Inequalities in the efficiency of the banking sectors of the European Union

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the inequalities of cost and profit efficiency existing in the banking sectors of the European Union, and the origins of the inequalities observed. The decomposition of the Theil index shows that on the cost side the greatest differences within groups occur when the total sample is divided into institutional groups (commercial banks, saving banks, co-operative banks and other banks), the country effect and the type of productive specialization being more important in explaining the differences between groups. In profit efficiency, there are great differences between countries, but none between specialization clusters.