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Efficiency and Economies of Scale of Large Canadian Banks

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Author Info
Jason Allen
Ying Liu

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Abstract

The authors measure the economies of scale of Canada's six largest banks and their cost-efficiency over time. Using a unique panel data set from 1983 to 2003, they estimate pooled translog cost functions and derive measures of relative efficiency and economies of scale. The disaggregation of the data allows the authors to model Canadian banks as producing multiple outputs, including non-traditional activities. Given the long time span of the data set, they also incorporate technological and regulatory changes in the banks' cost functions, as well as time-varying bank-specific effects. The authors' model leads them to reject constant returns to scale. These findings suggest that there are potential scale benefits in the Canadian banking industry. The authors also find that technological and regulatory changes have had significant positive effects on the banks' cost structure.

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File URL: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/res/wp/2005/wp05-13.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Bank of Canada in its series Working Papers with number 05-13.

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Length: 31 pages
Date of creation: 2005
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Handle: RePEc:bca:bocawp:05-13

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Related research
Keywords: Financial institutions;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Mortgages
D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Capital and Total Factor Productivity; Capacity
C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  2. Allen N. Berger & David B. Humphrey, 1997. "Efficiency of financial institutions: international survey and directions for future research," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1997-11, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Christian Calmès, 2004. "Regulatory Changes and Financial Structure: The Case of Canada," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 140(I), pages 1-35, March. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. James McIntosh, 2002. "A welfare analysis of Canadian chartered bank mergers," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 35(3), pages 457-475, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Freedman, C. & Goodlet, C., 1998. "The Financial Services Sector: Past Changes and Future Prospects," Technical Reports 82, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
  6. Rezvanian, Rasoul & Mehdian, Seyed, 2002. "An examination of cost structure and production performance of commercial banks in Singapore," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 79-98, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Peter C.B. Phillips & Hyungsik R. Moon, 1999. "Linear Regression Limit Theory for Nonstationary Panel Data," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1222, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Lawrence, Colin, 1989. "Banking Costs, Generalized Functional Forms, and Estimation of Economies of Scale and Scope," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 21(3), pages 368-79, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  10. Mitchell, Karlyn & Onvural, Nur M, 1996. "Economies of Scale and Scope at Large Commercial Banks: Evidence from the Fourier Flexible Functional Form," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 28(2), pages 178-99, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  12. Schmidt, Peter & Knox Lovell, C. A., 1979. "Estimating technical and allocative inefficiency relative to stochastic production and cost frontiers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 343-366, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  14. Maddala, G S & Wu, Shaowen, 1999. " A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 631-52, Special I. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Clark, Jeffrey A & Siems, Thomas F, 2002. "X-Efficiency in Banking: Looking beyond the Balance Sheet," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 34(4), pages 987-1013, November.
  16. Murray, John D & White, Robert W, 1983. " Economies of Scale and Economies of Scope in Multiproduct Financial Institutions: A Study of British Columbia Credit Unions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(3), pages 887-902, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Rogers, Kevin E., 1998. "Nontraditional activities and the efficiency of US commercial banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 467-482, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Lucio Sarno & Mark P. Taylor, . "Real Exchange Rates under the Recent Float: Unequivocal Evidence of Mean Reversion," Economics and Finance Discussion Papers 97-14, Economics and Finance Section, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University.
    Other versions:
  19. Cornwell, Christopher & Schmidt, Peter & Sickles, Robin C., 1990. "Production frontiers with cross-sectional and time-series variation in efficiency levels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1-2), pages 185-200. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kevin Davis, 2007. "Banking Concentration, Financial Stability and Public Policy," RBA Annual Conference Volume, in: Christopher Kent & Jeremy Lawson (ed.), The Structure and Resilience of the Financial System Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jason Allen & Walter Engert & Ying Liu, 2006. "Are Canadian Banks Efficient? A Canada--U.S. Comparison," Working Papers 06-33, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
  3. Walid Hejazi & Eric Santor, 2005. "Degree of Internationalization and Performance: An Analysis of Canadian Banks," Working Papers 05-32, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
  4. Dressler, Scott, 2008. "Economies of scale in banking, indeterminacy, and monetary policy," MPRA Paper 8370, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Thorsten V. Koeppl & James MacGee, 2007. "Branching Out: The Urgent Need to Transform Canada’s Financial Landscape and How to Do It," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 251, June. [Downloadable!]
  6. Dressler, Scott J., 2009. "Economies of scale in banking, confidence shocks, and business cycles," MPRA Paper 13310, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  7. Mario Fortin & Andre Leclerc, 2009. "Économies d’échelle et de gamme dans les coopératives de services financiers : une approche non paramétrique (DEA)," Cahiers de recherche 09-08, Departement d'Economique de la Faculte d'administration à l'Universite de Sherbrooke. [Downloadable!]
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