A DEA estimation of a lower bound for firms’ allocative efficiency without information on price data

In this paper, we estimate a lower bound for the sum of firms’ allocative efficiencies in the absence of information on prices. For this purpose, we only estimate technical efficiency at both the firm and the industry level using a directional distance function and choosing a relevant direction. Our result relies on the decomposition of overall inefficiency into technical and allocative inefficiency at both the firm and the industry level. The convexity of a technology induces a transfer from both total technical inefficiency and part of allocative inefficiency at the firm level to technical inefficiency solely at the industry level. The remaining firms’ allocative inefficiency could be counted at the industry level. Hence, the difference between technical inefficiencies at both levels can be interpreted as a lower bound for the sum of allocative inefficiency in the industry. We show how to implement this bound in a DEA framework.     

The evolution of hog production and potential sources for future growth in China

Following reforms to the market, China’s hog industry has developed rapidly, however, with social and economic transitions, China’s hog industry is facing challenges which might restrict long-term growth in production. This paper analyzes the changes in regional scale, organization, input factors, and technological progress for China’s hog production over the last few decades. The paper seeks to reveal the sources of hog production growth and provide some suggestions for future development of the hog industry. To achieve these aims, the paper uses stochastic frontier production functions and the Malmquist index to measure total factor productivity (TFP) in the hog industry and decompose TFP into technical efficiency; technological progress; scale efficiency; and allocative efficiency using data for 25 provinces from 1980 to 2008. The results show firstly that; the TFP of hog production increased by 64.3% from 1980 to 2008, and allocative efficiency and scale efficiency improvements played a key role in this TFP growth. In contrast, technical efficiency and technical progress have changed little over this period. Secondly, TFP’s contribution to output was 39.7%, it being less than that of factor inputs to output. Thirdly, the results suggest that the growth of China’s pork production depends mostly on the increase in the quantity of factor inputs, especially feed. As a consequence, the key to ensuring long-term and stable development of China’s hog production would seem to involve focusing on enhancing total factor productivity and changing the pattern of production growth.     

Allocative vs. technical spectrum efficiency

Achieving allocative and technically efficient spectrum management is a key aspect of deregulatory reforms in several OECD countries. However, reform legislation offers few clues as to how these objectives should rank when they conflict with one another. An ‘innocent’ prior acquisition of service-neutral spectrum at an efficiently run auction may prove allocative efficient but fail to be technically efficient if the spectrum is left fallow in the short term. Accountability for the productive usage of a public resource and pressures from short-term political cycles may induce regulators to mandate some minimal level of activity. Two plausible regulatory responses are considered: use it or lose it clauses and spectrum trading incentives. The former favours technical efficiency whilst the latter promotes allocative efficiency. The argument is formalised in a simple economic model buttressing the roles of uncertainty and transaction costs to assert the primacy of allocative efficiency over technical efficiency.     

Efficiency and Firm Ownership: Some New Evidence

The paper investigates the effect of state ownership on efficiency of firmsusing an econometric model that allows for the separation of technical from allocative efficiency in adynamic setting. The estimation results, based on a sample of international airlines, suggest that state ownershipis associated with lower technical and allocative efficiency. State ownership's effect on technical efficiencyis mainly a dynamic one – lowering the rate of cost decline, whereas its effect on allocativeefficiency is static – raising the level of costs. Thus lower technical, rather than allocative, efficiency isthe main reason for state-owned firms to be less efficient than their private counterparts.     

Profit efficiency among Bangladeshi rice farmers

Production inefficiency is usually analyzed by its three components—technical, allocative, and scale efficiency. In this study, we provide a direct measure of production efficiency of the Bangladeshi rice farmers using a stochastic profit frontier and inefficiency effects model. The data, which are for 1996, include seven conventional inputs and several other background factors affecting production of modern or high yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice spread across 21 villages in three agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh. The results show that there are high levels of inefficiency in modern rice cultivation. The mean level of profit efficiency is 77% suggesting that an estimated 23% of the profit is lost due to a combination of technical, allocative and scale inefficiency in modern rice production. The efficiency differences are explained largely by infrastructure, soil fertility, experience, extension services, tenancy and share of non-agricultural income.     

