Title: An examination of technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies in GCC banking

Authors: Saeed Al-Muharrami

Addresses: Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 20, Al-Khod 123, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract: The paper uses DEA techniques to estimate technical, pure technical, and scale efficiency, using an input orientation for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks for the period 1993–2002. The paper highlighted several interesting findings regarding the GCC banking market. First, smaller banks exhibited superior performance in terms of overall technical efficiency than did larger ones. Second, big banks proved to be more successful in adopting the best available technology, while medium banks proved to be more successful in choosing optimal levels of output. Third, Islamic banks were more successful in both the adoption of the best available technology and choosing optimal levels of output. Fourth, banks in Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia ranked first to sixth, respectively, in terms of technical efficiency.

Keywords: GCC countries; technical efficiency; Islamic banks; data envelopment analysis; DEA; Gulf Cooperation Council; banking performance; Bahrain; Qatar; Oman; UAE; United Arab Emirates; Kuwait; Saudi Arabia.

DOI: 10.1504/AJFA.2008.019950

American Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2008 Vol.1 No.2, pp.152 - 166

Published online: 17 Aug 2008 *

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