Model for measuring efficiency of Argentina banks

These days, Information Technology (IT) represents an essential tool in the achievement of competitive advantages within ahighly dynamic context. It is relevant to know the impact that it has on the development of organizations, especially insectors like banking, which make extensive use of information. The present work presents a model to evaluate the impact ofIT investment on bank efficiency. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was the technique selected as efficiency measurementtool, according to the model built upon financial statement information of banks in Argentina. The results showed that thebanks presented a high level of global efficiency. Local branches of foreign financial institutions and local banks with foreigncapital proved to be the most efficient

Banking Sector Performance in Latin America: Market Power versus Efficiency

TSince the mid-1990s the banking sector in the Latin American emerging markets has experienced profound changes due to financial liberalisation, a significant increase in foreign investments and greater mergers activities often occurring following financial crises. The wave of consolidation and the rapid increase in market concentration that took place in most countries has generated concerns about the rise in banks’ market power and its potential effects on consumers. This paper advances the existing literature by testing the market power (Structure-Conduct-Performance and Relative Market Power) and efficient structure (X- and scale efficiency) hypotheses for a sample of over 2,500 bank observations in nine Latin American countries over 1997-2005. We use the Data Envelopment Analysis technique to obtain reliable efficiency measures. We produce evidence supporting the efficient structure hypotheses. The findings are particularly robust for the largest banking markets in the region, namely Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Finally, capital ratios and bank size seem to be among the most important factors in explaining higher than normal profits for Latin American banks.Structure-Conduct-Performance; Efficient Structure; Latin American banking; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).

Banking Sector Performance in Some Latin American Countries: Market Power versus Efficiency

The wave of consolidation and the rapid increase in market concentration that took place in most Latin American countries has generated concerns about the rise in banks' market power and its potential effects on consumers. This paper advances the existing literature by testing the market power (Structure-Conduct-Performance and Relative Market Power) and efficient structure (X- and scale efficiency) hypotheses for a sample of over 2,500 bank observations in nine Latin American countries over 1997-2005. We use the Data Envelopment Analysis technique to obtain reliable efficiency measures. We produce evidence supporting the efficient structure hypotheses. Finally, capital ratios and bank size seem to be among the most important factors in explaining profits for these Latin American banks.Structure-Conduct-Performance, Efficient Structure, Banking System in Some Latin American Countries, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

Stock market development and financial intermediary growth : a research agenda

Empirical evidence suggests that financial services - such as mobilizing savings, managing risk, allocating resources, and facilitating transactions - influence and are influenced by economic development. And financial crises - widespread bank failures, the collapse of stock markets - can impede and even reverse economic advances. With this in mind, the World Bank made special efforts in the 1980s to help countries improve their financial systems and cope with financial crises that threatened economic prosperity. Bank programs focused on core financial themes (loosening up interest rates, reducing government involvement in credit allocation, rationalizing taxes on financial intermediaries) and on managing bank failures, rehabilitating insolvent banks, and training bank managers and supervisors. Recently, Bank programs have stressed the development of capital markets, especially stock markets, but little research has been done in measuring the level ofstock market development or understanding the relationship between the development of stock markets and the functioning of financial intermediaries. The authors did some preliminary research on these issues and suggest further topics for research. They propose different empirical indicators of stock market development. They also suggest how to use these indicators to help evaluate stock market development policies. They find that the relationship between the development of stock markets and the functioning of financial intermediaries may be complementary.Economic Theory&Research,Financial Intermediation,Health Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Access to Markets

Stock market development and financial intermediaries : stylized facts

World stock markets are booming. Between 1982 and 1993, stock market capitalization grew from $2 trillion to$10 trillion, an average 15 percent a year. A disproportionate amount of this growth was in emerging stock markets, which rose from 3 percent of world stock markets capitalization to 14 percent in the same period. Yet there is little empirical evidence about how important stock markets are to long-term economic development. Economists have neither a common concept nor a common measure of stock market development, so we know little about how stock market development affects the rest of the financial system or how corporations finance themselves. The authors collected and compared many different indicators of stock market development using data on 41 countries from 1986 to 1993. Each indicator has statistical and conceptual shortcomings, so they used different measures of stock market size, liquidity, concentration, and volatility, of institutional development, and of international integration. Their goal: to summarize infromation about a variety of indicators for stock market development, in order to facilitate research into the links between stock markets, economic development, and corporate financing decisions. They highlight certain important correlations: (i) In the 41 countries they studied, there are enormous cross-country differences in the level of stock market development for each indicator. The ratio of market capitalization to the gross domestic product (GDP), for example, is greater than 1 in five countries and less than 0.10 in five others. (ii) There are intuitively appealing correlations among indicators. For example, big markets tend to be less volatile, more liquid, and less concentrated in a few stocks. Internationally integrated markets tend to be less volatile. And institutionally developed markets tend to be large and liquid. (iii) The three most developed markets are in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The most underdeveloped markets are in Colombia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland seem to have highly developed stock market, whereas Argentina, Greece, Pakistan and Turkey have underdeveloped in richer countries, but many markets commonly labeled"emerging"(for example, in Korea, Malaysia,and Thailand) are systematically more developed than markets commonly labeled"developed"(for example, in Australia, Canada, and many European countries). (iv) Between 1986 and 1993, some markets developed rapidly in size, liquidity, and international integration. Indonesia, Portugal, Turkey, and Venezuela experienced explosive development, for example. Case studies on the reasons for (and economic consequences of) this rapid development could yield valuable insights. (v) The level of stock market development is highly correlated with the development of banks, nonbank financial institutions (finance companies, mutual funds, brokerage houses), insurance companies, and private pension funds.Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access,Banks&Banking Reform

