Externalities, Indivisibility, Nonreplicability, and Agglomeration

In this paper we argue that the impact of external scale economies and diseconomies on city size is not nearly as clear-cut as it is tacitly believed in urban economics. Similarly, city-size distortions are not caused by externalities alone. Indivisibility and nonreplicability, which prevent establishing the “right” number of cities, may represent a source for city-size distortions which can be stronger than the standard resource misallocation resulting from external scale economies and diseconomies. It follows that a direct population dispersion policy is not just an inferior substitute to Pigouvian taxes and subsidies but rather a useful complement.     

Economies of scale and market power in policing

The objective of this paper is to use a simultaneous equations method for estimating police production and demand to determine whether or not there are economies of scale in policing. In addition, the effect of market power on productivity, using the Herfindahl–Hirschmann Index, is to be measured. The estimation yields the result that there are diseconomies of scale with respect to the amount of crime beyond about 22 000 people in the policing jurisdiction and diseconomies of scale in numbers of police beyond about 36 000 people. Efficiency is also reduced where there is greater market power. This is conjectured to be the public sector equivalent of taking market power profits. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大型钢铁企业组织结构的规模效率分析

首先,分析了我国钢铁行业发展的特点,认为产品结构不够完善、行业集中度较低以及企业规模偏小是我国钢铁企业面临的主要问题,而规模是造成上述现状的根本原因;国际钢铁业已进入由大企业集团主宰的国际市场化阶段,我国钢铁企业需要扩大规模,增加在国际竞争中的话语权。其次。围绕企业的规模运作,运用经济学模型对产业链的大规模企业生产模式进行了分析,从理论视角论证了企业扩大规模的动机以及规模优势产生的机制和所需条件。大型组织结构优势产生的机制在于,通过生产及运营要素的优化整合实现合理分工协作,从而降低运营成本,提高企业的竞争力。此外,对钢铁企业采用的组织结构特点和运营模式进行了探讨,一元式的组织结构能够发挥职能分工所带来的效率,然而高度的集权特征不适用于超大规模企业的管理决策。控股公司和事业部结构体现了规模化后组织结构由集权向分权转化的趋势,但在运行中面临的效率障碍在于无法消除部门机会主义．分权后权威统筹机构的缺位以及传统的规模企业应当分权的逻辑需要企业重新思考。在上述分析基础上提出．钢铁企业在实现形式上的规模化后,需要考虑技术任务特征、信息处理以及权力的分化整合之间的平衡,构造合理的控制机制以保证规模优势的实现。     

Analysis of Hospital Production: An Output Index Approach

In this study, we develop and implement an output index approach to the estimation of hospital cost functions that reflects the differentiated nature of hospital care. The approach combines the estimation of an output index within a flexible functional form. We find, in an application to California hospitals, evidence of scope economies across specialties within primary care, and diseconomies of scope within secondary and tertiary care. Minimum efficient scale is reached at larger levels of output than would be estimated by conventional techniques. These results indicate the importance of accounting for firm output heterogeneity when estimating cost functions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高层管理团队（TMT）有效性的动态模型——人口特征研究与情景领导研究的结合

高层管理团队（Top management team．TMT）作为团队的一种特殊形式，因为其有效性对企业的生存发展起到至关重要的作用．所以近年来受到国内外学者的广泛关注。但是。在过去的文献研究中，我们不难发现，学者较多研究的是TMT在人口特征（年龄，教育背景等）的异质性同不同企业绩效指标之间的关系。但是不同学者的研究结果却往往相互矛盾。为了解释不同研究结果的差异，我们结合权变理论，提出了一个动态模型，来更好地分析TMT的有效性。     

Cost efficiency of Slovenian water distribution utilities: an application of stochastic frontier methods

This study estimates cost inefficiency and economies of scale of Slovenian water distribution utilities over the 1997–2003 period by employing several different stochastic frontier methods. The results indicate that significant cost inefficiencies are present in the utilities. An introduction of incentive-based price regulation scheme might help resolve this problem. However, the inefficiency scores obtained from different cost frontier models are not found to be robust. The levels of inefficiency estimates as well as the rankings depend on the econometric specification of the model. The established lack of robustness can be at least partly explained by different ability of the models to separate unobserved heterogeneity from inefficiency. Newly proposed true fixed effects model (Greene, J Econom 126:269–303, 2005; J Prod Anal 23(1):7–32, 2005) appears to perform better than the conventional panel data models with respect to distinguishing between unobserved heterogeneity and inefficiency. On the other hand, different models produce fairly robust results with respect to estimates of economies of output density, customer density and economies of scale. The optimal size of a company is found to closely corresponds to the sample median. Economies of scale are found in small-sized utilities, while large companies exhibit diseconomies of scale.

