BANK EFFICIENCY AND NON-PERFORMING LOANS:

EVIDENCE FROM MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE

Mohd Zaini Abd Karim, Sok-Gee Chan, Sallahudin Hassan*

Abstract:
The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between non-performing loans and
bank efficiency in Malaysia and Singapore. To achieve the objective, cost efficiency was estimated
using the stochastic cost frontier approach assuming normal-gamma efficiency distribution
model proposed by Greene (1990). The cost efficiency scores were then used in the second
stage Tobit simultaneous equation regression to determine the effect of non-performing loans
on bank efficiency. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in cost efficiency
between banks in Singapore and Malaysia although banks in Singapore exhibit a higher average
cost efficiency score. The Tobit simultaneous equation regression results clearly indicate that
higher non-performing loan reduces cost efficiency. Likewise, lower cost efficiency increases
non-performing loans. The result also support the hypothesis of bad management proposed
by Berger and DeYoung (1992) that poor management in the banking institutions results in bad
quality loans, and therefore, escalates the level of non-performing loans.

Keywords: bank efficiency, problem loans, stochastic cost frontier, tobit regression

JEL Classification: G21

1. Introduction

The banking sector is still the primary form of financial intermediation in the Asian
and Pacific region, and as such is the largest conduit for the mobilization of domestic
savings, the main source of external capital to firms and the key player in the payment
system. Consequently, the development of an efficient banking sector is crucial for the
growth of the economies in the region. As liberalization of the banking sector around
the world continues apace, banking markets in different countries are now becoming
increasingly integrated. Moreover, foreign banks are allowed to set up branches in
other countries, subject to the regulations of the home country. Furthermore, banking
competition in the ASEAN region is expected to be more intense in the future with

* Mohd Zaini Abd Karim, College of Art and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia (zaini500@uum.
edu.my); Sok-Gee Chan, Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya ([email protected]);
Sallahudin Hassan, College of Art and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia ([email protected])

118  PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010

the realization of ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).1 In Malaysia and Singapore, both
governments have been promoting consolidation of domestic banks to prepare them
for the anticipated arrival of new foreign competition.
As foreign banks take a greater role in the market, the strength of the local banks
will be put to the test. How these increased competitive pressures will affect banks
depend in part on their ability to adapt and operate efficiently in the new environment.
Banks that fail to do so will be driven out of the market by the more efficient ones. That
is, the most efficient banks will have a competitive advantage. Therefore, information
on banking efficiency when compared across nations is important, as this will enable
policy makers to formulate appropriate and sound policies to direct their banking
industry. Despite these facts, cross-country comparisons of banking efficiency in
developing countries are lacking in the literature.2
At the same time, due to the Asian financial crisis, growth and innovation in both
Malaysia and Singapore are constrained by banks whose capital has been eroded
by the accumulation of non-performing loans (NPL). Although the non-performing
loan ratios in Malaysia have fallen recently, the reduction in non-performing loan
ratios were largely brought about by the transfer of NPLs from banks to public asset
management companies. The question here is how non-performing loans affect the
cost efficiency of banks. It is argued that it will have a detrimental effect since such
banks will exert additional managerial effort and give additional expense dealing
with these problem loans. These extra operating costs include, but are not limited to,
a) additional monitoring of the delinquent borrowers and the value of their collateral,
b) the expense of analyzing and negotiating possible workout arrangements, c) the cost
of seizing, maintaining, and eventually disposing of collateral if default later occurs, and
d) the diversion of senior management attention away from solving other operational
problems. Faced with an exogenous increase in non-performing loans, even the most
cost-efficient banks have to purchase the additional inputs necessary to administer
these problem credits. By estimating the relationship between non-performing loans
and bank efficiency, we can determine whether an increase in problem loans have
a negative impact on bank efficiency.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature.
Section 3 provides an overview of problem loans in Malaysia and Singapore. The
hypothesized relationship between non-performing loans and cost efficiency is
discussed in Section 4. Section 5 discusses the methodology and the data used. Section
6 presents the empirical results. Finally, Section 7 concludes.

