The impact of deregulation and re-regulation on bank efficiency: evidence from Asia

Following the 1997 crisis, banking sector reforms in Asia have been characterised by the emphasis on prudential regulation, associated with increased financial liberalisation. Using a panel data set of commercial banks from eight major Asian economies over the period 2001-2010, this study explores how the coexistence of liberalisation and prudential regulation affects banks’ cost characteristics. Given the presence of heterogeneity of technologies across countries, we use a stochastic frontier approach followed by the estimation of a deterministic meta-frontier to provide ‘true’ estimates of bank cost efficiency measures. Our results show that the liberalization of bank interest rates and the increase in foreign banks' presence have had a positive and significant impact on technological progress and cost efficiency. On the other hand, we find that prudential regulation might adversely affect bank cost performance. When designing an optimal regulatory framework, policy makers should combine policies which aim to foster financial stability without hindering financial intermediation

Total factor productivity change of Greek cooperative banks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the total factor productivity (TFP) change in the Greek cooperative banking industry over the period 2000-2005. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the Malmquist index and estimate two models, one based on the intermediation approach, and one based on the production approach. TFP change is disaggregated into technical efficiency change and technological change, whereas technical efficiency change is decomposed further into pure technical efficiency change and scale efficiency change. Findings – The results are mixed. The first model indicates a small decrease (3 per cent) in TFP whereas the second model indicates an increase by 6.6 per cent. Comparing the results on the basis of banks' size finds that TFP growth is higher for smaller banks on average over the entire period of our analysis. However, this relationship between size and productivity is not robust across the years. Furthermore, the differences between the groups are not statistically significant. Practical implications – The results can be of special interest to several stakeholders such as customers-members, bank managers, local community, and of course bank regulators. Originality/value – This paper is believed to be the first that examines the productivity growth of Greek cooperative banks

Total factor productivity change of Greek cooperative banks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the total factor productivity (TFP) change in the Greek cooperative banking industry over the period 2000-2005. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the Malmquist index and estimate two models, one based on the intermediation approach, and one based on the production approach. TFP change is disaggregated into technical efficiency change and technological change, whereas technical efficiency change is decomposed further into pure technical efficiency change and scale efficiency change. Findings – The results are mixed. The first model indicates a small decrease (3 per cent) in TFP whereas the second model indicates an increase by 6.6 per cent. Comparing the results on the basis of banks' size finds that TFP growth is higher for smaller banks on average over the entire period of our analysis. However, this relationship between size and productivity is not robust across the years. Furthermore, the differences between the groups are not statistically significant. Practical implications – The results can be of special interest to several stakeholders such as customers-members, bank managers, local community, and of course bank regulators. Originality/value – This paper is believed to be the first that examines the productivity growth of Greek cooperative banks

The cost efficiency of Greek cooperative banks: an application of two-stage data envelopment analysis

This study aims to assess the Cost Efficiency (CE) of the Greek cooperative banks over the period 2000?2005. We first use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate the technical, allocative and cost efficiency for each bank in sample. Then, we use a bootstrapping censored (Tobit) regression approach to determine whether and how internal and external factors influence banks' efficiency. The results of DEA indicate that Greek cooperative banks could improve their cost efficiency by 18.4% on average as well as that the dominant source of cost inefficiency is allocative rather than technical. The results of the second-stage regression indicate that bank total assets and the equity to assets ratio, as well as the GDP per capita and the unemployment rate in the region influence efficiency; however, their impact is not robust across different efficiency measures

The cost efficiency of Greek cooperative banks: an application of two-stage data envelopment analysis

This study aims to assess the Cost Efficiency (CE) of the Greek cooperative banks over the period 2000?2005. We first use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate the technical, allocative and cost efficiency for each bank in sample. Then, we use a bootstrapping censored (Tobit) regression approach to determine whether and how internal and external factors influence banks' efficiency. The results of DEA indicate that Greek cooperative banks could improve their cost efficiency by 18.4% on average as well as that the dominant source of cost inefficiency is allocative rather than technical. The results of the second-stage regression indicate that bank total assets and the equity to assets ratio, as well as the GDP per capita and the unemployment rate in the region influence efficiency; however, their impact is not robust across different efficiency measures