**4. Data**

This study employed annual data of the banking sector from the *BankScope* database. The sample covered the study period of 1999–2013. The study analyzed the performance of 918 banks in 24 *Emerging Economies* from six regions of the world. The study included the following regions (number of banks): East Asia (213), Southeast Asia (164), South Asia (95), Latin America (244), Emerging Europe (126), and Africa and the Middle East (76). The combination of variables in both stages to measure the efficiency of banks is listed in Table 1.



In addition, the determinants of efficiency were investigated using the estimated efficiency scores from the DEA model as the dependent variable in a non-parametric regression, with the following bank characteristics, financial ratios, and macro variables as independent variables:

Size = log of total assets Capital adequacy = ratio of total equity to total assets Liquidity = ratio of total loans to total deposit GDP\_GR = growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) Inflation rate = annual inflation rate Public bank dummy = 1 if the bank ownership is public; 0 otherwise. Crisis 2007–2008 Dummy = 1 for the year 2007–2008; 0 otherwise. East Asia dummy = 1 for banks from East Asia; 0 otherwise. Southeast Asia dummy = 1 for banks from South East Asia; 0 otherwise. South Asia dummy = 1 for banks from South Asia; 0 otherwise. Latin America dummy = 1 for banks from Latin America; 0 otherwise. Emerging Europe dummy = 1 for banks from Emerging Europe; 0 otherwise.