1 ASEAN member countries are working towards the elimination of import duties on all products to
achieve the eventual objective of a free trade area. The AFTA Council agreed that the target dates
to achieve these objectives will be the year 2015 for the six original member countries (Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) and the year 2018 for the new
members of ASEAN.
2 To our knowledge, the only study on cross-country comparisons of banking efficiency in developing
countries is Karim (2001). However; there are quite a number of bank efficiency studies on
individual developing countries. Among others Bhattacharya, Lovell, and Sahay (1997) on India’s
commercial banks, Chaffai (1997) on Tunisia’s banking industry, and Oral and Yolalan (1990) on the
Turkish banking industry.

PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010  119

2. Review of Literature

Issues of non-performing loans and cost efficiency are related in several important ways.
First, a number of researchers have found that failing banks tend to be located far from
the best practice frontier3 (e.g. Berger and Humphrey, 1992; Wheelock and Wilson,
1994). Thus, in addition to having high ratios of problem loans, banks approaching
failure also tend to have lower cost efficiency. A number of other studies have found
negative relationships between efficiency and problem loans even among banks that
do not fail (Kwan and Eisenbeis, 1995). A positive relationship between asset quality
and cost efficiency (DeYoung, 1997) suggests that the negative relationship between
problem loans and cost efficiency holds for the population of banks as well as for the
subset of failing banks.
Tsai and Huang (1999), by utilizing a translog cost function, examined the
relationship between management quality and cost efficiency within Taiwan’s banking
industry. They discovered that asset quality and cost efficiency are related; the
non-value-added activities of bad assets incur a negative consequence on the operating
performance.
In recent years, studies on bank efficiency have taken into account asset quality,
specifically non-performing loans. The omission of such a variable might lead to an
erroneous bank efficiency measure (Mester, 1996). This is particularly true since
a large proportion of non-performing loans may signal that banks use fewer resources
than usual in their credit evaluation and loans monitoring process. In addition,
non-performing loans lead to inefficiency in the banking sector as found by Altunbas
et al. (2000), Fan and Shaffer (2004) and Girardone et al. (2004). This is because
efficient banks are better at managing their credit risk as highlighted by Berger and
DeYoung (1997).
By taking into account risk and quality factors into the estimation of banks’ cost
efficiency in the Japanese commercial banks for the period 1993 to 1996, Altunbas
et al. (2000) finds that the level of non-performing loans are positively related to bank
inefficiency. Furthermore, banks tend to experience a decrease in their scale efficiency
level after controlling for risk factors. This result is also consistent with the study of
bank efficiency levels in the U.S. by Hughes and Mester (1993) and on the evaluation
of cost efficiency in the Italian banks by Girardone et al. (2004).
On the other hand, Fan and Shaffer (2004) analyzed profit efficiency of large
commercial banks in the U.S. by accounting for non-performing loans. They find that,
although non-performing loans are negatively related to banks’ profit efficiency, it is
not statistically significant.

3. Overview of Problem Loans in Malaysia and Singapore

Non-performing loans have been a hindrance to economic stability and growth of

economies. In Malaysia and Singapore, non-performing loans continued to improve,

3 Berger and Humphrey (1992) defined that the best practice frontier is where the firms are considered
to be fully efficient or achieve 100% efficiency level. The best practice frontier unit is achieved
when there is no other decision making unit that can alter the combination of its inputs for a given
output levels or vice versa.

120  PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010

underpinned by higher reclassification of non-performing loans to performing
status and recoveries, as well as efforts to achieve healthier balance sheets via loan
write-offs.4 As a result, net non-performing loan ratios in the Malaysian banking
system, since the Asian financial crisis, has gradually been in decline from a high of
13.6% (3-month classification) in December 1998 to 3.2% in 2007 (Table 1).

Table 1
Three-month Non-performing Loans in the Malaysian Banking System

Gross non-performing As a percentage of

Year
loans (RM’billion) total advances
1998 76,953 13.6
1999 65,540 11.0
2000 64,256 9.7
2001 76,976 11.5
2002 71,693 10.2
2003 65,774 8.9
2004 60,380 7.5
2005 53,570 5.8
2006 50,391 4.8
2007 41,763 3.2

Source: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) monthly statistical bulletin.

