Nonparametric Approaches to the Assessment of the Relative Efficiency of Bank Branches

This paper applies to a multi branch Belgian bank varIOUS non parametric measurement techniques of productive efficiency. On the one hand, using a panel of monthly data, we assess efficiency over time, using contemporaneous, sequential and intertemporal frontiers, as well as Malmquist productivity indexes. The combination of these four methods allows us to characterise a marked productivity increase in the summer. On the other hand, using a regionally split cross section, we assess efficiency within and between regions, by means of regional frontier comparisons. The results show that the Brussels region dominates those in the rest of the country.