Profit efficiency under a directional technology distance function approach

Purpose - The aim of this study is to investigate profit efficiency in the banking industries of 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries for the period 1998-2005. Design/methodology/approach -The authors employ a directional technology distance function approach to measure profit efficiency and decompose it into its technical and allocative components. They use these efficiency measures to investigate potential differences in banking performance across countries and across banks of different size and with different ownership status. Findings - The results indicate that the highest proportion of profit inefficiency in the CEE region is attributed to allocative inefficiency, recognizing that considerable variation and different patterns in inefficiency levels across banking systems can be observed. Small and domestic private banks appear to be the most efficient. A negative relationship between efficiency and bank size, the capitalization ratio and market concentration, and a positive relationship with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development index of banking reform are also found. Research limitations/implications - Bank performance relative to best practice is measured across the CEE region. While it is found that on average technical inefficiency is relatively small and about one quarter of the banks lie on the technological frontier, the size of technical inefficiencies is likely to be exacerbated if the sample were to include Western European banks. Practical implications - The effects of banking reforms are evident by recent positive trends in profit and allocative efficiencies estimated for CEE banking sectors. These trends suggest that policy makers should intensify efforts to further improve the financial services regulatory and supervisory framework while freeing any remaining explicit or implicit barriers to bank competition. Originality/value -The study departs from the traditional literature of efficiency. It uses a directional distance function approach to model multi input – multi output banking technology and to investigate profit efficiency in CEE countries.