Finding Closest Targets in Non-Oriented DEA Models: The Case of Convex and Non-Convex Technologies

This paper draws attention for the fact that traditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models do not provide the closest possible targets (or peers) to inefficient units, and presents a procedure to obtain such targets.It focuses on non-oriented efficiency measures (which assume that production units are able to control, and thus change, inputs and outputs simultaneously) both measured in relation to a Free Disposal Hull (FDH) technology and in relation to a convex technology. The approaches developed for finding close targets are applied to a sample of Portuguese bank branches.     

论消费者权益案中的举证责任配置

与商品生产经营者相比，消费者在保护消费者权益过程中发生的经济关系中处于弱势地位，因而在侵权诉讼中配置举证责任时应向消费者倾斜，即消费者只需负责举证受损害的事实证据，其他举证责任则应由商品生产经营者负责。     

Malmquist Indexes Using a Geometric Distance Function (GDF). Application to a Sample of Portuguese Bank Branches

Traditional approaches to calculate total factor productivity (TFP) change through Malmquist indexes rely on distance functions. In this paper we show that the use of distance functions as a means to calculate TFP change may introduce some bias in the analysis, and therefore we propose a procedure that calculates TFP change through observed values only. Our total TFP change is then decomposed into efficiency change, technological change, and a residual effect. This decomposition makes use of a non-oriented measure in order to avoid problems associated with the traditional use of radial oriented measures, especially when variable returns to scale technologies are to be compared. The proposed approach is applied in this paper to a sample of Portuguese bank branches.     

Sustainable use of renewable resources: an identity approach

Despite the achievements obtained by environmental economics over recent decades, it shares the same failings as economic theory in general. In this sense, regarding preferences, very little attention has been paid to three elements; the long-term change in social preferences, the incorporation of non-economic factors in the structure of preferences, and the need to consider some kind of heterogeneity in social preferences. In this paper we deal with these three issues by developing a new framework which encloses non-economic factors as one of the driving forces to explain consumer behavior and which allows us to endogeneize preference and consider heterogeneity. After setting up our approach, we pose the question as to how far such a framework modifies the levels of use and consumption of a renewable resource. Our findings have enabled us to draw interesting conclusions regarding environmental policies in place since the 1970s.