Efficiency and Foreign Ownership in Banking: An International Comparison

This paper estimates cost and profit efficiency for Latin American and the Caribbean banking sectors. This study also conducts a comparative analysis of the performance of foreign and domestic banks operating in these counties. Using a model proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995), a common cost and profit frontiers with country-specific environmental variables have been estimated for a panel of 427 banking firms from sixteen countries. The empirical analysis reveals the importance of the environmental variables in explaining the efficiency differences among countries. The results show that profit efficiency levels are well below those corresponding to cost efficiency, implying that the most important inefficiency is on the revenue side. The results further indicate that on average foreign banks are more efficient than domestic banks.Banking, efficiency, foreign ownership

Technical change in banking: Evidence from transition countries

This paper investigates the effect of technical change on the costs of banking firms operating in 11 Central and Eastern European countries using Fourier-flexible cost function specification for the period 1995-2002. A common cost frontier with country-specific variables is employed in order to take into account macro-economic and regulatory conditions that vary over country and time. Our findings suggest that the rate of reduction in costs resulting from technical change increased during the sample period. Banks operating in Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland benefited more from technical change than their counterparts. In terms of cost reduction, large banks benefited more from technical progress. This indicates that large banks are more able to change their optimal input mix in response to changes in technology

Monetary policy convergence of potential EMU accession countries: A cointegration analysis with shifting regimes

This paper investigates monetary policy convergence between the reference country (Germany) and the new Central and Eastern European EU member countries as well as Malta and Cyprus during the process of joining the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the four candidate countries, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey. Monetary policy convergence is examined through testing the uncovered interest parity (UIP) hypothesis. The long-run relationship between interest rates, a necessary condition for testing the UIP hypothesis, is examined using a cointegration test that considers the presence of structural breaks. The empirical findings of this paper provide significant evidence to support that German interest rates and interest rates in six sample countries, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovak Republic, and Turkey are stochastically converging. The UIP hypothesis, however, is not rejected only for Estonia, Croatia, and Turkey. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Nominal and real convergence between the CEE countries and the EU: a fractional cointegration analysis

This paper examines the real and nominal convergence between the Central and Eastern European countries and the EU, using fractional cointegration analysis for the period 1980-2003. Fractional cointegration analysis is a flexible methodology, which allows for more subtle forms of mean reversion. The tests performed are those of Geweke and Porter-Hudak. The convergence processes are valid when macroeconomic time series used in the study are fractionally cointegrated. The results indicate that inflation and interest rates series of six sample countries are fractionally cointegrated with those of the EU. Therefore, nominal convergence has been achieved by some of the transition countries, but the equilibrium errors display long memory. Results also indicate that industrial outputs of most countries in the sample are not fractionally cointegrated with that of the EU. The results further indicate that both nominal and real convergence have been achieved only for Hungary.

Technical Change in Banking: Evidence From Transition Countries

This paper investigates the effect of technical change on the costs of banking firms operating in 11 Central and Eastern European countries using Fourier-flexible cost function specification for the period 1995-2002. A common cost frontier with country-specific variables is employed in order to take into account macro-economic and regulatory conditions that vary over country and time. Our findings suggest that the rate of reduction in costs resulting from technical change increased during the sample period. Banks operating in Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland benefited more from technical change than their counterparts. In terms of cost reduction, large banks benefited more from technical progress. This indicates that large banks are more able to change their optimal input mix in response to changes in technology.Technical Change, Banking, Transition Economies, JEL Classifications: G21, D21,