IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spt/apfiba/v13y2023i5f13_5_5.html

Measuring the Cost Efficiency of Lebanese Commercial Banks using the Stochastic Frontier Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Nasma A. Berro

Abstract

This paper attempts to measure the cost efficiency of 44 banks operating in Lebanon throughout the period 1992-2016, using the stochastic frontier technique. The additional purpose of this study is to detect the impact of some endogenous and exogenous factors on the cost efficiency scores calculated. The empirical results show a stabilization in the cost efficiency of Lebanese banks over the period studied and that on average those banks could reduce up to 12% of their allocated resources while maintaining the same level of their final outputs. We also found that cost efficiency among Lebanese banks is driven by 1) macroeconomic factors such as economic growth and inflation development and 2) by banks specific factors such as liquidity, capitalization, profitability and the diversification strategy. JEL classification numbers: C10, C67, D61, G20, G21.

Suggested Citation

  • Nasma A. Berro, 2023. "Measuring the Cost Efficiency of Lebanese Commercial Banks using the Stochastic Frontier Approach," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 13(5), pages 1-5.
    • Handle: RePEc:spt:apfiba:v:13:y:2023:i:5:f:13_5_5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.scienpress.com/Upload/JAFB%2fVol%2013_5_5.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacob A. Bikker & Haixia Hu, 2002. "Cyclical patterns in profits, provisioning and lending of banks and procyclicality of the new Basel capital requirements," Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 55(221), pages 143-175.
    2. Stiroh, Kevin J, 2004. "Diversification in Banking: Is Noninterest Income the Answer?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(5), pages 853-882, October.
    3. Berger, Allen N. & DeYoung, Robert, 1997. "Problem loans and cost efficiency in commercial banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 849-870, June.
    4. Molyneux, Philip & Thornton, John, 1992. "Determinants of European bank profitability: A note," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 1173-1178, December.
    5. Victor Mendes & Joao Rebelo, 1999. "Productive efficiency, technological change and productivity in Portuguese banking," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(5), pages 513-521.
    6. Rossi, Stefania P.S. & Schwaiger, Markus S. & Winkler, Gerhard, 2009. "How loan portfolio diversification affects risk, efficiency and capitalization: A managerial behavior model for Austrian banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2218-2226, December.
    7. Berger, Allen N. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Zhou, Mingming, 2010. "The effects of focus versus diversification on bank performance: Evidence from Chinese banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1417-1435, July.
    8. Meeusen, Wim & van den Broeck, Julien, 1977. "Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(2), pages 435-444, June.
    9. Andrew Worthington, 2001. "An Empirical Survey of Frontier Efficiency Measurement Techniques in Education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 245-268.
    10. Sherman, H. David & Gold, Franklin, 1985. "Bank branch operating efficiency : Evaluation with Data Envelopment Analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 297-315, June.
    11. Schmidt, Peter & Sickles, Robin C, 1984. "Production Frontiers and Panel Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 2(4), pages 367-374, October.
    12. David Hauner, 2005. "Explaining efficiency differences among large German and Austrian banks," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 969-980.
    13. Ha Vu & Daehoon Nahm, 2013. "The determinants of profit efficiency of banks in Vietnam," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 615-631.
    14. Vincenzo Chiorazzo & Carlo Milani & Francesca Salvini, 2008. "Income Diversification and Bank Performance: Evidence from Italian Banks," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 33(3), pages 181-203, June.
    15. Podpiera, Jiri & Weill, Laurent, 2008. "Bad luck or bad management? Emerging banking market experience," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 135-148, June.
    16. Berger, Allen N. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Zhou, Mingming, 2010. "The effects of focus versus diversification on bank performance: Evidence from Chinese banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1417-1435, July.
    17. Levine, Ross, 2005. "Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 865-934, Elsevier.
    18. David A Grigorian & Vlad Manole, 2006. "Determinants of Commercial Bank Performance in Transition: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 48(3), pages 497-522, September.
    19. Michel Dietsch & Mohamed E. Chaffai, 1999. "Mesures de l'efficience technique et de l'efficience allocative par les fonctions de distance et application aux banques européennes," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 50(3), pages 633-644.
    20. Hong Liu & John Wilson, 2010. "The profitability of banks in Japan," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(24), pages 1851-1866.
    21. Greene, William H., 1980. "Maximum likelihood estimation of econometric frontier functions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 27-56, May.
    22. Awdeh Ali & El Moussawi Chawki, 2009. "Bank Efficiency and Foreign Ownership in the Lebanese Banking Sector," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 66-87, September.
    23. Kumbhakar, Subal C, et al, 2001. "The Effects of Deregulation on the Performance of Financial Institutions: The Case of Spanish Savings Banks," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(1), pages 101-120, February.
    24. Joaquin Maudos & Jose Pastor & Francisco Perez, 2002. "Competition and efficiency in the Spanish banking sector: the importance of specialization," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(7), pages 505-516.