The bulk of the banking system’s non-performing loans is in the business sector
(56% of total non-performing loans) followed by the household sector (41%). In terms
of banking system loans, the household sector accounts for the majority of total loans
at 55%, while the business sector accounts for 40%. In Singapore, non-performing
loans peaked for most banks in 1999 following the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The
non-performing loan ratio for all banks (including multi-nationals with branches
in Singapore) was 4.3% in 2005, down from 8.3% in 2001 (Monetary Authority of
Singapore, 2006). This figure is much lower than in Malaysia.
Table 2 presents the loan disbursement and non-performing loans by sector in
Malaysia. The ratio of non-performing loans to the total loans disbursed by sector
clearly indicate that the education and health sector exhibit the highest ratio among
other sectors with reported ratios of 16.83% in year 2006 and 14.20% in year 2007.
This is followed by finance, insurance and business activities with 12.02% in year 2006
and 7.26% in year 2006. These sectors are mostly dominated by individual households
borrowing for educational, health, and investment purposes. This is consistent with
the BNM report; a large part of the non-performing loans comes from the household
sector.

4 To resolve the non-performing loans problem in the banking sector, the Malaysian government
established Danaharta, an asset management company, in 1998 to purchase non-performing loans
from banking institutions. As of 31 March 2001, Danaharta had acquired loans amounting to around
RM 48 billion from the financial system.

PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010  121

Table 2
Loans Disbursed and Non-performing Loans by Sector in Malaysia

Ratio of
Loans disbursed1 Non-performing loans2
non-performing loans
(in RM million) (in RM million)
Sector to loans disbursed

2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007

Primary Agriculture 13080.70 13593.30 516.50 462.30 3.95 3.40

Mining and Quarrying 1327.30 1559.80 55.40 41.00 4.17 2.63

Manufacturing 65239.30 73743.30 6181.30 5992.90 9.47 8.13

Wholesale and Retail

52144.50 55890.70 3961.60 3528.40 7.60 6.31
Trade
Transport, Storage and
11128.80 14367.80 526.90 428.40 4.73 2.98
Communication
Finance, Insurance and
33142.80 38752.90 3984.30 2815.10 12.02 7.26
Business Activities

Education and Health 5923.00 6707.50 996.80 952.80 16.83 14.20

Household Sector 332264.50 357381.70 23596.80 19041.90 7.10 5.33

Construction 29654.30 30911.90 3104.10 2089.80 10.47 6.76

1
Loans disbursed by the banking system including Islamic banks.
2
Loans that were in default for three months. Malaysia had, until the end of December 1997, defined non-performing
loans as those loans up to six months overdue, and then revised the criterion to those loans up to three months
overdue on January 1, 1998.
Source: BNM monthly statistical bulletin.

4. Theoretical Relationship between Non-performing Loans and Bank Efficiency

From the point of view of management accounting, bank asset quality and operating
performance are positively related. If a bank’s asset quality is inadequate (e.g. the loan
amount becomes the amount to be collected), the bank will have to increase its bad debt
losses as well as spend more resources on the collection of non-performing loans. This
increase in non-performing loans in the banking industry can be due to external events,
such as adverse situation in economic activities (Berger and DeYoung, 1997, refers to
it as bad luck hypothesis).When banks list the loan amount for collection, banks will
incur extra operating costs from non-value-added activities to handle and supervise
the collection process. These non-value-added activities consist of constantly tracking
the debtor’s financial status, being cautious of the collateral value, discussing the
amortization plan, paying expenses for contract negotiation, calculating the costs to
withhold, deposit and dispose of collateral at the time the loans become non-payable.
The costs include winning the trust from management and the public, preserving the
banks from being rated poor as a consequence of external affairs, declining deposits
because of a loss in credibility, and extra costs to monitor loan quality. Furthermore,
higher future costs are generated by the ignorance of the problems from other
operations when the loan quality issues grab the attention of the senior management.
This escalation in cost, in turn, deteriorates bank efficiency.

