Bank mergers and their efficiency and productivity effects: the case of India

This thesis examines the efficiency and productivity effects of mergers among Scheduled Commercial Banks in India over the post-economic reform period 1991–2005. It does so using the dual methodologies of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) applied to two datasets, the first comprising retail commercial banks and the second encompassing the entire commercial banking system. Under the DEA methodology, the potential for pre-merger efficiency gains is assessed using the Bogetoft and Wang (2005) approach and a comparative analysis with the realised post-merger efficiency is undertaken. A method to judge the success or failure of a merger along efficiency criteria is also provided. Under the latter methodology, an insight into the impact of the merger on the efficiency of the merging banks, the determinants of inefficiency and that of the variance of inefficiency is provided using a range of SFA models. [Continues.]