Effects of Financial Capital on Colombian Banking Efficiency

In this paper we discuss cost and profit efficiency on the Colombian financial market in the period 1989-2003, using stochastic frontier efficiency analysis. During the period, the cost efficient frontier deteriorates, but profit efficient frontier is relatively stable. We found significant difference when we compare the efficiency scores among different types of financial intermediaries. Additionally, our analysis shows that the scores for profit and cost efficiency have different distributions. Also, we found big differences between profit and cost efficiency among the different type of banks. This is evidence in favor of the existence of collusive behavior of some banks, which allows them to capture oligopoly rents.