Cost Efficiency in Greek Banking

TThis study uses the distribution free approach to investigate cost efficiency in a panel of Greek banks over 1993-1999, a period characterized by major changes in the banking sector brought about by gradual financial deregulation. These reforms were supposed to provide an opportunity to Greek banks to improve their efficiency and to enhance their competitiveness in view of ongoing financial integration in Europe and the introduction of the euro. The results obtained indicate that important cost X-inefficiencies are in place. Some evidence is provided that bank characteristics such as bank size, type of ownership and risk behaviour do play a role in explaining differences in measured inefficiencies. Scale economies are also examined and the findings indicate that the Greek banking industry experiences economies of scale, though they have declined throughout the observed period. This suggests that competitive viability may be an important factor for further consolidation in the Greek banking industry.X-efficiency, scale economies, panel data

Efficiency in Deregulated Electricity Markets: Offer Cost Minimization vs. Payment Cost Minimization Auction

A payment cost minimization (PCM) auction has been proposed to solve the problem of inflated wholesale electricity prices. In the electricity industry, where even small changes in $/MW are worth tens of millions of dollars, it is highly important that policy makers have a good understanding of the tradeoffs and impacts of new institutional rules. In this paper we examine efficiency performance of the proposed PCM auction in contrast with the offer cost minimization (OCM) auction currently used by most independent system operators (ISOs) in the United States. For most of the analysis we concentrate on production efficiency, which is attained when a product is supplied to the market by the suppliers that have the smallest average total cost (ATC). An electricity market is efficient if there is no generator that could produce electricity cheaper than the chosen generators do. Production efficiency is desired because 1) it guarantees that market output is produced using the least-cost combination of inputs, thus resources are not wasted, 2) it also rewards the low-cost suppliers and provides the incentives to search for production techniques with even lower costs. [excerpt

Cost and Efficiency in Alberta Dairy Production

This study investigates the relationships between farm size, milk yield, cost of production, and technical efficiency in the Alberta dairy industry. Estimates of a stochastic production frontier are obtained with two alternative methods; an iterative "average frontier: (AF) procedure and a maximum-likelihood composed error (CE) term method. An index of technical efficiency is calculated for every herd in the sample, with the AF method resulting in an average efficiency ratio of 85 percent, and the CE method producing an average efficiency ratio of 83 percent. Regressions of production cost on milk output, herd size, and efficiency are used to test for the effects of size economies, yield economies, and technical efficiency on production cost. These results suggest that herd expansion, on average, would lower the average cost of production throughout the province. Romain and Lambert use a similar method in a study of Quebec and Ontario dairy farmers which shows a limited potential to exploit economies of herd size. While not a formal test of the similarity of the two industries, the results of this study indicate a significant difference between the optimal structure of dairy production in Alberta and Quebec. Such regional differences will have important implications for the possible reapportionment of the national milk market, whether by regulatory or free-market mechanisms.Livestock Production/Industries,

COST EFFICIENCY LEVEL OF ISLAMIC BANKS IN INDONESIA: A STOCHASTIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS Study on Indonesian Islamic Banks (Islamic Commercial Bank and Islamic Windows) during 2011-2014 Period

This research aims to compare and analyze on the cost efficiency level of Islamic Commercial Bank (ICB) and Islamic Windows (IW) in Indonesia. Another purpose is to find out whether the Islamic Banks are ready to face the application of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) based on the result of efficiency analysis. This research is conducted on eleven samples in total, which consist of seven ICB and four IW. This research employs Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) with cost function to measure the efficiency. Asset approach is selected as the approach to determine the input and output variables. The input variables used in this research are cost of profit/loss sharing and cost of labor, whereas the output variables selected are total financing channeled by Islamic banks in the sample and securities owned by them. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is employed to find out the difference between the efficiency level of ICB and IW. The result of analysis by SFA shows that in average Indonesian Islamic Banks has achieved the efficiency level at 0.652188318 or 65.22% within the year of 2011 to 2014. It indicates that the Islamic banks in Indonesia have not yet achieved the cost efficiency in generating outputs using inputs available. In other words, Indonesian Islamic banks have to improve the performance in order to increase competitive advantage to face the application of AEC. Another finding reveals that Islamic Commercial Banks tend to be more efficient compared to Islamic Windows. Based on the result of regression on panel data to test the effect of input and output variables on total cost, the variables that have positive and significant impact on total cost are total financing, cost of profit/loss sharing, and cost of labor. Meanwhile owned securities have negative insignificant effect on total cost. The ANOVA result reveals that there is no significant difference between the efficiency level of Islamic Commercial Banks and Islamic Windows

Measuring Cost Efficiency Of Ukrainian Banks In 2008

The paper presents the results of a stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) of cost-efficiency of Ukrainian banks. As of lack of data on the personnel costs, we had to set limits to the year of 2008 only. To modeling banking activity, we apply the intermediary approach as one of the most commonly used in literature. Considering the results of statistical tests, we chose translog functional form of cost function and half-normal distribution of random inefficiency term. As a result of the research, we found out that efficiency of Ukrainian banks varies within 0.5224 and 0.9869 with an average value of 0.8734. Having checked a range of hypotheses, we discovered insignificant distinctions among banks by their size, type of owner and location.W artykule przedstawiono wyniki stochastycznej analizy granicznej (SFA) efektywności kosztowej banków ukraińskich. Ze względu na braki w danych dotyczących kosztów personelu, analizę ograniczono do roku 2008. W modelowaniu działalności bankowej, zastosowano podejście pośrednika jako jeden z powszechnie stosowanych w literaturze. Biorąc pod uwagę wyniki testów statystycznych, wybrano funkcjonalną formę funkcji kosztów I pół-normalny rozkład losowy

The Effects of Concentration on Competition and Efficiency : Some Evidence from the French Audit Market

This paper aims at investigating the effects of concentration on competition and cost efficiency of the French audit market. Competition is measured with the Rosse-Panzar model, while cost efficiency is estimated with stochastic frontier approach. Cost efficiency levels are estimated at around 75% with greater efficiency for Big-Four firms, while the nature of competition appears to be monopolistic competition. Dynamic analysis shows a reduction in competition, and a decrease in cost efficiency for Big-Four and non-Big-Four firms between 1999 and 2003. We therefore provide support to a negative impact of concentration on competition and cost efficiency.Auditing, audit market, competition, efficiency.

Cost efficiency and profitability in Thailand's life insurance industry: A stochastic cost frontier approach

Liberalized environments brought about by trade agreements and other restructuring of international markets under the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) have increased market opportunities for foreign firms. This opening up of domestic market under GATS will cause the inflow of foreign insurance firm hence heighten competitive pressures. As such, insurance firm in Thailand need to be efficient to ensure their survival. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the cost efficiency and its relationship with profitability in Thailand’s life insurance firms during the period 1997-2002 using the stochastic cost frontier approach. We find that the industry is on average 82 to 140 percent inefficient. There is no significant relationship between inefficiency and age. But, the mean inefficiency is negatively correlated with size suggesting the need for rationalization in the insurance industry in Thailand. Consolidating the large number of smaller insurers should be high on the government’s agenda, and the capital requirements for life insurers need to be increase. We show that inefficiency is negatively correlated with ROE and ROA ratios. This shows that efficient firms, on average, have higher return on equity and on assets. This indicates that inefficiency has substantial effect on the profitability of life insurance companies