La decisión multicriterio y su aplicación en la clasificación de los bancos cooperativos

The aim of the present paper is to contribute with an innovative approach for the classification of cooperative banks, using for that a Multicriteria analysis, which allows us to value and combine economic variables, traditionally used in the analysis of financial institutions, with the social ones, whose incorporation is indispensable given the characteristics of these entities. For that purpose, the study analyses the 80 cooperative banks registered in Spain on December 31, 2009, using data corresponding to the period 2006-2009, with the objective of measuring their characterization and economic - social performance, before the beginning of the process of consolidation happened in the sector and initiated in December, 2009. The results obtained offer a ranking of cooperative banks that will allow us to study questions as relevant as the existing relation between the economic and financial performance of the entity and the fulfillment of its social function.