Efficiency in Spanish banking: A multistakeholder approach analysis

Searching for greater inter efficiency has been used as a reason to modify the Spanish banking system since 2009. This paper aims to contribute to quantify the magnitude of efficiency, but not only the economic one, but also social and overall efficiency from 2000 to 2011. The case of Spain – compared to other banking systems – provides unique information regarding the stakeholder governance banking literature because over the last century savings banks have become rooted in the Spanish culture. The results – confirmed by a two-stage frontiers analysis, a DEA and a model combined with bootstrapped tests – indicate that Spanish savings banks are not less efficient globally than banks and are more efficient socially. Moreover, our results – with potentially important implications – encourage the participation of stakeholders in banking systems and underline the importance of attaining long-term efficiency gains to support financial stability objectives.