The Lerner Index of oligopoly was one fifth lower in banking in 2000-2001 than it had been on average in the 1980s; in the service sector as a whole it was a quarter higher; and in the industrial sector excluding construction it was unchanged at a lower level.44 On the average, as we can see from the tables and the figure, productivity in banking rose faster between 1990 and 2003 than it had in the 1980s, while the real cost of labour rose more slowly.
Nevertheless, profitability declined, not because of larger loan write-downs but because of sharper competition. Meanwhile, since 1990 the number of banks has fallen by nearly 300 to 790, and 800 banks went out of business.