A bootstrap analysis to investigate the economic efficiency of the logistics industry in Italy*

As argued by literature and consultancy reports, logistics enhances both productivity and competitiveness of several manufacturing supply chains. The analysis of the efficiency trends of logistics providers may shed light on some relevant aspects that can impact on the competitiveness of national industrial systems. Thus, the paper focuses on the Italian logistics supply, shedding lights on the distribution of the efficiency level within the logistics sector and its causes. The analysis is based on a two-stage methodology aimed at estimating the Italian logistics firms’ efficiency and defining some characteristics impacting the efficiency level. At first, we implement a Data Envelopment Analysis model based on balance sheet data, for the period 2006–2012, then an econometric regression is performed in order to identify the effects of main companies’ characteristics on firms’ efficiency. According to our results, size and geographical location are two of the most impacting variables explaining the efficiency score of the Italian logistics providers.     

Developing foreign bank efficiency models for DEA grounded in finance theory

We develop foreign bank technical, cost and profit efficiency models for particular application with data envelopment analysis (DEA). Key motivations for the paper are (a) the often-observed practice of choosing inputs and outputs where the selection process is poorly explained and linkages to theory are unclear, and (b) foreign bank productivity analysis, which has been neglected in DEA banking literature. The main aim is to demonstrate a process grounded in finance and banking theories for developing bank efficiency models, which can bring comparability and direction to empirical productivity studies. We expect this paper to foster empirical bank productivity studies.     

Evaluation of ecological systems and the recycling of undesirable outputs: An efficiency study of regions in China

A balance between environmental regulation and economic prosperity has become a major issue of concern to attain a sustainable society in China. This study proposes the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for measuring the efficiencies of the ecological systems in various regions of that country. The proposed approach differs from most of the previous ecological systems models in that we view it in a two stage setting; the first stage models the ecological system itself, and from an economic perspective, while the second stage (decontamination system) models water recycling as a feedback process, and the treatment of other undesirable outputs coming from the first stage. There, we separate polluting gases and water into two parts; one part is treated, while the other is discharged. The model considers two major desirable outputs from the first stage, namely Population and Gross Region Product by expenditure (GRP), as well as undesirable variables in the form of consumed water, and certain pollutants, namely nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and soot. At the same time, these undesirable outputs from the first stage are inputs to the second decontamination stage. As well, recycled water is fed back into stage 1. Thus, intermediate variables such as consumed water and waste gas emission simultaneously play dual roles of both outputs and inputs in the ecological system.     

An economic analysis of Japanese distribution systems

We investigate Japanese distribution systems by using a successive monopoly model in which the dealer can increase demand for the commodity. We compare the Tatene system (TS) with the open price system (OPS), and show that in cases where the dealer's power of sales promotion is small (large), the total profits obtained through TS become larger (smaller) than those of the OPS. This result justifies the actual change from TS to OPS from an economic point of view. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using data envelopment analysis to measure the efficiency of non-profit organizations: A critical evaluation

This study examines the potential effects of variable set expansion and data variations upon the efficiency scores generated using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. It was found that variable set expansion (either through disaggregation of existing variables or addition of new factors) should produce an upward trend in efficiency scores. In addition, ample opportunity exists for ‘decision-making units’ to increase their efficiency scores through manipulation of reported data. In real-world applications of DEA, these problems must be resolved as much as possible (e.g. increased audit of data) in order to improve DEA's practical usefulness and reliability.     

Aspects of statistical analysis in DEA-type frontier models

In Grosskopf (1995) and Banker (1995) different approaches and problems of statistical inference in DEA frontier models are presented. This paper focuses on the basic characteristics of DEA models from a statistical point of view. It arose from comments and discussions on both papers above. The framework of DEA models is deterministic (all the observed points lie on the same side of the frontier), nevertheless a stochastic model can be constructed once a data generating process is defined. So statistical analysis may be performed and sampling properties of DEA estimators can be established. However, practical statistical inference (such as test of hypothesis, confidence intervals) still needs artifacts like the bootstrap to be performed. A consistent bootstrap relies also on a clear definition of the data generating proces and on a consistent estimator of it: The approach of Simar and Wilson (1995) is described. Finally, some trails are proposed for introducing stochastic noise in DEA models, in the spirit of the Kneip-Simar (1995) approach.     

