Assessing Output and Productivity Growth in the Banking Industry

This paper assesses the evolution of output and productivity in the Greek banking industry for the period 1990-2006. Three main categories of bank output were estimated based on modern theoretical approaches, while for the aggregation and estimation of output and inputs and the estimation of productivity (partial and total factor) we relied on the index number method (Tornqvist index). Additionally, we considered the effect of labor quality on banks’ productivity and using a growth accounting framework we examined the contribution of total factor productivity (TFP) to bank output growth. The results show that bank output and labor productivity increased considerably during the period under examination, outpacing the respective GDP growth and labor productivity of the Greek economy. Capital productivity and TFP of the Greek banking industry have also improved remarkably mainly since 1999, as a result of the structural changes that took place within the industry, capital investments (mainly in IT equipment) as well as improvement in the quality of human capital.Bank output; user-cost approach; total factor productivity; Tornqvist index; growth accounting; labor quality

Does R&D, human capital and FDI matter for TFP in OECD countries?

This study investigates the interplay between research and development (R&D), human capital (HC), foreign direct investment (FDI) and total factor productivity (TFP) in OECD countries. We divide the sample into two sub-groups; the European and the non-European states so as to account for underlying country heterogeneity. The analysis follows a panel data approach over the period 1995–2015, taking into account the modelling on non-stationarity, long-run relationships and short-run dynamics with a panel VAR. Both R&D and HC have a positive effect on TFP, whilst FDI has a positive and significant effect only in the case of non-European countries. Moreover, the contribution of R&D is higher than that of HC and FDI in all cases. Thus, based on these findings, policymakers should design and implement policies to increase resources invested in R&D, with a consistent ongoing spending review, to attract foreign direct investment, especially for the majority of the European and some of the non-European countries and to improve education system on a more productive innovation and research base

What is the Impact of Financial Shock on Reaching Happiness Frontier?

This paper provides a framework to reveal happiness frontier based on British Household Panel Survey. Thereafter we focus on what is the impact of financial shock on reaching the frontier. By doing so we also explore the nexus between personality traits, such as extraversion, neuroticism, and openness, and the financial shock. We further reveal the underlying causality threads

Bank Profit Efficiency and Financial Consumer Protection Policies

International audienceOver the last decade, financial consumer protection policies have attracted a lot of attention among policy makers. However, empirical evidence on the impact of such policies on bank efficiency is nonexistent. At the same time, important differences on the instruments used to conduct prudential and financial consumer supervision do not permit the generalization of the findings of studies that focus on the former. The present study uses a sample of 2,413 banks from 79 countries to examine, for the first time in the literature, whether and if so how financial consumer protection policies influence bank profit efficiency around the globe. Considering policies related to disclosures to customers, fair treatment, dispute resolution, and the power of the financial consumer protection supervisory agency, our results show that more regulatory requirements decrease bank efficiency. The results are robust to various tests

Assessing output and productivity growth in the banking industry

This paper assesses the evolution of output and productivity in the Greek banking industry for the period 1990-2006. Three main categories of bank output were estimated based on modern theoretical approaches, while for the estimation of output and productivity (partial and total factor) we relied on the index number method (Tornqvist index). We also considered the effect of labor quality on banks' productivity and the contribution of total factor productivity to bank output growth. Bank output and labor productivity outpaced considerably the respective GDP growth and labor productivity of the Greek economy during the period under examination. Capital and total factor productivity have also improved remarkably mainly since 1999, due to the structural changes that took place within the industry, capital (mainly IT) investments and improvement in the quality of human capital.Bank output Total factor productivity User-cost approach Labor quality Tornqvist index