Local municipality productive efficiency and its determinants in South Africa

This paper assesses the technical efficiency of 231 local municipalities in South Africa for 2007 and investigates the potential determinants of efficiency gaps using the non-parametric data envelopment analysis technique. Efficiency scores are explained in a second-stage regression model using a Tobit regression model. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt, using such a technique, to assess technical efficiency at the local government level in the African context. The results show that, on average, B1 and B3 municipalities could have theoretically achieved the same level of basic services with about 16% and 80% fewer resources respectively. Furthermore, fiscal autonomy and the number and skill levels of the top management of a municipality's administration were found to influence the productive efficiency of municipalities in South Africa. Perhaps most importantly, the results depict a bleak picture of the democratic behaviour at the local level in South Africa. It appears that higher income and highly educated households do not feel the incentive to be active participants in public decision-making processes. The paper findings raise concerns over the future of local municipalities in the country, especially about their capability to efficiently deliver expected outcomes on a sustainable basis.     

转型时期农户的经营投资行为-以长三角15村跟踪观察农户为例

本文利用1995—2004年长三角15村近千个农户家庭的跟踪调查数据,实证分析了样本农户的经营投资行为。研究发现,不论是对农业投资还是非农投资,投资机会的增加都会产生显著的影响;农户在经济上向城市工人的转型深化,使得农业投资和非农投资都显著减少,但特别的是,有地农户的农业投资没有降低;融资约束对农业投资的影响不大,但对非农投资构成了严重的阻碍;土地对于农业投资具有显著的正向影响;税费改革对两种投资的经济影响均不明显。     

Food scandals,media attention and habit persistence among desensitised meat consumers

Consumer reactions to food scandals and their resulting economic implication are well documented. However, studies have typically neglected the roles that consumption habits and media usage behaviours may play in explaining household’s response to food safety incidences. In this study we develop a model of heterogeneous media usage intensity, information impacts and decay over time to estimate household’s behavioural responses to the 2011 German Dioxin scandal. We are specifically interested in determining the degree of heterogeneity in household’s short-term adjustments demand patterns versus persisting long-term consumption habits of meat products (chicken and pork) directly affected by the incident. The empirical analysis employs detailed household-level retail scanner and media usage data collected by the GfK Consumer Scan panel for a total of 16,023 households over a period of 104 calendar weeks. Results of dynamic correlated random effect Tobit models indicate an important role of unobserved heterogeneity in explaining household responses during the food scandal. We find strong empirical evidence supporting our hypothesis that short-term marginal adjustments in demand and propensity to buy affected products triggered by the negative impact of household media exposure were over-compensated by habit persistence. The question of how consumption patterns evolve over time in the presence of food scandals is expected to be of interest for both policy makers and the food industry. The potential biases in the projection of economic impacts resulting from simplifying assumptions of household’s response patterns to a proliferating numbers of food safety incidences has implications for risk management and public policy.     

“一带一路”沿线省份工业环境效率评价及影响因素研究

基于包含非期望产出的SBM模型测度了“一带一路”沿线17个省市区2006-2015年的工业环境效率，通过Tobit模型对工业环境效率的影响因素进行了回归分析。研究结果表明：①“一带一路”倡议的实施提高了沿线省市区经济发展水平，区域平均工业环境效率也略有提升；②“21世纪海上丝绸之路”沿线省市区工业环境效率较高，而 “丝绸之路经济带”工业环境效率普遍偏低；③人均GDP、产业结构、人口密度对“一带一路”沿线省市区工业环境效率有显著正向促进作用，对外贸易水平和环境规制对工业环境效率有显著负向影响，而地区生产总值占比、贸易依存度的影响则不显著。因此，建议通过产业结构优化、能源利用效率提升、“海上丝绸之路”区域科技水平提升、“丝绸之路经济带”经济增长模式转变等措施实现“一带一路”区域经济和环境的协调发展。     

