The paper examines the effect of concentration on performance in the Vietnamese commercial banks during the period 2005-2012, using the concentration ratio and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index to measure the level of concentration in the banking sector. We find a clear trend of decreasing concentration of the Vietnamese banking sector over the analyzed period, along with an increase in competition. The results of the competitive analysis based on The Panzar-Rosse model show a status of monopoly competition market has formed in the banking sector. With respect to the effects of concentration on banks’ performance, the study finds a negative relationship between the concentration of the market and operational performance of the commercial banks in the context of monopoly competition. We conclude that high competition and less concentration stimulate the banking sector to achieve a more balanced allocation of credits and promoting sustainable economic growth.

The purpose of this study is to provide updated information and facts of the Malaysian audit market concentration and auditor workload. The global auditing services market is presently dominated by a group of four audit firms which known as Big 4; namely Deloitte, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG. The audit industry in Malaysia offers several exemptions, as observed that two of non-big 4 audit firms succeeded to make their place into the Malaysian top 4. The study examined the audit firms share based on the number of audits and included all Malaysian public listed companies from 2012 to 2016.The findings indicate that the Malaysian audit market falls into the category of loose oligopoly and dominated by 8 audit firms. It is noted that the market share of the Big 4 in Malaysia have been reduced over a five-year period 2012-2016, and these firms mainly focusing more on large or more established clients. The examination related to auditor workload suggests that there is a decreasing trend in the workload of individual audit partners; on average the Big 4 firms staffing ratio is lower as compared with non-big 4 which may indicate that Big 4 partners have less workload. The study is useful for policy makers and regulators to better analyze the audit market concentration and workload in Malaysia.