Frontier Production Functions and Technical Efficiency Measures

The concept of technical efficiency is central to measuring the firm performance. The measurement of technical efficiency has proved difficult and complex, and the literature provides a range of methodologies. This paper reviews the various methodologies for measuring technical efficiency and offers a comparison between established methods of measurements. The discussion is literary with less mathematical jargons and equations. The objective of this paper is not to be exhaustive, but to be up‐to‐date and to provide a significant discussion on some of the core methods of measuring technical efficiency.     

效率改善、经济发展和地区差异——基于对中国三大城市经济圈的实证研究

本文通过采用两种生产边界方法将中国三大城市经济圈(京津冀、长三角、珠三角)38个城市1990~2005年的劳动平均GDP分解为物质资本积累、效率改善、技术进步和人力资本投入所贡献的经济增长,然后采用绝对收敛方程考察这4个因素的收敛效应。实证结果表明,效率改善是其中唯一使地区间差距缩小的因素,而且其收敛效应随时间的推移呈现出先减后增的趋势,即进入20世纪90年代以来地区间差异有先拉大后缩小的趋势,但是缩小的效果还很不显著。     

Measuring Cost Efficiency in European Banking: A Comparison of Frontier Techniques

This paper investigates the consistency of efficiency frontier methods on European banking samples. We measure the cost efficiency of banks from five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland) with three approaches: stochastic frontier approach, distribution-free approach, and data envelopment analysis. We compare means, correlation coefficients, two public policy issues, and the correlation with standard measures of performance. In general, we conclude in favor of the lack of robustness between approaches, even if there are some similarities in particular between parametric approaches. We do, however, observe some correlation between all frontier approaches and standard measures of performance.     

A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Output Level and Growth in Poland and Western Economies

This paper uses Bayesian stochastic frontier methods to measure the productivity gap between Poland and Western countries that existed before the beginning of the main Polish economic reform. Using data for 20 Western economies, Poland and Yugoslavia (1980–1990) we estimate a translog stochastic frontier and make inference about individual efficiencies. Following the methodology proposed in our earlier work, we also decompose output growth into technical, efficiency and input changes and examine patterns of growth in the period under consideration. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Input- and Output-Oriented Technical Efficiency of Ukrainian Collective Farms, 1989–1992: Bayesian Analysis of a Stochastic Production Frontier Model

We propose estimation of a stochastic production frontier model within a Bayesian framework to obtain the posterior distribution of single-input-oriented technical efficiency at the firm level. All computations are carried out using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The approach is illustrated by applying it to production data obtained from a survey of Ukrainian collective farms. We show that looking at the changes in single-input-oriented technical efficiency in addition to the changes in output-oriented technical efficiency improves the understanding of the dynamics of technical efficiency over the first years of transition in the former Soviet Union.     

Nonparametric Methods for Evaluating Economic Efficiency and Imperfect Competition

This article unifies and extends ideas from nonparametric production analysis and DEA for testing organizational efficiency. We show how the admissible price set can be restricted to account for prior information on prices. These restrictions may relate prices to input and output quantities in order to test noncompetitive behavior of the evaluated decision making unit. While the resulting efficiency tests cannot always be cast into linear programming problems, we discuss various solution strategies for the tests. Thereby we consider the question when does local optimality of the result guarantee global optimality. We also show how the decision maker's preferences, for example ranking information, can be adopted into DEA models in a simple manner. Finally, the approach with price restrictions is illustrated with an application to test noncompetitive behavior of the pulp and paper industries in Finland.     

Hyperbolic Efficiency and Parametric Distance Functions: With Application to Spanish Savings Banks

Distance functions are gaining relevance as alternative representations of production technologies, with growing numbers of empirical applications being made in the productivity and efficiency field. Distance functions were initially defined on the input or output production possibility sets by Shephard (1953, 1970) and extended to a graph representation of the technology by Färe, Grosskopf and Lovell (1985) through their graph hyperbolic distance function. Since then, different techniques such as non parametric-DEA and parametric-SFA have been used to calculate these distance functions. However, in the latter case we know of no study in which the restriction to input or output orientation has been relaxed. What we propose is to overcome such restrictiveness on dimensionality by defining and estimating a parametric hyperbolic distance function which simultaneously allows for the maximum equiproportionate expansion of outputs and reduction of inputs. In particular, we introduce a translog hyperbolic specification that complies with the conventional properties that the hyperbolic distance function satisfies. Finally, to illustrate its applicability in efficiency analysis we implement it using a data set of Spanish savings banks.     

