Using DEA-neural network approach to evaluate branch efficiency of a large Canadian bank

In today's economy and society, the banking industry is of great importance to every one of us. We all depend on the efficiency and quality of services that the banking industry provides. With the improvement in technology, the competition in the banking industry has become increasingly intense. Therefore, performance analyses in the banking industry attract more and more attention. This paper integrates data envelopment analysis (DEA) and neural networks (NNs) to examine the relative branch efficiency of a big Canadian bank. The results are compared with the normal DEA results. On the whole they are comparable. Furthermore, the guidance on how to improve the branch performance is given. Neural networks are also applied to do short-term efficiency prediction. Finally, the comparison between these two approaches is presented. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.