Essays on Efficiency in Banking and Financial Intermediation

The study of efficiency in banking and financial intermediation is a key research topic with broad implications for financial stability, institutional profitability, and economic growth. Banking efficiency strengthens resilience, fosters competition, and improves credit availability, while firm-level efficiency plays a crucial role in shaping access to finance. Understanding these dynamics is essential not only for academic research, but also for practitioners and policymakers. This thesis employs Stochastic Frontier Analysis to evaluate both efficiency scores and their determinants and it is structured around four essays, each addressing a distinct dimension of efficiency in banking and financial intermediation. In Chapter 1 the link between bank efficiency and liquidity creation is investigated through a Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Analysis. Results show that technical efficiency plays a key role in transforming deposits into loans. In Chapter 2 the impact of the adoption of United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking on Euro Area banks' efficiency is examined. The findings suggest that sustainable practices aligned with core banking activities enhance resource utilization and foster long-term resilience. In Chapter 3 the effect of organized crime on the efficiency of Italian cooperative banks is analyzed. Results reveal that banks located in areas with high criminal presence experience significant declines in both technical and cost efficiency. In Chapter 4 the influence of perceived organized crime on firms' access to finance is analyzed using survey data from the Bank of Italy covering all economic sectors. The evidence shows that areas and industries more exposed to extortion, threats, and intimidation face tighter credit rationing, while more efficient firms exhibit lower probability of being credit rationed.