A number of previous studies have attempted to assess the extent to which economies of scale exist within banking firms. Most of these studies have relied upon cost functions of one form or another and their findings have been inconclusive.A major difficulty involved in the cost function approach is the selection of an appropriate measure of bank output.The profit function and its duality relationship with the production function offer an alternative approach to examining economies of scale and organizational efficiency in commercial banking.This alternative enjoys several advantages over the cost function method, consequently, that is the approach used in this study.A risk adjusted profit function is used in the estimation of economies of scale of unit and branch banks ; and the effects of bank holding company affiliation on the level of bank profits is also examined.The results indicate larger economies of scale for branch banks than for unit banks and bank holding company affiliates were found to be more efficient than independent banks .