Measuring the impact of the global financial crisis on efficiency and productivity of the banking system in south Africa

Abstract

South Africas financial sector is believed to have weathered the contagion and catastrophic effects of the 2008 worldwide financial crisis partly on account of a sound regulatory framework and solid macroeconomic policies. In this paper, we seek to measure efficiency and productivity changes during the period of the crisis through an analysis of bank performance over the period 2000 - 2010 using a two stage methodology framework. The recently developed Hicks-Moorsteen total factor productivity (TFP) index approach developed by ODonnell as opposed to the popular Malmquist TFP was utilised. Our first stage results showed that during the crisis period there was a noticeable but mild deviation of total factor productivity and efficiency measures. Second stage analysis using the censored Tobit model showed that the financial crisis was the main determinant of bank efficiency, indicating that total factor productivity efficiency was 16.96% lower during the crisis period compared to the pre-crisis period.