چكيده لاتين :
“ Will Kuwait be a Regional Financial Center: Analyzing the
Technical and Profit Efficiency of Commercial Banks in Kuwait
as Compared to Other GCC Banks “
The study attempts to analyze the technical efficiency of the banking
system in Kuwait vis-à-vis other banking systems in the GCC region using data
envelopment analysis, in order to assess the relative competitiveness of the
banking system in Kuwait and to evaluate its capacity to effectively play the role
as a regional financial center if Kuwait decided to press ahead for that project.
The study uses two different approaches to assess technical efficiency; the
production approach and the financial intermediation approach. Profit efficiency
is also calculated for different banking systems in the area. The results of the
study show that, compared to other banks in the region, the banking system in
Kuwait in generally technically inefficient. It is also less efficient in terms of
profit efficiency. None of the Kuwaiti banks appear in the peer group of banks,
and only one bank found to be among the best performers in the area. The
results cast doubts about the ability of the current banking system of Kuwait to
effectively work as the regionיs financial center.