122  PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010

 On the other hand, Berger and DeYoung (1997) also suggest that efficiency of
the banking firms might affect the non-performing loans in the banking industry. The
bad management hypothesis was developed to explain this relationship. Berger and
DeYoung (1997) argue that bad management of the banking firms will result in banks
inefficiency and affects the process of granting loans. The banks’ management might
not thoroughly evaluate their customers’ credit application due to their poor evaluation
skills. In addition, the problem of asymmetric information between lenders and
borrowers further complicates the matter. Besides that, the management might not be
efficient in managing loan portfolios. Consequently, this leads to lower credit ratings for
the approved loans and high probability of default resulting in higher non-performing
loans. Therefore, banks’ inefficiencies might lead to higher non-performing loans.

5. Methodology and Data

To compare the cost efficiency of banks in Malaysia and Singapore, a cost efficiency
score index is calculated by estimating a stochastic cost frontier function. We then
regressed these scores against non-performing loans and other control variables to
determine the relationship between non-performing loans and bank efficiency.

Estimation of Cost Efficiency

We used a cost function to measure efficiency instead of the production function

because we want to determine how cost efficient a bank is as a financial intermediary
in channeling funds from depositors to borrowers.
The SFA model proposed by Aigner et al. (1977), Meeusen and van de Broeck
(1977), and Battese and Corra (1977) is used. The SFA cost function consists of
variable costs, such as prices of the variable inputs, quantities of variable outputs and
any fixed inputs or outputs needed for the production of goods and services in the
banks as well as environmental factors that influence the costs of the banks and the
random error (Berger et al., 1997). The general cost function is given by Equation 1.
yit = α + X'it + Z'it + εit where εit = vit + μit (1)
where yit is total cost in logarithm form of bank i at time t, X'it is the matrix of outputs
and input prices in logarithm form, Z'it is defined as bank-specific or environmental
variables for bank i at time t. Next, the random error is defined as εit = vit + μit where
μit is the unconditional mean given εit and takes the value between 0 and 1.
The translog cost function is then obtained based on SFA. We assume that the
translog cost function defines the input use for all banks in the sample. The translog
function is the most frequently selected function to measure bank efficiency (Greene
1980).5 Although the use of the translog cost function reduces the degrees of freedom
in econometric estimation, this function is usually selected because it is a flexible

5 The function was developed by Kmenta (1967) as a means of approximating the CES production
function and was introduced formally in a series of papers by Berndt, Christensen, Jorgensen and
Lau, including Berndt and Christensen (1973) and Christensen et al. (1973). The literature has
produced something of a competition in the development of exotic functional form. However, the
translog function has remained the most popular.

PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010  123

functional form that places no a priori restrictions on substitution possibilities among
the factors of production and hence allows both economies and diseconomies of scale
at different output levels.

InCit   0    j ln y jit    k ln wkit    jl ln y j yl

n m
1 n m
j 1 k 1 2 j l

   kp ln wkit ln wpit    jk ln y jit ln wkit   q t  uit  vit

m m
1 1 n m
(2)
2 k p 2 j k

In equation (2), ln Cit is the natural logarithm of total cost (discussion of what
constitutes a bank’s inputs and outputs is in the next section); ln yit = the natural
logarithm of the jth output (j = 1,2,….,n); ln wkit is the natural logarithm of the kth
input price (k = 1,2,…,m). ; t is the year of observation; and are the coefficients to
be estimated. The vit s are random variables associated with measurement errors in the
input variable or the effect of unspecified explanatory variables in the model, and the
uits are non-negative random variables, associated with inefficiency of inputs used,
given the levels of outputs and the quasi-fixed inputs.
The cost efficiency of inputs used for the i-th bank in the t-th year of observation,
given the values of the outputs and inputs, is defined as the ratio of the stochastic
frontier input use to observed input use. The stochastic frontier input use is defined by
the value of input use if the cost inefficiency effect, uit, is zero (i.e., the bank is fully
efficient in the use of input). If a translog stochastic frontier cost function is used, the
cost efficiency for firm i at time t is defined by equation (3),
Cit ( yit , wit ;  ) exp(vit )
CEit 
Cit ( yit , wit ;  ) exp(vit  uit )
= exp(-uit) (3)

