The aim of this paper is to analyze the productive efficiency of the non life Spanish insurance industry. A nonparametric approach is used in order to obtain several indicators of efficiency in a sample of 80 firms, with data for 1991. Following the Chames, Cooper and Rhodes approach, known as data envelopment analysis, we calculate estimates of cost efficiency, which are decomposed into technical and allocative eficiency indexes. Lastly, indicaton of technical efficiency are decomposed into the product of pure technical and scale eficiency indexes.

Keywords: insurance industry, productive efficiency, nonparametric frontiers.