Efficiency, technical change, and returns to scale in large US banks: Panel data evidence from an output distance function satisfying theoretical regularity

Guohua Feng (ghfeng26@gmail.com) and Apostolos Serletis

Journal of Banking & Finance, 2010, vol. 34, issue 1, 127-138

Abstract: This paper provides parametric estimates of technical change, efficiency change, economies of scale, and total factor productivity growth for large banks (those with assets in excess of $1 billion) in the United States, over the period from 2000 to 2005. This is done by estimating an output distance function subject to theoretical regularity within a Bayesian framework. We find that failure to incorporate theoretical regularity conditions results in mismeasured shadow revenue and/or cost shares, which in turn leads to perverse conclusions regarding productivity growth. Our results from the regularity-constrained model show that total factor productivity of the large US banks grew at an average rate of 1.98% over the sample period. However, our estimates also show a clear downward trend in the growth rate of total factor productivity and our decomposition of the primal Divisia total factor productivity growth index into its three components - technical change, efficiency change, and economies of scale - indicates that technical change is the driving force behind this decline.

Keywords: Productivity; decomposition; Translog; output; distance; function (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (91)

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Working Paper: Efficiency, Technical Change, and Returns to Scale in Large U.S. Banks: Panel Data Evidence from an Output Distance Function Satisfying Theoretical Regularity (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:34:y:2010:i:1:p:127-138

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