where CEit  1. The reciprocal of this value, exp (uit), can be interpreted as a measure
of the cost inefficiency of input usage.
The estimation of cost efficiency employs the normal-gamma model proposed by
Greene (1990). This model is more practical since it corrects the problems in stochastic
frontier analysis as a result of the one-sided disturbances in the half-normal distribution
model. The half-normal distribution model proposed by Aigner, Lovell, and Schmidt
(1977) suffers from great inflexibility, because it uses a single parameter distribution
with the assumption that the density of the disturbances mostly concentrates near zero.
Hence, any deviation in the dependent variable will be extremely damaging to the
analysis. In addition, a single outlier or unexpected observation from the sample can
result in over specification of the efficiency scores irrespective of sample size used.
Greene (1990) argued that this model has an added advantage, since it does not
require the assumption that the firm-specific inefficiency measures be predominantly
near zero. Furthermore, since the range of random variable ε is no longer restricted, the
distribution of inefficiency can take different shapes.
To determine the relationship between non-performing loans and bank efficiency
we employ the Tobit model since the efficiency scores is bounded between zero and
one. The Tobit model developed by Tobin (1958) is also known as truncated or censored

124  PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010

regression models where expected errors are not equal zero. Hence, estimation with
Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) would lead to bias, since OLS assumes a normal
distribution of the error term. More formally, the standard Tobit model can be defined
as follows:
EFFi* = ’X + εi , εi ~ N(0, σ2) if 0 < EFFi* < 1
EFFi = 0 if EFFi* = 0 (4)
EFFi = 1 otherwise
where EFFi* is the cost efficiency scores from the stochastic cost frontier estimation,
β represents a vector of parameters to be estimated, X is a vector of explanatory
variables, and εi is a normally distributed error term. The explanatory variables for this
study are NPL, STATE, FOREIGN, ASSET, and AGE.
NPL is the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans. Variables to control for
other factors that affect bank efficiency are as follows; STATE is a dummy variable
that takes a value of 1 if the bank is state-owned and 0 if the bank is privately-owned;
FOREIGN is the dummy variable that takes a value of 1 if the bank is foreign bank and
0 if it is local; ASSET is the natural logarithm of the value of total assets. It measures
the size effect of firm; AGE is the age of firm to control for bank experience. Banks
that were established earlier are expected to be more efficient. However, after the bank
reaches some age, the incremental effect of experience will be negligible.
It is believed that the relationship between non-performing loans and efficiency are
bi-directional instead of unidirectional. Low efficiency reflects poor daily operations
and loan portfolio management practices. Poor management skills in terms of credit
scoring will lead to negative returns on a high proportion of loans and thus higher
non-performing loans. Hence, efficiency also affects non-performing loans (Berger
and DeYoung, 1997). Therefore, a Tobit simultaneous equation regression model
(Equation 4 and 5) is used to estimate the relationship between non-performing loans
and efficiency to control for the simultaneity effect.

EFFit   0  1 NPLit  1 STATEit   2 FOREIGNit   3 ASSETit   4 AGEit   (5)

NPLit   0  1 EFFit  1 STATEit   2 FOREIGNit  3 ASSETit   4 AGEit   (6)

Choice of Banks’ Input and Output

In general, the literature on banking efficiency has considered two approaches in

considering what constitute a bank’s output and costs.6 For this study, the intermediation
approach is employed for two reasons. First, we are concerned with how cost
efficient the bank is as a financial intermediary in channeling funds from depositors
to borrowers. Second, the number of accounts for each output category in the bank
data is unavailable. Hence, our banks’ total cost will include the sum of expenses on

6 Little agreement exists as to what a bank produces or how to measure output. In general, though,
two approaches are used to examine the banking industry; the production and intermediation
approach is discussed in Humphrey (1985).

PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010  125

wages and salaries, land, buildings, and equipment and interest on deposits, while the
outputs are dollar amounts of total loans, total deposits, and investments. All the output
variables take the value of USD million. The input price will include expenses on
wages and salaries per employee (unit price of labor), expenses on land, buildings, and
equipment per dollar of assets (unit price of physical capital), and expenses on interest
per dollar of deposits (unit price of financial capital). The price of labor is computed
using the total personnel expenses to total assets, the price of physical capital takes the
ratio of other operating expenses to total fixed asset, and the price of financial capital
is computed by dividing the total interest expenses with total deposits.

