This paper analyses cost efficiency in the banking sector of six South Eastern European countries over the period 1998-2003. A stochastic frontier approach, incorporating firm-specific and country-related variables, indicates a generally low level of cost efficiency, with significant inefficiency differences among countries. Foreign banks and banks with higher foreign bank ownership involvement are associated with lower inefficiency. Furthermore, we observe a negative correlation of cost inefficiency with bank capitalization and firm market share, and a positive one with the fraction of loans in the asset portfolio.
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Volume (Year): 18 (2008) Issue (Month): 5 (December) Pages: 483-497 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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