    25. John Goddard & Phil Molyneux & John O. S. Wilson, 2004. "The profitability of european banks: a cross‐sectional and dynamic panel analysis," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 72(3), pages 363-381, June.
    26. Laurent Weill, 2006. "Cost efficiency of Belgian banks during the 90s," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 49(1), pages 21-36.
    27. Bourke, Philip, 1989. "Concentration and other determinants of bank profitability in Europe, North America and Australia," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 65-79, March.
    28. Stevenson, Rodney E., 1980. "Likelihood functions for generalized stochastic frontier estimation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 57-66, May.
    29. Ihsan Isik & M. Kabir Hassan, 2002. "Cost and Profit Efficiency of the Turkish Banking Industry: An Empirical Investigation," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 37(2), pages 257-279, May.
    30. Tai–Hsin Huang & Mei–Hui Wang, 2002. "Comparison of Economic Efficiency Estimation Methods: Parametric and Non–parametric Techniques," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 70(5), pages 682-709, September.
    31. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    32. Rima Turk Ariss, 2008. "Financial liberalization and bank efficiency: evidence from post-war Lebanon," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(11), pages 931-946.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thanh Pham Thien Nguyen & Son Hong Nghiem & Eduardo Roca, 2016. "Management Behaviour in Vietnamese Commercial Banks," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 345-367, December.
    2. Bang Nam Jeon & Ji Wu & Limei Chen & Minghua Chen, 2020. "Diversification, efficiency and risk of banks: New consolidating evidence from emerging economies," School of Economics Working Paper Series 2020-10, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University.
    3. Marwan Al-Zoubi & Mais Sha’ban, 2023. "Bank performance, capital and size: a comparative analysis in MENA and EU," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(3), pages 677-702, December.
    4. Tan, Yong, 2016. "The impacts of risk and competition on bank profitability in China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 85-110.
    5. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2015. "Efficiency of the banking system in Vietnam under financial liberalization," OSF Preprints qsf6d, Center for Open Science.
    6. Trofimov, Ivan D. & Md. Aris, Nazaria & Ying Ying, Jovena Kho, 2018. "Determinants of Commercial Banks' Profitability in Malaysia," MPRA Paper 85598, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Ihsen Abid & Mohamed Goaied & Mouldi Ben Ammar, 2019. "Conventional and Islamic Banks’ Performance in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries; Efficiency and Determinants," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 17(3), pages 623-665, September.
    8. Vaneet Bhatia & Sankarshan Basu & Subrata Kumar Mitra & Pradyumna Dash, 2018. "A review of bank efficiency and productivity," OPSEARCH, Springer;Operational Research Society of India, vol. 55(3), pages 557-600, November.
    9. Khanh Ngoc Nguyen, 2019. "Revenue Diversification, Risk and Bank Performance of Vietnamese Commercial Banks," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, August.
    10. Hasan AYAYDIN & brahim KARAASLAN, 2014. "Stock Market Development, Bank Concentration, Ownership Structure, and Bank Performance: Evidence from Turkey," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, EconSciences Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 49-67, September.
    11. Nguyen, Thi Lam Anh, 2018. "Diversification and bank efficiency in six ASEAN countries," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 57-78.
    12. Ayaydin, Hasan & Karaaslan, İbrahim, 2014. "Stock Market Development, Bank Concentration, Ownership Structure, and Bank Performance: Evidence from Turkey," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 49-67.
    13. Degl’Innocenti, Marta & Girardone, Claudia, 2012. "Ownership, diversification and cost advantages: Evidence from the Italian leasing industry," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 879-896.
    14. Goddard, John & Molyneux, Philip & Williams, Jonathan, 2014. "Dealing with cross-firm heterogeneity in bank efficiency estimates: Some evidence from Latin America," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 130-142.
    15. Kutlu, Levent & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel & Tsionas, Mike G., 2022. "A principal–agent approach for estimating firm efficiency: Revealing bank managerial behavior," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Doan, Anh-Tuan & Lin, Kun-Li & Doong, Shuh-Chyi, 2018. "What drives bank efficiency? The interaction of bank income diversification and ownership," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 203-219.
    17. Wu, Ji & Chen, Limei & Chen, Minghua & Jeon, Bang Nam, 2020. "Diversification, efficiency and risk of banks: Evidence from emerging economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    18. Luis R. Murillo‐Zamorano, 2004. "Economic Efficiency and Frontier Techniques," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 33-77, February.
    19. Hasan AYAYDIN & Ýbrahim KARAASLAN, 2014. "Stock Market Development, Bank Concentration, Ownership Structure, and Bank Performance: Evidence from Turkey," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, KSP Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 49-67, September.
    20. Kassem, Mohammad & EL-Moussaw, Chawki i & Awdeh, Ali, 2014. "Measuring the Cost Efficiency of Banks Operating in the MENA Region," MPRA Paper 119125, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • C67 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Input-Output Models
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spt:apfiba:v:13:y:2023:i:5:f:13_5_5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Eleftherios Spyromitros-Xioufis (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.scienpress.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.