Data

The data for estimating the cost frontier function for ASEAN will be drawn from IBCA
BANKSCOPE and the Bank’s Annual Report. Table 3 presents a summary statistics
of all the banks in the sample. All dollar amounts are in USD million. They are in real
2000 terms and have been converted using individual country GDP deflators.
The average asset size of the banks in the whole sample (both local and foreign
banks) over the period 1995 to 2000 is USD 6,665.44 million. The average asset size
for local banks in Singapore is the biggest in our sample. Their average asset size
is USD 14,534.03 million with a maximum asset size USD 31,521.94 million. The
average asset size of Malaysia’s local banks is USD 4,161.80 million with a maximum
asset size of USD 29,608.89 million.

Table 3
Summary Statistics for Sample Banks

Non-
Invest-
Assets Loans Deposits performing
ments Price of Price of Price of
(USD (USD (USD Loans
(USD Labor Capital Funds
million) million) million) (USD
million)
million)

Malaysia

Mean 4161.80 8059.72 10613.99 4422.02 764.73 90.39 35.83 540.66

Standard
5331.31 10349.77 13271.11 6003.48 1093.33 114.39 50.45 712.75
Deviation

Minimum 39.64 146.30 311.40 100.30 1.10 4.00 0.72 14.20

Maximum 29608.89 64509.60 76111.40 32419.70 6988.70 654.50 247.10 5656.60

Singapore

Mean 14534.03 8490.23 12444.31 5592.94 636.42 65.31 61.75 500.81

Standard
13222.08 10335.04 16435.36 8518.82 916.37 85.89 76.43 653.02
Deviation

Minimum 418.88 522.20 503.10 0.60 10.90 1.50 2.50 15.00

Maximum 31521.94 27740.70 46718.10 26820.10 3035.10 239.30 218.80 1984.90

126  PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010

Table 4
Maximum-Likelihood Estimates of the Translog Stochastic Frontier Cost Function

Coefficient Standard Error t-ratio P-value

Constant 1.4389 2.0439 0.7040 0.4814
Ln(r1) -0.1181 0.4523 -0.2610 0.7940
Ln(r2) 0.4330 0.2395 1.8080* 0.0706
Ln(r3) 2.3371 0.6769 3.4530*** 0.0006
Ln(y1) -0.3578 0.7443 -0.4810 0.6308
Ln(y2) 2.2266 1.7147 1.2990 0.1941
Ln(y3) -0.1705 2.3249 -0.0730 0.9416
Ln(r1)2 0.0397 0.0434 0.9160 0.3599
2
Ln(r2) 0.0109 0.0112 0.9770 0.3288
Ln(r3)2 0.4141 0.1016 4.0780*** 0.0000
Ln(y1)2 0.0048 0.0276 0.1740 0.8618
2
Ln(y2) 0.1299 0.2461 0.5280 0.5974
Ln(y3)2 -0.6017 0.5809 -1.0360 0.3004
Ln(r1)Ln(r2) 0.1565 0.0396 3.9490*** 0.0001
Ln(r1)Ln(r3) -0.1816 0.0809 -2.2450** 0.0248
Ln(r2)Ln(r3) -0.1085 0.0558 -1.9440* 0.0519
Ln(y1)Ln(y2) -0.3842 0.3187 -1.2050 0.2280
Ln(y1)Ln(y3) 0.4836 0.3361 1.4390 0.1502
Ln(y2)Ln(y3) 0.3574 0.8121 0.4400 0.6598
Ln(r1)Ln(y1) 0.1477 0.1159 1.2740 0.2027
Ln(r1)Ln(y2) 0.2077 0.3284 0.6320 0.5271
Ln(r1)Ln(y3) -0.2577 0.4073 -0.6330 0.5268
Ln(r2)Ln(y1) -0.0526 0.0411 -1.2810 0.2002
Ln(r2)Ln(y2) -0.1680 0.1325 -1.2680 0.2048
Ln(r2)Ln(y3) 0.2106 0.1496 1.4070 0.1593
Ln(r3)Ln(y1) -0.1829 0.1819 -1.0050 0.3147
Ln(r3)Ln(y2) 0.7707 0.2984 2.5830*** 0.0098
Ln(r3)Ln(y3) -0.6101 0.4391 -1.3890 0.1647
Variance parameters for compound error
Theta 5.2758 1.5108 3.4920*** 0.0005
P 0.5308 0.0743 7.1470*** 0.0000
Sigmav 0.1535 0.0188 8.1470*** 0.0000
Log likelihood function 39.7503
Variances:
Sigma-squared (v) 0.0220
Sigma-squared (u) 0.0196
Sigma (v) 0.1485
Sigma (u) 0.1399

Notes: *significant at 10% level, ** significant at 5% level.

