Deregulation, ownership and profit performance of banks: evidence from India

Abstract

This article studies the effects of deregulation on the banking industry in an emerging economy using profit-based measures of performance. Using panel data of 83 Indian banks belonging to different ownership groups for the period 1986 to 2005, we find that profit efficiency and productivity declined following deregulation. While public sector banks performed better than private banks in the pre-deregulation period, there was no difference in their performances after deregulation. Foreign and new private banks turned out to have the highest levels of profit productivity. Our results are in contrast with the findings of previous studies that have found significant improvements in efficiency and productivity of Indian banks using cost-based measures of performance.