This paper examines the determinants of bank margins' in the Yemeni banking sector for Islamic and conventional banks. The first objective is to investigate whether there is a significant difference between the margins of conventional and Islamic banks. The second objective is to examine whether efficiency represents an influential factor in determining bank margins for Islamic and conventional banks controlling for other micro and macro variables. The study finds that the overall bank margin in Yemen has steadily decreased during the observation period with the exception of the year 2011. The parametric and non parametric results show that the bank margins are significantly higher for conventional banks than for Islamic banks. The results provide evidence that bank margins are related to neither types of efficiency, but are affected by capitalisation, size, the opportunity cost of the reserve, and liquidity, although the impact is shaped differently for Islamic and conventional banks.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the banking industry’s efficiency using the case of Yemen. The paper utilises two-stage analysis to evaluate the efficiency adopting Data Envelopment Window Analysis (DEWA) in the first stage for the period 1996-2011. Furthermore, the paper addresses, in two-dimensional matrix, the stability and efficiency of the banking sector in order to assess their ability for survival. In the second stage, panel data analysis is applied to regress a set of bank-specific and macro-economic variables on the efficiency of the banking sector in Yemen in a comparative fashion between Islamic and conventional banks. The findings of the investigation indicate that the Yemeni banking industry in general was on a declining efficiency’s trend with increased instability during the later period of the investigation. In addition, the study shows that most conventional banks were relatively stable, though inefficient, while Islamic banks were more efficient over the time. The results of panel data regression further suggest that efficiency is related to a number of determinants. Loan/financing, and profitability are the common key determinants of efficiency for both Islamic and conventional banks. However, other determinants have impacted differently for Islamic and conventional banks, which could reflect the uniqueness of their operation and structure. The present study provides a basis for the regulators and bankers to assess the viability of the banking sector and proposes policies to restructure the industry in order to enhance the performance of the whole industry. The paper presents new empirical findings on the efficiency of Islamic and conventional banks in Yemen.

Malaysia practices a dual banking system, where conventional banks coexist with Islamic banks. While conventional banks are well established, Islamic banks are growing rapidly. Since Islamic banks consist of two types, namely stand-alone or wholesome Islamic banks and Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks, it would be revealing to examine if Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks differ from standalone Islamic banks in terms of efficiency, stability and assets quality. A few studies in the literature that examine the issue have focused on comparisons between Islamic banks and conventional banks, with no consideration given to the differentiation between the two categories of Islamic banks. In this paper, we attempt to examine the differences among the players in the banking sector in Malaysia. This paper extends the traditional analysis of conventional versus Islamic banks to comparisons between stand-alone Islamic banks and Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks. Using dynamic panel data "generalized methods of moments" (GMM), the study reports that there are differences among different types of banks, viz. conventional banks, Islamic subsidiaries of conventional parents, and stand-alone Islamic banks. It shows that Islamic subsidiaries of conventional banks perform better than stand-alone Islamic banks as well as their own conventional parents. Furthermore, the results show that Islamic subsidiaries are more stable in term of their financing income compared to the rest of the banks, while the stand-alone banks have lower asset quality in comparison with both Islamic subsidiaries and their parents.