***
significant at 1% level.

PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010  127

 The price of labor and price of funds in Malaysia is relatively higher as compared to
Singapore. Besides that, Singapore banks seems to be relatively superior in their output
production, since the total loans and deposits generated from the traditional banking
activities are relatively higher compared to the commercial banks in Malaysia. In addition,
the amounts of non-performing loans of the commercial banks in Singapore are relatively
lower compared to Malaysia, with the reported non-performing loans of USD 636.42
million whereas in Malaysia the reported figure of non-performing loans is USD 764.73.

6. Results and Discussion

This section reports the results obtained from estimating the stochastic cost frontier,
including parameter estimates and hypothesis testing. Following Karim (2001),
ordinary least squares (OLS) was first used to check whether OLS assumptions were
not violated. The Box-Pierce statistics were insignificant indicating that the error terms
were non-autocorrelated, while the Breusch-Pagan statistics were also insignificant
indicating that the null hypothesis of homoskedasticity cannot be rejected. We then
proceed to estimate the stochastic cost frontier using the maximum likelihood method.
The maximum-likelihood estimates for the twenty-seven parameters in the translog
stochastic cost frontier for input use (defined by Equation 1) are presented in Table 4.
The inputs employed in this model are the price of labor (r1), price of capital (r2), and
the price of funds (r3), while the outputs used in this study are total investment (y1),
total loans (y2), and total deposits (y3).
From the estimation obtained based on standard translog specification, it is found
that the cost of the banks in the sample study are positively related to the price of capital
and the price of funds, and they are statistically significant at 10% and 1% significance
level respectively. This is consistent with the theory in which an increase in the price
of factors of production will lead to an increase in the cost of the commercial banks.
The descriptive statistics for the average efficiency scores obtained from the
translog cost function for both local and foreign commercial banks in Singapore and
Malaysia are presented Table 5.

Table 5
Descriptive Statistics on Average Cost Efficiency Scores for the Commercial Banks in
Singapore and Malaysia from Year 1995 to 2000

Mean Standard Deviation Minimum Maximum

Full Sample 0.8768 0.0809 0.5236 0.9654
Singapore
Full 0.9253 0.0275 0.8574 0.9654
Local 0.9277 0.0227 0.8785 0.9611
Foreign 0.9225 0.0329 0.8574 0.9654
Malaysia
Full 0.8688 0.0840 0.5236 0.9612
Local 0.8809 0.0677 0.5236 0.9612
Foreign 0.8492 0.1028 0.5418 0.9561

128  PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010

 The average cost efficiency score of the full sample is 87.68% which means that
the banks are wasting 12.32% of their inputs mix. Hence, banks may further reduce
their input mix by 12.32% in order to enhance their efficiency level. From Table 5,
it is clearly indicated that the commercial banks in Singapore are relatively cost
efficient as compared to the commercial banks in Malaysia for both local and foreign
commercial banks. This may be due to the reason that Singapore, as a whole, is the
most economically efficient country in the region. Apart from that, a relatively more
efficient commercial banking industry in Singapore might also due to the openness of
the country in terms of foreign entrance to its banking sector as compared to Malaysia.
As highlighted by Karim (2001), tighter regulatory framework in one country may
also affect the efficiency level of the commercial banks, and this is consistent with
the results obtained in this study. However, the difference in both mean and variance
efficiency score are not statistically significant (Table 6).

Table 6
Test for Variance and Mean Difference

Singapore Malaysia
Mean cost efficiency 0.8768 0.8688
Variance cost efficiency 0.0066 0.0071

F test: Two-sample for Variance

F-statistic 0.9278
P(F<=f) one-tail 0.3054

t-test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances

t-statistic 0.9283
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.3539
* ** ***
Notes: significant at 10% level, significant at 5% level, significant at 1% level.

