Title: Efficiency of thrift agents of small urban borrowers: the case of scheduled urban cooperative banks (SUCBs) in India

Authors: Padmasai Arora; Hitesh Arora

Addresses: Keshav Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi, H-4-5 Zone, Pitampura, New Delhi, 110-034, India ' FORE School of Management, B-18, Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi, 110-016, India

Abstract: Since their inception, cooperative banks in India have played a pivotal role in meeting the credit requirements of the unbanked and under-banked segments of the economy. This paper examines the effect of these reform measures introduced by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2004-2005 on the efficiency of 50 scheduled urban cooperative banks (SUCBs). Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is employed to study the efficiency for the period 2003-2004 to 2013-2014. A trend of gradual decrease in efficiency in SUCBs is being observed over the years. The present study also examines the correlation between size and efficiency and finds that there is no significant correlation between the two. Moreover, the correlation is negative. The authors are of the opinion that the central bank should chart out a road map for efficient SUCBs Vasavi Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd. and Zoroastrian Co-op Bank Ltd.

Keywords: banking; scheduled urban cooperative banks; SUCBs; India; performance; efficiency; productivity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2019.104787

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2019 Vol.19 No.4, pp.434 - 451

Accepted: 19 Dec 2018
Published online: 31 Jan 2020 *

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