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What Drives the Performance of Selected MENA Banks? A Meta-Frontier Analysis

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  • Sami Ben Naceur
  • Barbara Casu
  • Hichem Ben-Khedhiri

Abstract

This study examines the effect of financial-sector reform on bank performance in selected Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries in the period 1994 -2008. We evaluate bank efficiency in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon and Tunisia by means of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and we employ a meta-frontier approach to calculate efficiency scores in a cross-country setting. We then employ a second-stage regression to investigate the impact of institutional, financial, and bank specific variables on bank efficiency. Overall, the analysis shows that, despite similarities in the process of financial reforms undertaken in the five MENA countries, the observed efficiency levels of banks vary substantially across markets, with Morocco consistently outperforming the rest of the region.Differences in technology seem to be crucial in explaining efficiency differences. To foster banking sector performance, policies should be aimed at giving banks incentives to improve their risk management and portfolio management techniques. Improvements in the legal system and in the regulatory and supervisory bodies would also help to reduce inefficiency.

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  • Sami Ben Naceur & Barbara Casu & Hichem Ben-Khedhiri, 2011. "What Drives the Performance of Selected MENA Banks? A Meta-Frontier Analysis," IMF Working Papers 2011/034, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2011/034
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    Cited by:

    1. Tammuz Alraheb & Amine Tarazi, 2016. "Local Versus International Crises, Foreign Subsidiaries and Bank Stability: Evidence from the MENA Region," Working Papers 1045, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2016.
    2. Lassoued, Naima & Sassi, Houda & Ben Rejeb Attia, Mouna, 2016. "The impact of state and foreign ownership on banking risk: Evidence from the MENA countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 167-178.
    3. Abuzayed, Bana & Al-Fayoumi, Nedal & Molyneux, Phil, 2018. "Diversification and bank stability in the GCC," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 17-43.
    4. Mohamed Chaffai & M. Kabir Hassan, 2019. "Technology Gap and Managerial Efficiency: A Comparison between Islamic and Conventional Banks in MENA," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 39-53, February.
    5. Brahim Guizani, 2015. "Capital requirements, banking supervision and lending behavior: evidence from Tunisia," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 175-194, July.
    6. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Hsieh, Meng-Fen & Yang, Shih-Jui, 2016. "The effects of foreign ownership on competition in the banking industry: The key role of financial reforms," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 37, pages 27-46.
    7. Thanh Pham Thien Nguyen & Son Hong Nghiem & Eduardo Roca & Parmendra Sharma, 2016. "Efficiency, innovation and competition: evidence from Vietnam, China and India," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 1235-1259, November.
    8. González, Luis Otero & Razia, Alaa & Búa, Milagros Vivel & Sestayo, Rubén Lado, 2019. "Market structure, performance, and efficiency: Evidence from the MENA banking sector," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 84-101.
    9. Abdel Latef Anouze & Imad Bou-Hamad, 2021. "Inefficiency source tracking: evidence from data envelopment analysis and random forests," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 306(1), pages 273-293, November.
    10. Izak Atiyas, 2011. "Firm-Level Data In The Mena Region: Research Questions, Data Requirements And Possibilities," Middle East Development Journal (MEDJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(02), pages 159-190.
    11. Michael, Bryane & Apostoloski, Nenad, 2012. "The Middle Eastern Wealth Management Industry: Boon or Bust?," MPRA Paper 52069, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Makni, Rania & Benouda, Olfa & Delhoumi, Ezzedine, 2015. "Large scale analysis of Islamic equity funds using a meta-frontier approach with data envelopment analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 324-337.
    13. Ihsen Abid & Mohamed Goaied, 2017. "Benchmarking Banking Efficiency Using a Meta-Profit Function," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 15(1), pages 45-74, March.
    14. Hakan Güneş & Dilem Yıldırım, 2016. "Estimating Cost Efficiency of Turkish Commercial Banks under Unobserved Heterogeneity with Stochastic Frontier Models," ERC Working Papers 1603, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Mar 2016.
    15. Chaffai, Mohamed, 2021. "Discernible differences in the building façades, but not in the productivity numbers: A comparison between domestic and foreign banks in North Africa," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 344-357.
    16. Mohamed Mehdi Jelassi & Ezzeddine Delhoumi, 2021. "What explains the technical efficiency of banks in Tunisia? Evidence from a two-stage data envelopment analysis," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, December.
    17. Chaffai, Mohamed & Coccorese, Paolo, 2019. "How far away is the MENA banking system? Efficiency comparisons with international banks," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 378-395.
    18. Ihsen Abid & Mohamed Goaied, 2015. "Consideration of technological and environmental heterogeneity in cost efficiency analysis," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 650-676, September.

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