DEA Window Analysis of Insurance Sector Efficiency in the Republic of Serbia

Insurance market is characterized by growing competition. This has imposed needs relating to the continuous capacity building of insurance companies, the continuous improvement of operating results and the assessment of the effects of insurers’ financial investment. The ultimate goal of these activities is to implement the planned goals and achieve positive business results. It is evident that the financial stability and efficiency of the insurance sector strengthens the confidence of citizens in this type of financial intermediaries. Bearing in mind the importance of the insurance sector for the financial system and economic system growth and development, the research subject is the analysis of the insurance sector efficiency in the Republic of Serbia. The main research objective is to look at the insurance sector efficiency through the performance analysis of nine selected insurance companies in the period 2007-2018, using DEA window analysis. The analysis and systematization of theoretical research findings, along with empirical data interpretation, description and comparison yielded results pointing to very poor performance of the insurance sector as a whole, because in all years of the observed period the relative average efficiency (technical, pure technical and scale efficiency) was below 100%, especially in the period 2015-2018.