Corporate Governance in the Asian Financial Crisis

The "Asian Crisis" of 1997-98 affected all the "emerging markets" open to capital flows. Measures of corporate governance, particularly the effectiveness of protection for minority shareholders, explain the extent of depreciation and stock market decline better than do standard macroeconomic measures. A possible explanation is that in countries with weak corporate governance, worse economic prospects result in more expropriation by managers and thus a larger fall in asset prices.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39681/3/wp297.pd

Bank regulations are changing : for better or worse ?

This paper presents new and official survey information on bank regulations in 142 countries and makes comparisons with two earlier surveys. The data do not suggest that countries have primarily reformed their bank regulations for the better over the last decade. Following Basel guidelines many countries strengthened capital regulations and official supervisory agencies, but existing evidence suggests that these reforms will not improve bank stability or efficiency. While some countries have empowered private monitoring of banks, consistent with the third pillar of Basel II, there are many exceptions and reversals along this dimension.Banks&Banking Reform,Access to Finance,,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets

Does Financial Structure Matter for the Information Content of Financial Indicators?

Of particular concern to monetary policy-makers is the considerable unreliability of financial variables for predicting GDP growth and inflation. As Stock and Watson (2003) find, some financial variables work well in some countries or over some time periods and forecast horizons, but the results do not show any clear pattern. This may be caused by the changing nature of financial structures within countries across time, or the differing types of financial structures across countries. The authors assess the extent to which financial structure across countries influences the information content of financial variables for predicting real GDP growth and inflation. Their assumption is that financial asset prices will dominate financial quantities in economies with highly developed market-based financial systems. The authors use standard methods to determine the predictive content of common financial asset prices and quantities for 29 countries. They find no systematic pattern between financial structure and whether financial asset prices or quantities are the best financial indicators for monetary policy. Importantly, financial quantities are sometimes the best financial indicator, even in economies with highly developed market-based financial systems. The authors conclude that it would be difficult to tell, a priori, whether a financial asset price or quantity would be the best indicator for monetary policy for a particular country at a particular point in time.Inflation and prices; Business fluctuations and cycles; Credit and credit aggregates; Monetary aggregates; Interest rates

Bank-Based or Market-Based Financial Systems: Which is Better?

For over a century, economists and policy makers have debated the relative merits of bank-based versus market-based financial systems. Recent research, however, argues that classifying countries as bank-based or market is not a very fruitful way to distinguish financial systems. This paper represents the first broad, cross-country examination of which view of financial structure is more consistent with the data. The results indicate that although overall financial development is robustly linked with economic growth, there is no support for either the bank-based or market-based view.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39826/3/wp442.pd

BANKNOTE PRINTING AT MODERN CENTRAL BANKING: TRENDS, COSTS, AND EFFICIENCY

This paper examines trends in banknote printing during the period 2000-2005 for a crosssection of 56 central banks. Because of the high increase in the demand for currency in recent years, central banks have implemented new strategies to increase efficiency in the production of banknotes. Some of them, involve the private sector by means of different modalities (e.g. joint ventures, subsidiaries or purchase of banknotes from specialized companies), and the integration of banknote printing and cash processing in a single complex (e.g. Portugal and Colombia). A cost function using a panel data model with random effects was estimated. It was identified that the denomination structure, the size of banknotes, and the production method used by central banks have a significant impact on production costs. Government printing was found to be the most costly method, while private-sector involvement in the process substantially reduces production costs. Using a non-parametric efficient frontier model, it was found that most central banks have increased its technical efficiency during the period, especially in central banks where the privatesector has involved. Computing a Malmquist index through distance functions it was identified that central banks have showed a moderate increase in its productivity, primarily due to increases in efficiency and, in a lower proportion to technical change. In most of the cases, a positive change in efficiency is mainly the result of higher scale efficiency. This could obey to high increase in demand for currency.Central Banks, Banknote Printing, Efficiency Frontier, Cost Function, Panel Data, Malmquist Index. Classification JEL: E50; C33; C23; C43.