Industry and firm effects of privatization in Malawian oligopolistic manufacturing

This study evaluates the impact of privatization on technical efficiency using panel data from privatized enterprises, state-owned enterprises and private enterprises competing in oligopolistic Malawian manufacturing industries in which privatization took place. The results of the technical efficiency model, based on the period 1970–1997, provide evidence that privatization increases the technical efficiency of all firms (industry effects). Further incentives for improvements in technical efficiency are due to more domestic competition, multinationality and structural adjustment.     

我国新能源上市公司技术效率及其影响因素分析——基于随机前沿方法的实证研究

文章运用随机前沿分析方法对我国新能源上市公司2004~2010年间的技术效率及其影响因素进行了实证研究。结果显示:自2004年以来,我国新能源上市公司的技术效率显著提升,但整体依然偏低;企业超额获利能力、员工素质对技术效率有显著的正向影响;企业规模对技术效率也存在正向影响,但影响不大;第一大股东的国有股性质对技术效率的影响显著为负;企业成立时间长短、技术人员比重、所处地理位置等因素对技术效率没有显著影响。最后,根据实证结果对我国新能源行业的发展提出了针对性的建议。     

基于DEA方法的建筑业效率评价实证研究

为了对中国建筑业的生产效率进行客观评价,并分析建筑业近年来的发展趋势,文章利用数据包络分析方法计算中国建筑业1996~2008年间的总效率、技术效率和规模效率,结果表明中国建筑业的效率进步目前主要依赖于规模效率的提高,而技术效率提高较为有限,揭示了建筑业发展的关键在于新技术的应用与推广。文章在投入产出指标的选择上提出分组筛选法和主成分分析法两种方法,对过去的评价方法进行了改进,并将两种方法得到的不同结果进行对比分析,提高了评价精度。     

Estimating consumer surplus in the mobile telecommunications market: The case of Korea

This paper estimates consumer surplus in the Korean mobile telephone services (MTS) market. The Korean mobile telecommunications market has grown rapidly since 1997 when competition was introduced and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology was commercialized. Because consumer surplus is relevant to the controversy over establishing an appropriate price level between consumers and service providers, the need for a robust measurement of benefit from MTS is increasing. The measured net consumer surplus estimated by means of elasticities of demand reached about US$48.8 billion in the period 1996–2004 and the changes amounted to about US$8.8 billion during the same period. In particular, after competition was introduced into the market with an accompanying price decrease and increase in the number of subscribers, consumers have benefited greatly. Therefore, it can be inferred that a facility-based competition policy and the reduction in price of access such as handset subsidies all played a positive role in the early diffusion of MTS in Korea. The estimated consumer surplus in this paper does not include network externality (option externality); if this were considered, the total social welfare of the consumer would be larger.     

A combinatorial auction to sell TV broadcasting rights in league sports

The centralized sale of TV broadcasting rights in league sports constitutes a cartel which in many European countries is allowed only if it complies with certain conditions set by competition authorities. Two of the most important conditions are: i) partial unbundling, i.e. the rights must be unbundled into several separate packages; and ii) the no-single-buyer rule, i.e. the packages must be sold to different broadcasters. This article shows how a combinatorial auction can be employed to sell broadcasting rights allocating them endogenously based on the broadcasters’ bids and, thus, without requiring the seller to pre-determine the packages of such rights. This feature can address various competition policy issues, including facilitating market entry and preventing coordination among bidders. Also, a combinatorial auction has the potential to achieve higher levels of allocative efficiency and higher revenue levels compared to auctions with pre-determined packages of broadcasting rights.     

