12 Even though the regulatory conditions, banking structures and the accessibility of services are quite similar
across transition countries, the sample countries may exhibit significant variations. Therefore, the inclusion of
these variables into the estimated functions allows for the cost and profit efficiency levels to vary systematically
across countries.
13 Allen and Rai (1996) included the regulatory environments of each country. However, they specified these
determinants at bank level, not at country level. More importantly, they employed ex-post analysis in order to
explore the differences in efficiency estimates.
14 The total of 39 banks is divided into seven countries, with the number of banks in parentheses; Croatia (14),
Estonia (2), Hungary (2), Latvia (2), Poland (9), Slovenia (1) and Turkey (9).