This paper considers the degree of competitiveness of the Dutch consumer credit market. We use the well-known Bresnahan–Lau method that estimates a structural model consisting of a demand relation and a supply relation, based on aggregate data. The level of competition is derived from the estimated conjectural variation elasticity. Our empirical results show that there is no evidence of market power.

This paper links existence of the pyramidal ownership structure to tunneling and propping. Tunneling refers to a transfer of resources from a lower-level firm to a higher-level firm in the pyramidal chain, whereas propping concerns a transfer in the opposite direction intended to bail out the receiving firm from bankruptcy. We show that tunneling alone cannot justify the pyramidal structure unless outside investors are myopic, since rational outside investors anticipate tunneling and adjust their willingness-to-pay for the firm’s shares accordingly. With propping, however, they may be willing to be expropriated in exchange for implicit insurance against bankruptcy.