Super-efficiency and Stock Market Valuation: Evidence from Listed Banks in China (2006 to 2023)

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between bank efficiency and stock market valuation using an unbalanced panel dataset of 42 listed banks in China from 2006 to 2023. We employ a non-radial and non-oriented slack based super-efficiency Data Envelopment Analysis (Super-SBM-UND-VRS based DEA) model, which treats Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) as an undesired output. Our results show that the relationship between super-efficiency and stock market valuation is stronger than that between Return on Asset (ROA) and stock market performance, as measured by Tobin's Q. Notably, the Super-SBM-UND-VRS model yields novel results compared to other efficiency methods, such as the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) approach and traditional DEA models. Furthermore, our results suggest that bank evaluations benefit from decreased ownership concentration, whereas interest rate liberalization has the opposite effect.