A common assumption in the academic literature is that franchise value plays a key role in
limiting bank risk-taking. As market power is the primary source of franchise value, reduced
competition in banking markets has been seen as promoting banking stability. We test this
hypothesis using data for the Spanish banking system. We find that standard measures of
market concentration do not affect bank risk-taking. However, we find a negative relationship
between market power measured using Lerner indexes based on bank-specific interest rates
and bank risk. Our results support the franchise value paradigm.