Evaluating the sources of productivity of insurance firms in Arab gulf countries and Jordan: Malmquist productivity index
Abderazak Bakhouche; Eman Zabalawi; Mohamed Lotfi Boulkeroua
Afro-Asian J. of Finance and Accounting, Vol. 13, No. 4 (2023) pp. 478 - 501
In recent years, the adoption of technological advances in finance may have impacted the efficiency and productivity of financial institutions, through lower transaction costs and reduced information asymmetries. This paper employs the Malmquist productivity index to measure productivity and identify its main drivers for 98 conventional and Sharia-compliant insurance firms operating in the GCC and Jordan over the period from 2009 to 2017. The results show that insurance firms in the countries under study experienced productivity progress, primarily brought about by technological change. The study substantiates the existence of a scope to enhance productivity by exploring both pure and scale efficiencies, with the continuous integration of advanced technology.