The impact of the EU entry on the efficiency of the Bulgarian banking sector

This paper examines the efficiency of banks in Bulgaria and evaluates whether EU entry affects the efficiency of the Bulgarian banking sector. Using a sample of 34 banks operating in the period 2004-2009, the research finds significant improvements in the efficiency of the domestic banking sector in the first year after the EU entry, which is reasonably decreased in the following years. Moreover, the analysis concludes that net interest margin, market share, size and banking reforms, all influence the level of bank efficiency.