Productive Efficiency of the Swine Industry in Hawaii: Stochastic Frontier vs. Data Envelopment Analysis

Improving productive efficiency is an increasingly important determinant of the future of the swine industry in Hawaii. This paper examines the productive efficiency of a sample of swine producers in Hawaii by estimating a stochastic frontier production function and the constant returns to scale (CRS) and variable returns to scale (VRS) output-oriented DEA models. The technical efficiency estimates obtained from the two frontier techniques are compared. The scale properties are also examined under the two approaches. The industry's potential for increasing production through improved efficiency is also discussed.     

经济发展水平与科普资源投入产出效率的关系研究 ——基于三阶段DEA模型

双循环新发展格局对我国创新提出了更高的要求.创新发展一方面需要科技创新,另一方面也少不了科学普及,中央强调科学普及与科技创新同等地位.基于三阶段DEA模型,对2008—2015年31个省市、自治区科普投入产出效率进行研究,按照经济发展情况把全国划分为三个区域.研究发现:我国科普投入产出技术效率的上升和规模效率的波动影响...     

基于投入/产出效率的跨国企业承运商评价及选择

承运商的评价及选择,直接关系到供应链中跨国制造企业的运作成本,影响到企业的市场竞争力。因此,研究承运商的评价与选择方法,具有重要的理论意义和实践意义。文中提出了一种基于投入产出效率的承运商绩效评价模型,并应用该方法对某跨国制造公司承运商的评价选择进行了实例分析。     

On the Use of Value Efficiency Analysis and Some Further Developments

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of Value Efficiency Analysis (VEA) in efficiency evaluation when preference information is taken into account. Value efficiency analysis is an approach, which applies the ideas developed for Multiple Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) to Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Preference information is given through the desirable structure of input- and output-values. The same values can be used for all units under evaluation or the values can be specific for each unit. A decision-maker can specify the input- and output-values subjectively without any support or (s)he can use a multiple criteria support system to assist him/her to find those values on the efficient frontier. The underlying assumption is that the most preferred values maximize the decision-maker's implicitly known value function in a production possibility set or a subset. The purpose of value efficiency analysis is to estimate a need to increase outputs and/or decrease inputs for reaching the indifference contour of the value function at the optimum. In this paper, we briefly review the main ideas in value efficiency analysis and discuss practical aspects related to the use of value efficiency analysis. We also consider some extensions.     

货运车辆燃油消耗与运输效率关系研究

文中采用理论分析与模型构建相结合的方式,研究货运车辆的燃油消耗与运输效率之间的关系,基于调研数据,采用回归分析的方法构建模型,得到了不同车型车辆的百吨公里燃油消耗量与实载率的倒数关系模型,为企业提高车辆运输效率,降低燃油消耗提供数据参考。     

GB 12497-1995与GB／T12497-2006三相异步电动机经济运行判别方法比较

三相异步电动机耗电量占全国总用电量的60％以上。我国早在1990年就发布了GB12497—1990《三相异步电动机经济运行》国家强制性标准,又分别在1995年和2006年进行了两次修订。1995版标准与2006版标准在三相异步电动机经济运行判别模型和电动机在偏离额定电压工作时对综合效率补偿方法有较大的不同。文章就上述两个问题进行了比较分析,并进行了实际测量。     

粤东西北与珠三角物流产业技术效率比较

运用DEA效率测度方法,通过对2013-2017年粤东西北与珠三角区域物流产业技术效率的对比研究,探索推动广东省区域物流协调发展的路径。结果显示:对比珠三角区域,粤东西北区域物流产业技术效率与珠三角区域存在较大差距,尤其是粤东与粤西地区,粤东区域物流产业技术效率值仅为0.4,粤西区域物流产业技术效率值为0.81,均远低于珠三角区域物流产业技术效率值0.94。纯技术效率低下是制约粤东西北地区物流产业技术效率提升的主要因素,应加强物流产业信息技术应用,推进物流技术装备现代化,提高技术创新能力水平。     

出砂强敏感稠油油藏低效水驱转热采政策界限研究——以林东馆三段稠油油藏为例

林樊家油田林东馆三段地质条件复杂,地层敏感性强,供液差,产能低,油稠,出砂严重,多年来采用了各种工艺措施,均未取得好的水驱开采效果。文章运用数值模拟手段,分析了低水驱的主要原因和论证了低效水驱转蒸汽热采可行性。在此基础上,研究了该块低效水驱转蒸汽热采的开发经济技术政策界限。开发实践表明,低效水驱稠油油藏通过转热采可大幅提高采收率,同时研究成果对同类油藏的开发具有重要指导意义。