The impacts of hospital alliance membership,alliance size,and repealing certificate of need regulation,on the cost efficiency of non‐profit hospitals

This paper investigates how alliance membership, size of the alliance, membership in multiple organizations, repealing certificate of need (CON) regulation for acute care facilities, and other factors, impacts hospital cost efficiency. Using a 1996–1999 panel of 144 urban US Midwestern hospitals, empirical results show that repealing state CON programs, signing more HMO and PPO contracts, and membership in only an alliance, helped to enhance cost efficiency. Membership in an additional organization (network, system) did not help enhance hospital cost efficiency. Membership in a larger size alliance (more hospitals in the alliance) contributed to an improvement in cost efficiency. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental externalities and regulation constrained cost productivity growth in the US electric utility industry

This paper examines whether having to comply with Phase 1 of Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act, and rate of return regulation, each impacted the rate of total factor productivity (TFP) growth when accounting for the production of good and bad outputs. Phase 1, effective from 1995 to 1999, requires electric utilities to reduce their emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide (bad outputs). Actions undertaken to reduce the emissions (using less sulfur content coal, installing equipment), may have led to higher production costs, and impacted the rate of TFP growth. Rate regulation may impact how the firm produces its selected output level, which could lead to higher cost over time, and biased estimates of TFP growth. Following the work of Ball et al. (Struct Change Econ Dyn 16(3): 374–394, 2005), who developed the standard Malmquist cost productivity (MCP) index, we develop a MCP index for a rate regulated firm (RMCP index) then use the standard and regulated indices to determine whether having to comply with Phase 1 impacted TFP growth. Empirical results indicate that (i) the RMCP index underestimated the rate at which TFP growth occurred, (ii) Phase 1 utilities on average experienced positive TFP growth from 1996 to 2000 (Phase 1 firms experienced higher TFP growth rates than the rates experienced by firms not subject to Phase 1), and operated more allocatively inefficient in complying with the Phase 1 restrictions. Complying with Phase 1 did not affect the rate at which technical change occurred or the rates of change in scale efficiency.     

Relative Performance of U.S. and Japanese Electricity Distribution: An Application of Stochastic Frontier Analysis

This paper estimates and compares the technical efficiency of the U.S. and Japanese electric utilities during the period 1982–1997 using a stochastic frontier analysis. Our focus is on electricity distribution services of major investor-owned utilities. We employ translog input distance functions to represent the technology of electricity distribution. Empirical results show that after controlling for environmental variables, on average, the Japanese electric utilities are more efficient. It is shown, however, that some U.S. utilities are as efficient as the most efficient Japanese utilities, indicating that the estimated frontier is not necessarily dominated by Japanese utilities.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Lower bound of cost efficiency measure in DEA with incomplete price information

The conventional cost efficiency model assumes that all the input prices are fixed and known exactly at each decision making unit. In practice, however, exact knowledge of prices is difficult and prices may be subject to variations over very short periods of time. In this paper, we develop a new DEA model, which can be transformed into a special case of bi-level linear program, to calculate the lower bound of CE efficiency from the pessimistic viewpoints based on the shortcomings of the existing approaches. As the input (price) cone of the pessimistic CE model tightens, the objective function converges to the traditional Farrell cost efficiency measure. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the proposed approach and compare the results with those obtained with the existing approaches.     

The dynamics of efficiency and productivity growth in U.S. electric utilities

This study recognizes explicitly the efficiency gain or loss as a source in explaining the growth. A theoretically consistent method to estimate the decomposition of dynamic total factor productivity growth (TFP) in the presence of inefficiency is developed which is constructed from an extension of the dynamic TFP growth, adjusted for deviations from the long-run equilibrium within an adjustment-cost framework. The empirical case study is to U.S. electric utilities, which provides a measure to evaluate how different electric utilities participate in the deregulation of electricity generation. TFP grew by 2.26% per annum with growth attributed to the combined scale effects of 0.34%, the combined efficiency effects of 0.69%, and the technical change effect of 1.22%. The dynamic TFP grew by 1.66% per annum for electric utilities located within states with the deregulation plan and 3.30% per annum for those located outside. Electric utilities located within states with the deregulation plan increased the outputs by improving technical and input allocative efficiencies more than those located outside of states with deregulation plans.

Under pressure: community water systems in the United States—a production model with water quality and organization type effects

This paper examines the interaction of productive efficiency, water quality and organizational type. A water quality index is constructed employing various contaminants which are then treated together with variables including organizational type as endogenous in an input distance function model. The cost of drinking water quality and inefficiency are derived and hypothesis tests estimated concerning their variation by location, organization type and water quality. The key findings are that more technically efficient water utilities deliver higher quality drinking water and that private firms distribute higher quality water at a higher price and at a higher implicit cost than public utilities despite no overall inefficiency differences between the two organizational types.     