Implications of variant efficiency measures for policy evaluations in UK higher education

Policy goals in UK higher education encourage the publicly funded universities to become more-specialised and larger in size without compromising output quality. Efficiency gains are expected to flow from this increased specialisation in accordance with universities’ comparative research and teaching strengths. Mergers to reap further gains from economies of scale are also being actively encouraged. Given this scenario, the paper investigates whether best-practice efficiency measurement based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) provides empirical support for the current policy goals. It also assesses whether such support is dependent on the specific type of efficiency measure used in the DEA modelling. This assessment finds that a selection of (nine) commonly used, variant efficiency measures generally support the current policy goals. The paper also uses the principal-agent framework to explore the issues involved in using computed DEA-based efficiency scores for policy evaluations and possible funding guidance in UK higher education. This highlights empirically how policy-makers and universities can have very different preferences about which efficiency measure is to be used for policy evaluations and possible funding guidance.     

基于DEA的我国物流企业绩效评价

以2009年沪深两市24家物流上市公司为研究对象,运用数据包络分析(DEA)方法,对其经营绩效进行了评价。研究发现,我国物流上市公司总体绩效并不理想,平均绩效值只有0.819;造成绩效不高的原因主要是规模无效率。同时结合分析结果,提出了提高企业经营效率的对策。     

Operating efficiency in Chinese universities: An extended two-stage network DEA approach

The result shows that it accepts the null hypothesis. Namely, there is no significant difference in the operating efficiency of universities in different regions. That is to say, although the efficiency of the central and western universities is slightly better than that of the eastern universities in terms of the average efficiency, there is no significant efficiency difference among the eastern, central, and western regions statistically. Therefore, it shows a balanced development trend for the efficiency of universities in different regions.     

Designing vendor evaluation systems: An empirical analysis

Companies today are increasing efforts to develop their vendor evaluation system (VES) to qualify and select the best suppliers, monitor their performance and foster continuous improvement. VES lies at the intersection of three disciplines: purchasing management, supply chain management, and performance management. The extant literature especially focuses on vendor rating tools from a mathematical modeling standpoint, whereas firms are mostly concerned with guidelines necessary to design and implement an effective VES. The present study develops an encompassing research framework to investigate VES by means of thirteen case studies. In particular, the paper investigates VES design in terms of strategic alignment, process configuration and execution, as well as corresponding benefits and costs, exploring how the combination of the previous elements determines company satisfaction. Three groups of VESs are identified, leading to different levels of satisfaction.     

Disentangling the efficiency drivers in country-level global health programs: An empirical study

Motivated by the cost reductions and outcome improvements generated by benchmarking in many industries, we focus on in-country global health programs to identify and quantify opportunities for process improvement. We empirically study the major efficiency drivers of reproductive health (RH) country programs in Sub-Saharan Africa sponsored by international funding organizations. To ensure a level playing field for comparison across countries, we quantify the impact of cross-country heterogeneity and random shocks on the efficiency of RH programs. To analyze these relationships and isolate the effects attributable to managerial inefficiency, we use a three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)/Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) model. We show the impact of environmental factors on program efficiency, linking policy making decisions with operational and health outcome performance. We also show that donor fragmentation negatively impacts managerial efficiency, and we suggest actions to mitigate this effect. We then provide a way to improve performance through benchmarking efforts within groups of countries and present an initial prototype of such efforts.     

