In this article, we investigate the relationship between market power and cost efficiency using a sample of 49 banks drawing from seven West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries for the period 2003-2014. We used a panel data analysis and 2SLS IV estimation for our empirical investigation. We find that market power reduces the cost banking efficiency in WAEMU's countries through an increase of banking operating costs. This is consistent with the Quiet Life Hypothesis, which established that concentrated markets incites to an under optimal behaviors harmful to the banking profitability. The results have important regulation banking policy implications for WAEMU. (original abstract)
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