An examination of the cost efficiency of banks in Taiwan and China using the metafrontier cost function

Using the stochastic metafrontier framework of Battese et al. (J Prod Anal 21:91–103, 2004), this study proposes to compare and measure the cost efficiency and cost frontier gap between the banking industry in Taiwan and China. It further identifies environmental variables that determine bank’s cost frontier gap between two countries. Data on 69 sample banks for years 2005–2009 are used in the empirical analysis and inference. The empirical results show that Taiwanese banks have in general the superior cost frontier of production, but inferior cost efficiency of operation than Chinese banks. Private banks in Taiwan have the best cost frontier, whereas foreign banks in China are most cost efficient among all banks in Taiwan and China. The empirical results also reveal that the majority of Taiwanese banks are undersized and that most banks in China are oversized. Finally, the regression results show that the financial market structure, institutional environment, and political development are significant determinants of the cost gap between the cost frontiers of banks in Taiwan and China. Therefore, programs related to changes directed toward a better bank production environment can be initiated to improve the cost technologies of banks in both Taiwan and China.     

Analysis of electric distribution utilities efficiency levels by stochastic frontier in Brazilian power sector

The regulatory power sector model in several countries determines tariff review forms based, among other things, on sharing efficiency gains with consumers. As these reviews have an important impact on consumers and distribution utilities, it is necessary that the adopted methodologies always be improved. To this end, this article assessed a Bayesian inference application in order to estimate a stochastic cost frontier considering temporal efficiency dynamics. Taking this point into consideration is essential, since studies carried out to assess power sector efficiency have neglected the fact that part of efficiency increases originate from scale gain due to market expansion, which occurs over time. The sample assessed herein is composed of panel data from 61 electric power utilities between 2003 and 2016. The results demonstrate that the tariff review is positively affected by distributor efficiency.     

The Performance Effects of Business Groups in Russia

This study analyses the impact of business group affiliation on firm performance during a time when business groups are newly formed, when the economic and institutional environment is changing, and when group survival is uncertain. Based primarily on a transaction cost approach, we develop two hypotheses, concerning profitability and risk sharing (redistribution) respectively. The positive profitability hypothesis proposes that company affiliation with a business group directly and positively affects the profitability of each affiliate. A positive direct effect emerges when each affiliate benefits from access to group resources. The redistribution hypothesis considers the simultaneous possibility that inter-affiliate transfers of resources through internal markets are designed to redistribute profits among group members. We argue that variance-reducing redistribution from strong to weak group members is linked to group survival in times of institutional change. Our empirical approach focuses on testing these two linked hypotheses (and their alternatives) using a relatively large, contemporary and time varying database of Russian firms. We also develop a framework that distinguishes among the four possible empirical outcomes associated with the hypotheses. Our results provide unambiguous support for the case where the impact of group membership on profitability is positive and redistribution is variance-reducing. We term this outcome Business Group Robustness, and contrast it with other possible empirical outcomes.     

Estimating banking cost efficiency with the consideration of cost management

This study re-investigates the bank cost efficiency by a combination of two strands of literature. The first strand is related to bank cost efficiency; the other is related to earnings management. Employing the findings reported in bank earnings management literature, this study argues that bank observed total cost (“accounting cost”) may be the biased estimator of the true total cost. Using the biased total cost may thus yield incorrect inferences from estimating bank cost efficiency. We propose a method to modify accounting cost, which is referred to as “economic cost”, to be consistent with the economic theory; that is, one that is free of cost management. Both accounting and economic costs are then adopted to analyze the efficiency of 29 commercial banks in Taiwan banking industry. Our results show that estimated efficiency, with the application of economic cost, offers results that are more reasonable results than those of the accounting cost.     

政府融资过程中政府和银行间的信号博弈

针对政府融资平台的融资特点,讨论了政府融资过程中政府和银行之间的信号博弈问题,并以政府和银行的利益最大化为目标建立了动态信号博弈模型且进行了实证分析。在分析的过程中发现,均衡的效率与政府的伪装成本及期望的风险成本高低有关,融资过程中政府的干预对均衡效率有一定的影响。因此,在相应的政策建议中要求提高企业伪装的成本及加大银行的惩罚力度。     

Cost and profit efficiency of conventional and Islamic banks in GCC countries

Using stochastic frontier approach, this paper investigates the cost and profit efficiency levels of 71 commercial banks in Gulf cooperation council countries over the period 1999–2007. This study also conducts a comparative analysis of the efficiency across countries and between conventional and Islamic banks. Moreover, we examine the bank-specific variables that may explain the sources of inefficiency. The empirical results indicate that banks in the Gulf region are relatively more efficient at generating profits than at controlling costs. We also find that in terms of both cost and profit efficiency levels, the conventional banks on average are more efficient than Islamic banks. Furthermore, we observe a positive correlation of cost and profit efficiency with bank capitalization and profitability, and a negative one with operation cost. Higher loan activity increases the profit efficiency of banks, but it has a negative impact on cost efficiency.     