AHP/DEA模型在供应链绩效评价中的应用

在传统DEA模型的基础上,结合AHP法构建了一个AHP/DEA的供应链绩效评价模型,选取了六条供应链进行了实证分析,并和采用传统DEA模型计算的结果进行了比较。结果显示,采用该方法可以对各条供应链间的差异进行有效分析,得出各供应链绩效的排名。     

The role of quality in e-procurement performance: An empirical analysis

While the adoption and use of e-procurement has been prevalent in supply chain management, there is very little research examining the critical role of quality in this context. e-Procurement promises to cut operational costs all across the supply chain, but it also raises the expectations of buyers posing a challenge for buyer satisfaction and supply chain performance. Using the theoretical lens of Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Resource-Based View, we postulate that online information and process act as resources that result in logistics fulfillment capabilities. These capabilities in turn lead to satisfaction with e-procurement. We estimate our research model using structural equation modeling with survey data collected from 131 purchasing and procurement managers. We empirically examine these linkages by analyzing data collected from procurement managers. Our results indicate strong support for the relationships between information flow process quality, logistics fulfillment quality processes, and e-procurement satisfaction performance. One of the surprising findings of our study is that fulfilled order timeliness has a significantly greater impact on satisfaction than fulfilled order accuracy. This finding points to the increasingly important role that the dimension of time plays in today's competitive environment.     

Electronic medical record use and efficiency: A DEA and windows analysis of hospitals

We use data envelopment analysis (DEA) to examine the relationship between hospital electronic medical record (EMR) use and efficiency in a national sample of acute care hospitals. Data sources include the American Hospital Association (AHA), Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and Case Mix Index. Using two research approaches including a retrospective, cross-sectional design and a first differencing repeated measures design, we find limited evidence that EMRs can improve hospital efficiency. Small hospitals may benefit in the area of efficiency through EMR use, but medium and large hospitals generally do not demonstrate such a difference. Likewise, there does not appear to be a significant increase in efficiency over time associated with EMRs when compared to the efficiency of hospitals without such documentation.     

Public-private partnerships and scale efficiency in Brazilian ports: Evidence from two-stage DEA analysis

This paper assesses the impacts of public-private partnerships on major Brazilian public ports. It is proposed that these kinds of arrangements with private terminal operators could help achieving higher levels of scale efficiency by enhancing coordination processes, providing more adequate information technologies, and higher connectivity with other transportation modes. Methodology relies on factor extraction of inputs/outputs as a first step to compute DEA efficiency estimates, followed by truncated bootstrapped regression analysis to test different contextual variables. Results indicate a strong positive impact of public-private partnerships on port scale efficiency, corroborating their impacts in relation to the most productive scale size.     

Physical distribution service quality in Internet retailing: service pricing, transaction attributes, and firm attributes

This paper develops a theoretical framework and empirically investigates physical distribution service (PDS) quality by Internet retailers in their transactions with consumers. An analysis of data that measure hundreds of electronic commerce transactions along with data at the firm level shows that higher shipping and handling charges are good indicators of better PDS quality. Other transaction-level conditions and firm-level attributes also affect PDS quality, as measured by availability, timeliness, and reliability. Most notably, when the net price of products transacted increases, PDS reliability and availability decline. Furthermore, Internet-retailer size is found to favor PDS availability whereas, surprisingly, newer Internet retailers exhibit a higher level of PDS availability than many of their incumbent competitors.     

New evidence on the efficiency of Italian airports: A bootstrapped DEA analysis

A bootstrapped DEA procedure is used to estimate technical efficiency of 18 Italian airports during the period 2000-2004. Departing from previous studies, we separate the efficiency related to ability to manage airside activities (operational) from that related to the management of all business activities (financial). In general, Italian airports operate at poor levels of efficiency, with slightly better performance in terms of their financial activities. In the current study, selected intrinsic and environmental characteristics are considered as possible drivers of Italian airport performance. In particular, we found that: (i) the airport dimension does not allows for operational efficiency advantages, (ii) on the other hand, the airport dimension allows for financial efficiency advantages for the case of hubs and disadvantages for the case of the smallest airports (iii) the type(s) of concession agreement(s) might be considered as important source of technical efficiency differentials for those airports running marginal commercial activities; (iv) the introduction of a dual-till price cap regulation might create incentives which lead to the increase of financial efficiency at the detriment of the operational performance. Lastly, the development of a second hub (Milano Malpensa), has negatively affected the performance of the country’s national hub (Roma Fiumicino).     

