... REPORT 2013 THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN PROMOTING BANK COMPETITION 87indicator, a measure of the effect of effi-ciency on performance in terms of profits. An increase in the Lerner index or the Boone ... the banking market reduces the cost of finance and increases the availability of credit. On the other hand, the information hypothesis posits that in the presence of information FIGURE 3.6 ... total deposits), the price of personnel (as captured by the ratio of personnel expenses to assets), and the price of equipment and fixed capi-tal (approximated by the ratio of other operating...