1 © 2018 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. PRODUCTIVITY AND TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN ISLAMIC BANKS: CROSS - COUNTRY ANALYSIS Mohamed Romdhane 1 Saif Sallam Alhakimi 2+ 1 Bisha University, College of Business, KSA 2 Bisha University, College of Business, KSA, Hodeidah Uniersity, College of Commerce, Yemen (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 3 October 2017 Revised: 31 October 2017 Accepted: 22 November 2017 Published: 4 December 2017 Keywords Islamic banking Malmquist index Productivity Technical Efficiency. Scale Efficiency MENA countries JEL Classification D24, G21. In this paper, we use the decomposed Malmquist index to analyze in depth the productivity of 36 Islamic banks in 15 countries before and after the international financial crisis, during the 2003-2011 periods. This analysis shows that productivity fluctuated over time for the same bank, and it varied from one region to another. Banks in the Gulf countries are the most efficient. In all Islamic banks, technical efficiency was the main cause of improving productivity and had helped to increase the volume of intermediation. Contribution/ Originality: This study contributes in the existing literature by comparing the Islamic banks’ technical and pure technical efficiency before and after the international crises (2008). It highlights that the Islamic banks’ productivity variability was not always the same in all regions. 1. INTRODUCTION As all commercial banks over the world, the Islamic banks in many countries invested heavily in technology to develop their service quality and their networks. They also extended their activities in their own countries and in many other countries. The rapid technological change and the increase of the bank size may affect their performance and their productivity. The measurement of the bank productivity by Malmquist index (MPI) has not been empirically deeply analyzed in Islamic countries. The MPI allows us to distinguish between three different types of efficiency measures: technical, pure technical, and scale. Islamic banks invest essentially through equity participation in private firms and in partnership with other investors. Asian Journal of Economic Modelling ISSN(e): 2312-3656 ISSN(p): 2313-2884 DOI: 10.18488/journal.8.2018.61.1.8 Vol. 6, No. 1, 1-7 © 2018 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. URL: www.aessweb.com