Regional technical efficiency of Chinese Iron and steel industry based on bootstrap network data envelopment analysis

This paper analyses the regional technical efficiency of Chinese iron and steel industry from 1996 to 2010 by a network DEA procedure, and provides the smoothed bootstrap network DEA strategy for the sensitivity analysis of the efficiency measure to sampling variation of the estimated frontier. Furthermore, the evolution and convergence characteristics of regional technical efficiency are examined by a dynamic regression model based on different regional divisions of China. The empirical results show that there exist significant geographical differences in the technical efficiency of Chinese iron and steel industry. On the one hand, the technical efficiency of the eastern area, the central area and the western area is unbalanced, with a lower efficiency in the west and a higher one in the east. On the other hand, technical efficiency of Central Bohai, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta economic zones is higher than that of the other economic zones. In addition, the technical efficiency has a significant improvement during the period of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. Following the convergence notation in economic growth theory, this paper also gives some convergence evidence of the technical efficiency towards the efficient frontier due to the catching-up effect. Finally, this paper explores the determinants of the technical efficiency, and discusses policy implications for Chinese iron and steel industry.     

Innovation efficiency of semiconductor industry in China: A new framework based on generalized three-stage DEA analysis

Considering the interrelationships between periods and the influences of non-operational factors, a new framework based generalized three-stage DEA model, grey relational analysis theory and disparity disassembly model is proposed in this paper. Then, we measure the technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and pure technical efficiency of innovation in China's semiconductor industry between 2009 and 2014. In addition, we conducted projection analysis of the inputs to innovation and the disparities analysis in innovation efficiency across the industrial chain and within each segment. The results of our analyses reveal four key findings. The overall innovation efficiency of China's semiconductor industry is increasing; however, each segment of the industrial chain had different trends and different levels of innovation efficiency. All segments show a consistently upward trend except for package testing, which dipped in 2012 due to the time lag between the inputs and outputs associated with major technological advancements. The most efficient innovation is occurring in design and package testing, followed by manufacturing, materials, and equipment, in that order. Low levels of innovation efficiency were found to be the most significant factor restricting further improvement in the design, manufacturing, and equipment segments of the industrial chain. But the opposite is true for the package testing segment, where pure technical efficiency is the main factor. A range of redundancies in input were found across the industrial chain, mostly in manufacturing and equipment. These two segments are capital-intensive and characterized by a high level of technical complexity coupled with a long research cycle. The disparities in innovation efficiency in and between the segments decreased over the period. However, interestingly, the main disparities were found among the enterprises within each segment, which we attribute to the Chinese government's concerted efforts to support particular companies. Package testing and manufacturing had the highest levels of disparity due to relatively high agglomeration of these two segments. The materials segment had the lowest disparity, with equipment and design falling somewhere in-between.     

A cautionary note on methods of comparing programmatic efficiency between two or more groups of DMUs in data envelopment analysis

In some applications of data envelopment analysis (DEA) there may be doubt as to whether all the DMUs form a single group with a common efficiency distribution. The Mann–Whitney rank statistic has been used to evaluate if two groups of DMUs come from a common efficiency distribution under the assumption of them sharing a common frontier and to test if the two groups have a common frontier. These procedures have subsequently been extended using the Kruskal–Wallis rank statistic to consider more than two groups. This technical note identifies problems with the second of these applications of both the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis rank statistics. It also considers possible alternative methods of testing if groups have a common frontier, and the difficulties of disaggregating managerial and programmatic efficiency within a non-parametric framework.