Efficient growth of an agglomerating regional economy

The focus of this study is on the efficient investment policy to be pursued by a regional or local economy, respectively. Localness will be expressed in terms of varying returns to scale which are due to economies and diseconomies of agglomeration. This particular setting of regional growth enters into a neoclassical calculus of variations model of intertemporal capital stock maximization. The general properties significant of efficient growth strategies relate to the turnpike discussion. A unique set of maximum balanced expansion paths will be proved to serve as the only guideline for efficient investment in the long run.     

Economies of scale and scope in water supply

This study examines the multiproduct nature of water supply relative to economies of scale and scope. The water utility is viewed as a multiproduct firm providing residential and non- residential services with spatial variation. There are no significant economies of scale in the utility's overall operation. The utility, however, enjoys considerable economies for non- residential water supply but suffers from diseconomies in residential supply. The economies of scale achieved in water treatment are mostly lost in the distribution of water. The utility on the whole experiences economies of scope associated with joint production of the two services. Furthermore, water utilities have no perceptible tendency to behave as a natural monopoly.     

论建立健全企业集团财务控制体系的途径

如何处理集团化财务管理中集权和分权的问题，最大限度地发挥集团企业的规模优势，是财务管理中的重要课题。文章从财务管理方面，就构建预算管理系统、重大决策控制系统、派驻财务总监系统、财务监督与检察系统等多方面进行了阐述与分析。     

Economies of scale in the Mexican automotive sector

Recent growth of the Mexican motor vehicle industry has sparked a great deal of controversy on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border regarding the potential effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement. One of the key factors affecting the future competitiveness of the Mexican motor vehicle industry relative to U.S. producers is whether the Mexican firms can exploit economies of scale as their output expands. This article investigates that possibility as well as the direct and cross-price elasticities of demand for the inputs by estimating translog cost functions for the Mexican motor vehicle and autoparts industries. The results are consistent with the hypotheses that substantial economies of scale remain to be exploited by the Mexican motor vehicle industry, but that the autoparts industry is operating with diseconomies of scale. However, the lack of investment in new technology and X-inefficiency on the part of the autoparts firms may have been partially responsible for the latter finding.     

What are the programs in planning, programming, budgeting?

As organizations of all kinds grow larger, more diverse and more decentralized, they come to share a common error … that of unrealistic, imbalanced long-range planning. The application of program budgeting and systems analysis to this problem can establish realistic goals and more balanced and nearly optimal programs.

In order to adapt the theories of planning-programming-budgeting systems to an educational organization, certain technical decisions must be made concerning program structure. For a multi-campus university such as the University of California, the question became one of projecting future resource and monetary requirements in such form that key policy decisions affecting resource requirements were readily apparent and that programmed requirements were translatable into budget categories. The base projections are the numbers of students by level and discipline. From these, resource and dollar requirements are assessed with regard to faculty, support (instructional equipment and supplies), capital outlay, plant maintenance and operation, and libraries. Those areas not based on student projections include organized research and public service. General administration projections are based on total expenditures. This breakdown provides a working structure from which to make finer allocations according to individual campus needs.

Another technical consideration is the determination of the degree of centralization of decision-making. Program budgeting makes possible a higher degree of centralization but is consistent with any degree which is appropriate in the circumstances. The objective at the University of California is the progressive decentralization to the individual campuses not only of operating authority, but also of much initiative in planning. There are constraints, such as a dollar ceiling related to a specific student enrollment, but these do not prevent experimentation and diversity. The university-wide program model can serve as a standard, with allowances for advantageous transfers of funds with full understanding of their future consequences and implications, thus maintaining both local initiative and the systems approach.     

SCALE ECONOMIES OF THE FRANCHISED BUSES AND FERRIES OF HONG KONG, 1948–1998

The privatization of state transport operators has been driven by empirical discoveries in transport economic research of the constant or even diseconomies of scale of these operators. With reference to public records and official statistics, this paper is an initial attempt to examine the scale economies of and output relationship between major bus and ferry operators in Hong Kong during the period 1948–1998. The two franchised bus and two franchised ferry companies each experienced unique scale effects during different periods and correlated with each other in terms of production. The paper will also discuss the possible reasons for this phenomenon and policy concerns related to this finding.     

