The impacts of deregulation on the Jordanian banking sector 1993–2006: an empirical analysis using frontier approaches

During the period 1993–2006 the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) undertook a series of measures to deregulate its banking system. Key procedures included the removal of restrictions on interest rates, expansion of scope of banks' products and services, lifting of restrictions on foreign exchange transactions and the reduction of barriers to entry of foreign investors and foreign banks. The main aims of deregulation were to promote a diversified, efficient and competitive banking system in order to improve resource allocation, financial viability and operational flexibility. A data set from the CBJ comprising all the Jordanian banks, covering the time period 1993–2006 was used to examine whether the efficiency of Jordanian banks has improved (or changed) over this time period. To this end, a parametric approach, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), and a nonparametric approach, data envelopment analysis (DEA), was used to measure the efficiency scores of Jordanian banks over the period 1993–2006. [Continues.]