Hence, there is no sufficient evidence to conclude that there are differences in

the cost efficiency level between commercial banks in Singapore and Malaysia even
though the commercial banks in Singapore exhibit a higher average cost efficiency
score than the commercial banks in Malaysia.
To study the effect of non-performing loans on the commercial banks’ performance
and vice-versa, a Tobit simultaneous equation regression model (Equation 4 and 5)
is used to estimate the relationship between non-performing loans and efficiency to
control for the simultaneity effect. The Tobit regression model was used in this study
as the cost efficiency scores take on values between 0 and 1. The estimation results are
presented in Table 7.

PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010  129

Table 7
Tobit Simultaneous Equation Model Estimates

Dependent: EFF
Coefficient Standard Error t-ratio
Constant 0.598 0.225 2.659***
NPL -1.869 0.277 -6.741***
STATE 0.032 0.056 0.568
FOREIGN -0.026 0.066 -0.400
ASSET 0.057 0.034 1.665*
AGE 0.000 0.001 -0.009
Dependent: NPL
Coefficient Standard Error t-ratio
Constant 0.320 0.149 2.144**
EFF -0.535 0.079 -6.741***
STATE 0.017 0.031 0.559
FOREIGN -0.014 0.035 -0.403
ASSET 0.030 0.016 1.874*
AGE 0.000 0.000 -0.009
Variance parameters
s12/s22 1.869 0.277 6.741***
s[e1,e2] 0.000 0.000 9.008***
* ** ***
Notes: significant at 10% level, significant at 5% level, significant at 1% level.

The results obtained from the Tobit simultaneous equation model show that the
coefficient of NPL in the equation where cost efficiency is the dependent variable
is negative and is statistically significant at the 1% level. This indicates that
non-performing loan have a negative effect on cost efficiency. The result is consistent
with the studies by Altunbas et al. (2000), Fan and Shaffer (2004), and Girardone et
al. (2004). As pointed out by Berger and DeYoung (1997), the negative relationship
exists since banks will incur extra operating costs from non-value-added activities,
such as handling and supervising the collection process of the non-performing loans.
The efficient banks are better at managing their credit risk and hence it leads to lower
non-performing loans.
Likewise, the results show that the coefficient of EFF in the equation where NPL
is the dependent variable is negative and statistically significant at the 1% level. The
result indicates that an increase in bank efficiency decreases non-performing loans.
This supports the bad management hypothesis proposed by Berger and DeYoung
(1997) which suggests that poor management in banking institutions will result in
bad quality loans. The results also found that the banks total assets, which are used to
control for scale of operation, are positively related to cost efficiency. This shows that
banks enjoy economies of scale, which is consistent with theory.

130  PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 2, 2010

7. Conclusion

The objectives of this paper are twofold. First, the paper examines whether there are
significant differences in banking efficiency between Malaysian and Singaporean
banks. Second, the paper seeks to explain the relationship between non-performing
loans and bank efficiency. Using actual data of both Malaysian and Singaporean banks
from 1995 to 2000, we estimate bank’s cost efficiency by the stochastic cost frontier
method. The efficiency scores are then used in the second stage Tobit analysis to
investigate the relationship between non-performing loans and banking efficiency.
The cost efficiency estimation results indicate an average cost efficiency score
of 87.68% for the full sample. This suggests that banks are wasting 12.32% of their
inputs. The results also indicate that there is no significant differences in the cost
efficiency level between commercial banks in Singapore and Malaysia even though
the commercial banks in Singapore exhibit a higher average cost efficiency score than
the commercial banks in Malaysia. The Tobit regression results clearly indicate that
higher non-performing loan reduces cost efficiency. Likewise, lower cost efficiency
increases non-performing loans. The results are consistent with the studies by Altunbas
et al. (2000), Fan and Shaffer (2004), and Girardone et al. (2004) that found that
non-performing loans lead to inefficiency in the banking sector. In addition, the results
also support the hypothesis of bad management proposed by Berger and DeYoung
(1997), which suggests that poor management in the banking institutions results in bad
quality loans, and therefore, escalates the level of non-performing loans.

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