Costs, Institutional Mobility Barriers, and Market Structure: Advertising Agencies as Multiproduct Firms

What accounts for the diversity and limited concentration that has long characterized the organization of the advertising agency industry? This question is addressed by treating an advertising agency as a multiproduct firm. The firm's product line or service mix is defined in terms of the set of different media categories where an agency places the advertising messages that it creates on behalf of its clients. Evidence is presented indicating that the structure of demand and costs in the advertising agency industry conforms to the conditions that MacDonald and Slivinski showed were required for an industry to sustain an equilibrium with diversified firms. Building on this framework, we formulate a set of three hypotheses relating to the realization of product-specific scale and scope economies. The first two hypotheses posit that given low fixed costs and minimal entry barriers, both media-specific scale and scope economies are available and can be exploited by relatively small-size agencies. The third hypothesis suggests that large agencies may experience diseconomies of scope as a consequence of excessive diversification induced by two pervasive industry institutional phenomena: (1) “bundling” of agency services to match client demand for a mix of media advertising, and (2) “conflict policy,” which prohibits an agency from serving competing accounts and operates as a mobility constraint. Utilizing a multiproduct cost function, we estimate media-specific scale and scope economies for a cross section of 401 U.S. agencies in 1987. The results obtained support the set of three hypotheses outlined above. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the restructuring currently underway in this industry.     

Efficiency in the provision of university teaching and research: An empirical analysis of UK universities

A flexible three-output, two-input cost function model is used to examine the cost efficiency of UK universities as producers of teaching and research ‘outputs’. Unlike previous studies, a comprehensive peer review of research quality is incorporated. Overall, product-specific and input-specific economies of scale, global and product-specific economies of scope, marginal costs and cost complementarities are estimated. Overall and product-specific scale results indicate considerable increasing returns, while the scope results generally suggest neither economies nor diseconomies. Sensitivity analysis is used to simulate the impact of current government policy, regarding the expansion of undergraduate teaching output, on these results.     

Agglomeration Economies as Manifested in Technical Efficiency at the Firm Level

This paper makes an attempt to assess the significance of agglomeration economies in the case of two Indian industries, electrical machinery and cotton and cotton textiles. Using firm level data, an efficiency index based on a statistical stochastic frontier model is generated to examine its relationship with external scale variable(s). A positive association between technical efficiency and city size is evident although after a certain threshold level city size works more as diseconomies than economies of scale. Undue emphasis on industrial dispersal may, therefore, lead to suboptimal utilisation of resources.     

产业集群的集聚机理分析

产业集群是当代区域发展的重要经济模式,其集聚效应带动了集群地区经济的发展。针对目前我国产业集群的现状,从产业集群集聚机理出发,通过探讨分析产业集群的规模经济性,规模不经济性以及产业集群外在的正负经济性对产业集群的集聚效应进行分析。     

Threshold effect of scale and skill in active mutual fund management

In this paper, we apply threshold estimation techniques to study the size-performance relationship in the US mutual fund industry. Existing studies have found diseconomies of scale, and we add our contribution to this by considering possible non-linear decreasing returns to scale caused by fund age and manager tenure. We find significant threshold effects of both fund age and manager tenure at approximately three to four years in the size-performance relationship. Compared with younger funds, older funds have more severe decreasing returns to scale as the industry size increases.     

Aspects of growth in a system of cities

This paper explores and develops the modeling of growth in a system of cities in two alternative settings. First, we examine a large growing economy with a fully developed system of cities with perfectly malleable private and public capital. Local scale economies in production and diseconomies in consumption in equilibrium offset each other at the margin so that from a national point of view we have a constant returns to scale economy. We show that at the steady state the number of cities grows exponentially at the rate of growth of the population. We then examine the impact of technological change, considering a case where public capital is not perfectly malleable. In the second setting, we consider the problem of growth for a small economy and discuss problems associated with the transition to the steady state. We modify the previous model to describe a system of cities that is just starting to develop. Investment in public infrastructure capital is subject to sharp indivisibilities and as a result new cities are built at discrete points in time.     

Scale and scope economies of Japanese private universities revisited with an input distance function approach

This paper examines the scale and scope economies of higher education institutions in Japan assuming the presence of productive inefficiency. The standard approach to testing the scope economies is to apply the cost function. However, the cost function approach often entails the difficulty of obtaining reliable data on input prices, especially the input prices of capital for higher education institutions. This paper proposes a duality approach based on the input distance function. The scope economies are tested under a necessary and sufficient condition by retrieving the costs of joint and separate production from the input distance function. We apply the testing procedure to data pertaining to 218 Japanese private universities in 1999 and 2004. The results indicate the scale economies and the scope diseconomies.     

A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONTEXT AND STRUCTURE OF A LARGE BRITISH FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

This study represents an analysis of the changes in the environment, context and structure of an organization, using the full Aston Interview Schedule.² The limitations of generalizing from a single case are acknowledged, but the longitudinal analysis provides support for the notion that organizations can and do develop self-evaluative capacities when threatened by external change. The results of the process of self-evaluation on the part of the organization are shown as changes in the organization's scores on the various scales of organizational context and structure developed by the Aston school, at two points in time. These changes provide support for a number of conjectures arising from previous analyses of the relationships among the structural dimensions of organizational form displayed by the Aston methodology; notably the relationship between size/standardization and centralization/standardization. The analysis also suggests that the centralization scale can be viewed as having two components – one related to policy decisions, the other to operational decisions.