Water losses and hydrographical regions influence on the cost structure of the Portuguese water industry

Despite the growing research about water utilities, some questions still remain to be solved on the supply side, which are frequently absent from empirical studies based on the estimation of cost functions. This paper aims to fill to some extent this gap in the literature by focusing the consequences of water losses reduction and the management of water resources based on their availability at an integrated river basin level. Major findings derived from the estimation of a multiproduct cost function suggest advantages from reducing water losses, given that an adjusted measure of economies of scope, adapting the fact that water lost cannot be sold, reveals that there are small diseconomies of scope. In addition, generally the variables related to the hydrographical regions used have significant effects on water costs. Since the outcomes also reveal the existence of economies of scale, more concentration in the Portuguese water industry at the retail level would be beneficial.     

浅谈“物流成本”的控制

文章认为,物流成本是指产品在空间位移(含静止)过程中所耗的各种活劳动和物化劳动的货币表现,是物流管理的一项重要内容。在物流企业中,要提高经济效益,主要的途径就是进行物流成本的管理和控制,这是企业管理的一个永恒的主题。分析降低物流成本的途径,寻找降低物流成本的方法,最终目的是降低物流成本,扩大企业的利润,乃至整个社会的效益。     

供应链环境下苏宁电器VMI的实施研究

分析了苏宁电器物流现状及其供应链上存在的问题,针对存在的问题提出苏宁实施VMI（供应商管理库存）的建议．并以一个利润模型对苏宁实施VMI进行了理论分析。分析结果表明实施VMI项目后供应链上的短期总成本降低了,但供应商的短期总成本升高了,同时供应链系统的总利润有所提高．因此从定量上证明了苏宁实施VMI是可行的。最后从定量的角度讨论了实施VMI项目的利润分配问题,以提高供应链的稳定性。防止供应商信用缺失现象。     

Regulation and cost efficiency in the European railways industry

The objective of this article is to analyze European railways’ incentives to improve efficiency in the recent liberalization context. We build and estimate a structural model accounting for regulatory pressures faced by the firms. Our model includes demand equations, capacity constraints and a cost function, in which are specified an exogenous technical efficiency component and an endogenous cost reducing effort parameter. We find a significant positive effect of implementing the reforms on cost reducing activities, and a smaller cost of effort for firms choosing a more advanced separation of infrastructure from operation activities.     

Antitrust Compliance: Managerial Incentives and Collusive Behavior

This article analyzes a manager's incentives to establish and sustain an illegal collusive agreement if her firm is subject to profit shocks, if her utility function is concave in profits (e.g., because of risk aversion), and if she incurs opportunity costs (e.g., by violating a social norm). The model supports the empirical observation that if collusion is to be established and sustained in a state with low profits, then this state must be quite persistent. It also indicates that compliance with antitrust laws can be ensured best by combining a zero tolerance policy with a strategy of forgiveness. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of market power in the presence of firm level inefficiencies

“The quiet life hypothesis” (QLH) by Hicks (1935) argues that, due to management’s subjective cost of reaching optimal profits, firms use their market power to allow inefficient allocation of resources. Increasing competitive pressure is therefore likely to force management to work harder to reach optimal profits. Another hypothesis, which also relates market power to efficiency is “the efficient structure hypothesis” (ESH) by Demsetz (1973). ESH argues that firms with superior efficiencies or technologies have lower costs and therefore higher profits. These firms are assumed to gain larger market shares which lead to higher concentration. Ignoring the efficiency levels of the firms in a market power model might cause both estimation and interpretation problems. Unfortunately, the literature on market power measurement largely ignores this relationship. In the context of a dynamic setting, we estimate the market power of US airlines in two city-pairs by both allowing inefficiencies of the firms and not allowing inefficiencies of the firms. Using industry level cost data, we estimate the cost function parameters and time-varying efficiencies. An instrumental variables version of the square root Kalman filter is used to estimate time-varying conduct parameters.     

Cultivation Arrangements and the Cost Efficiency of Rice Farming in Taiwan

In this paper, a switching regression model is developed to analyze farmers' choice behavior and cost efficiency in field plowing arrangement in Taiwan. We find that the decision on the choice of plowing arrangement is determined by a cost comparison between self-plowing and hired-service, and other non-cost considerations, such as the availability of family labor and machinery, education level, non-farm income, age, and regional effects. Across a spectrum of farmer characteristics, empirical results indicate a potentially substantial cost-savings by hiring service for field plowing than by self-plowing. Self-plowing farmers also subject to a significant level of cost inefficiency.     

基于云服务的供应链利益协调机制研究

云计算技术以其海量存储能力、计算能力和信息高度共享能力克服传统供应链在信息运作模式上的缺陷。文章建立了基于云服务的制造商主导的供应链Stackelberg博弈模型,并与传统供应链中各成员的利益进行比较。论证了基于云服务的供应链中各成员及供应链系统的利润相比传统供应链更优;一定条件下的售价更低、市场需求更大,并给出了供应链成员能够承受的云服务费的费用区间。验证了基于云服务的供应链的可行性。