The impact of environmental management systems on financial performance in fashion and textiles industries

With rising environmental concerns from consumers and stakeholder groups, environmental management has become an important responsibility for today's fashion and textiles manufacturers. The production of fashion and textiles related products often requires high levels of energy and water consumption, and emits large quantities of pollutants to the environment. Therefore, the adoption of environmental management systems (EMSs) is important and could have a significant impact on these firms' operational performance. This study presents empirical evidence on the performance impact of EMS adoption in the fashion and textiles related industries (FTIs). Although EMSs have emerged as a passport to business in the FTIs, their actual impacts on firms' financial performance have not been explored. We reveal that the adoption of ISO 14000, the most popular EMS, improves manufacturers' profitability in the FTIs over a three-year period as measured by return-on-assets (ROA). Based on our sample, we find that profitability improvement started during the implementation stage and continued at least one year after the firm obtained ISO 14000 certification. We also find that profitability improvement is mainly due to improvement in cost efficiency, measured by return-on-sales (ROS). Specifically, certified firms improved up to 2.9% in ROA and 3.3% in ROS over the three-year period since they implemented ISO 14000. We conclude that there is a positive impact of EMS adoption on firms' financial performance in the FTIs.     

基于改进遗传算法的多项目资源均衡配置研究

如何解决建筑企业在多个项目中资源利用率和配置效率低下的问题,是施工方项目管理的一大难题。本文根据多项目工程施工特点,建立了多项目并行施工时的资源均衡优化模型。为了提高遗传算法对多项目资源配置问题求解的性能,本文对遗传算法进行了改进,并以某公司3 个并行施工的工程项目为例,根据工程施工初始网络计划的资源需求,运用改进遗传算法（IGA）和遗传算法（GA）计算多项目的资源配置方差。结果表明,改进遗传算法可使资源配置达到更好的优化状态,并能得到各个项目非关键线路上工序的最佳开工时间,为建筑施工企业提供了具有实践价值的技术手段。     

产业过度竞争测度基准及聚类分析

20世纪 90年代中期以来 ,中国许多产业出现了过度竞争的现象 ,但国内外对过度竞争测度的基准过于模糊 ,可操作性较差。本文试图建立过度竞争测度的基准 ,并在此基础上进行聚类分析 ,以便准确判断出现过度竞争的产业及这些产业的共同特征 ,为探讨过度竞争的形成原因及规制提供依据。     

The EU State aid policy for broadband: An evaluation of the Italian experience with first generation networks

State aid (SA) measures for broadband have been flourishing in the EU, but our knowledge about the effectiveness and efficiency of this policy remains extremely scarce. We investigate the SA experience with the first generation of broadband services (FGB) in Italy, whose market was long plagued by extensive market failures, largely due to market power. By exploiting original open Government data and sources, we analyse the main domains of the EU SA policy, and assess whether its ex ante goals have been met in Italy. Four main results stand out. First, the plan extended the FGB coverage of rural areas, although with a substantial delay and incompletely, with respect to the ambitious targets of the Digital Agenda for Europe. Second, public consultations have significantly increased the transparency of the market and of the SA intervention, promoting investment and a gradual increase in the efficiency of public procurement. Third, the direct effects of SA on competitive entry appear less pronounced, at least in the static sense. Fourth, the final matching between allocative and dynamic efficiency of SA policy, and its coherence with industrial and innovation policies remain critical, based on the Italian experience: in fact, the persisting digital divide affecting the business-rich areas depicts another relevant instance of partial Government failure.     

