This study analyses the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M%A) on the performance of commercial banking in GCC countries through analysing a set of ratios. It contributes to the debate about whether mergers and acquisitions improve the performance of the GCC commercial banks. Seven financial...

Islamic and cooperative banks such as credit unions are broadly similar in that they both share some risk with savers. However, risk sharing goes along with ownership control in cooperatives, whilst Islamic banks share risk with borrowers and downside risk with depositors. Islamic banking is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the performances of the insurance sector in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and carry out a comparative analysis for its different units. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyse the technical efficiency of insurances in the...

Purpose – The two aims of this paper are: first, to investigate the market structure of Kuwait banking industry and second, to evaluate the monopoly power of banks during the years 1993-2002. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the market structure using the most frequently...

The paper uses DEA techniques to estimate technical, pure technical, and scale efficiency, using an input orientation for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks for the period 1993–2002. The paper highlighted several interesting findings regarding the GCC banking market. First, smaller...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: to investigate the market structure of Saudi Arabia banking industry; and to evaluate the monopoly power of banks during the years 1993-2006. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is examining the market structure using the most frequently...