Efficiency of banking sectors of the European Union. A comparative benchmarking analysis before and during the COVID-19 pand

Abstract

The banking industry is a crucial sector for any country's economic growth. Therefore, it is essential to study factors that affect bank performance as the findings of this research help regulators and managers make better decisions. Thus, the paper will aim to determine the efficiency level of the banking sectors of the 27 EU countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article applies the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to measure the performance and efficiency of banking sectors belonging to 27 EU countries. The operationalisation of the objective/methodology will be done by using data from the Eurostat database. The authors will verify the research hypothesis that the number of efficient banking sectors in the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic is lower than before the pandemic. The research period covers years between 2008-2020. The hypothesis was verified negatively because the number of efficient banking sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic was higher than previously. The number of effective banking sectors in the research period wasn't constant. Six effective banking sectors operated in 2020 (the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic), one even more effectively than in 2019. Those effective ones in the entire study period were banking sectors from Cyprus, Luxembourg and Romania.