Nichtparametrische Messung des technischen Fortschritts im Schweizer Bankensektor

The study employs Data Envelopment Analysis and a MALMQUIST index to analyze the development of total factor productivity in Swiss banking during the period 1988/91. The results show that the increase in total factor productivity was primarily due to improved technical efficiency and to a much lesser degree to technical progress, indicating that the productivity differential across banks decreased during the period examined. Technical progress appears to be labor- and capital-using and deposit-saving, pointing to a declining role of banks as intermediaries.