Evaluation of Technical Efficiency in Segment One of the Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Ecuador for 2016–2021

The saving and credit cooperatives in Ecuador form one of the fundamental pillars of the Ecuadorian economy. According to SEPS (Superintendence of Popular and Solidarity Economy, 2021), the assets held by the economic and solidarity sector fluctuate around 16 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 15% of the Ecuadorian GDP. This study aims to evaluate the technical efficiency of Savings and Credit Cooperatives belonging to the first segment, as defined by SEPS, from 2016 to 2021. For the analysis, various financial accounts will be used as variables, including operating costs, irrecoverable funds, total deposits, accounts receivable, and available funds. These data are obtained from the bulletins issued by the Superintendence of Popular and Solidarity Economy—the efficiency of 88.55% from the cooperative sector comprising segment one.