The idiosyncrasy of research and development efficiency across types of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises: evidence from Korea

Small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are considered to be the main driving force behind economic and employment growth. However, the low productivity levels of SMEs cannot be explained by lower levels of R&D investment, but are instead a consequence of a lack of research and development (R&D) efficiency that would have been adequate for making firms more competitive. To investigate any differences in R&D efficiency that impact the company overall performance in economic and employment performance, we analyze various types of SMEs in Korea. This paper applies two estimation methods: data envelopment analysis and regression analysis. This study takes three relevant factors of output: (1) the number of patents, (2) the number of success in terms of technology development, and (3) the level of profit attained through new products. Additionally, the study's model incorporates three parts of input: (1) human resources, (2) development periods, and (3) R&D budget. In the context of this paper, a comparison of the factors regarding efficiency is performed based upon the following criteria: the level of novelty, the length of a product's life cycle, and the time period of a competitor emulation of the product created by original enterprise. Comparing the factors that influence the efficiency of types within each criterion is meaningful in analyzing the differences in efficiency outcome on the various types among SMEs. Our findings indicate that SMEs vary among types in terms of efficiency and that there are also differences causing factors according to types.     

The Evolution of Competition Policy in Indonesia

This paper assesses the evolution of the new Indonesian competition law passed in 1999, and the creation of the Competition Commission. The first half of the paper traces the debate and process of deregulation and liberalization that preceded the introduction of the law. Whilst deregulation did lead to increased competition and efficiency, distortions to competition in the goods sector still persisted due to ad hoc and non transparent measures taken due to government interventions and vested interests. The services and infrastructure sectors were only partially liberalized. The second half of the paper evaluates the debate on competition law and assesses its introduction and implementation. In the brief period of implementation to date, the tension between a pro-competition and an anti-bigness interpretation of the Law is evident. The paper concludes that ambiguities in the law should be eliminated, that the competition agency focuses on advocacy and introducing transparent procedures rather than hastening towards concluding investigations, and that competition issues faced by independent regulatory agencies in the services and infrastructure sectors should be introduced carefully.     

Competition and Efficiency in Transacting: The Case of Residential Real Estate Brokerage

This paper examines the functioning of the market for brokerage services for residential real estate. The central issue addressed is whether the manner in which brokerage services have traditionally been provided and priced is consistent with efficiency. In approaching this question, the paper first describes the activities usually associated with the brokerage function and develops criteria for the efficient provision of brokerage services. After the structural characterisitcs and pricing practices of the brokerage industry are analyzed, a model of brokerage firm competition is developed. The principal finding is that the traditional absence of price competition among brokers may have led to an inefficiently large commitment of resources to the brokerage industry, supported by excessive rates for consumers of brokerage services. These results stem from the way that competitive pressures emerge when price competition is largely suppressed.     

Airport deregulation: Effects on pricing and capacity

We use a model of vertical relations between two congestible airports and an airline oligopoly to examine, both analytically and numerically, how deregulation may affect airports prices and capacities. We find that: (i) unregulated profit-maximizing airports would overcharge for the congestion externality and, compared to the first-best, would induce large allocative inefficiencies and dead-weight losses. They would restrict capacity investments but, overall, would induce fewer delays; (ii) Welfare maximization subject to cost recovery performs quite well, achieving congestion levels similar to a private-unregulated airport but without inducing such large traffic contraction; this puts a question mark on the desirability of deregulation of private airports; (iii) Increased cooperation between airlines and airports provides some improvements, but the resulting airport pricing strategy leads to a downstream airline cartel; (iv) When schedule delay costs effects are strong and airline differentiation is weak, it may be optimal to have a single airline dominating the airports, but this happens only when airports' pricing schemes render the number of airlines irrelevant for competition.     

MEASURING THE IMPACT OF PRICE CAPS ON PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

Incentive regulation is now an important regulatory tool in the telecommunications industry in the United States. The issue explored here is whether incentive regulation has resulted in an increase in productive efficiency. After providing an overview of the nature of incentive regulation, the methodology for measuring the effects of incentive regulation on productive efficiency is reviewed. This methodology is data envelopment analysis and allows for the measurement of both scale efficiency and technical efficiency of individual local exchange carriers. The results indicate that most local exchange carriers (LEC) were technically efficient over the 1988–1998 period. Four LECs, however, consistently demonstrate scale inefficiency. Finally, in the aggregate, there is no identifiable improvement in aggregate LECs' technical efficiency between 1988 and 1998.