competition and concentration on stability in the Turkish insurance sector over the period 2002–2014. The main results indicate that non–life insurers are more stable in a less competitive and highly concentrated environment. This finding provides support for the competition–fragility view in the Turkish non–life insurance sector. In contrast, life/pension insurers are more stable in a highly competitive and more concentrated market. Hence, our findings provide support for the competition–stability view for Turkish life/pension insurers. The results further indicate that higher market power decreases (increases) earnings volatility in the non–life (life/pension) insurance sector. A quadratic term of the competition measures was also used in this study to capture a possible nonlinear relationship between competition and risk. The results suggest an inverse U-shaped pattern for the non–life insurer’s case. That is, market power increases insurer stability until a threshold level. As for the life/pension insurer’s case, the results also support a U-shaped relationship between market power and stability. The results further show that there is no nonlinear relationship between competition and stability.