THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS AND ITS EFFECTS ON BANKS EFFICIENCY: EVIDENCE FROM ROMANIA

Abstract

The structure of the banking sector of the new EU member states has registered a definitive change as a result of the European integration process. In this context, the aim of our paper is to investigate if the evolution of the Romanian banks efficiency between 2002 and 2010 is in any way correlated with the European integration process. We chose this period as it provides with a before and after ascension look at the evolution of the efficiency of Romanian banks. Also, it allows us to study the relationship between EU integration and the efficiency of the banks in adverse conditions, like the ones determined by the financial and economic crisis which has started in 2007. In order to compound the efficiency of the banks we have used the Data Envelopment Analysis approach.