Estimation of willingness-to-pay for premium economy class by type of service

This study aims to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) to upgrade from economy to premium economy class by six types of services and to identify the socioeconomic and travel characteristics of international travelers affecting the WTP using the Tobit model assumed to be censored at zero. The results confirm that the travelers' WTP for the premium economy class in the long-haul travel is higher than those in the medium and the short-haul travels. However, the ratio of additional WTP to the economy class fare in the long-haul route is slightly lower than that in the medium-haul route. The results also present that international travelers have the highest WTP for increased seat width in the premium economy class service attribute, followed by increased seat pitch and upgraded in-flight meal service. Finally, the results indicate that the WTP to upgrade to premium economy class are proportional to the age or the income level of travelers. Furthermore, international travel frequency and the experience of premium economy class have a positive impact as well. This research can be a useful resource for analyzing international travelers’ WTP concerning the type of service and this information will be useful to policy makers in their efforts to determine their fare policies and the target audience for marketing premium economy class.     

International evidence on the impact of regulations and supervision on banks’ technical efficiency: an application of two-stage data envelopment analysis

This study uses a sample of 715 banks from 95 countries and two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) to provide international evidence on the impact of regulations and supervision approaches on banks’ efficiency. We first use DEA to estimate technical and scale efficiency. We then use Tobit regression to investigate the impact of several regulations related to capital adequacy, private monitoring, banks’ activities, deposit insurance schemes, disciplinary power of the authorities, and entry into banking on banks’ technical efficiency. We estimate several specifications while controlling for bank-specific attributes and country-level characteristics accounting for macroeconomic conditions, financial development, market structure, overall institutional development, and access to banking services. In several cases, the results provide evidence in favour of all three pillars of Basel II that promote the adoption of strict capital adequacy standards, the development of powerful supervisory agencies, and the creation of market disciplining mechanisms. However, only the latter one is significant in all of our specifications. While the remaining regulations do not appear to have a robust impact on efficiency, several other country-specific characteristics are significantly related to efficiency.

同业业务发展能提升中国商业银行的效率吗*

本文采用Tobit面板模型，选取了2005—2013年中国16家上市商业银行为样本，研究同业业务发展对银行效率的影响。笔者通过随机前沿法（SFA）估计出银行的成本效率和盈利效率。从全样本的回归结果来看，银行发展同业业务对成本效率和盈利效率都有提升，但在不同时期和对不同类型的银行，影响效果存在差异。2005—2009年，无论是同业资产或同业负债业务对银行成本效率、盈利效率的提升作用都有限。2010年之后，同业负债对银行效率的提高有显著正向作用。不同规模的银行同业业务发展对效率的影响也不同。大型银行在2009年前后同业业务的发展对效率提升起到了较大的贡献作用。中小型商业银行在2005—2009年，无论是同业资产或同业负债业务都对银行成本效率、盈利效率提升作用有限。而在2010年之后，同业负债业务显著提高了银行的效率。     

Effects of gender and length of land tenure on timber supply in Finland

This study investigated timber supply from Finnish non-industrial private forests (NIPF) using the consistent Tobit model and nationwide micropanel survey data on timber sales of 1299 forest owners during 2004–2008. The effects of forest owners’ gender and length of land tenure on timber supply were studied in particular. Women sold one cubic meter per hectare and per year (about 30%) less than men did. Female owners sold less frequently, but larger quantities at a time than did male owners. Short-tenure (<5 years) owners’ harvests were only affected by price, owner's age, income, timber stock and forest acreage. A group with relatively high harvest levels was young, low-income new forest owners.     

我国营业税征管效率测度分析

高效的税收征管是良好税制的重要方面,测度分析税收征管效率是税制优化设计的基础性工作。基于非参数和参数方法,对近年我国营业税征管效率进行测算,发现虽然不同方法测算结果不同,但其整体趋势是一致的,营业税平均征管效率呈逐步上升态势,且当前营业税征管效率整体仍较低,有很大的提升空间。进一步的实证分析表明,营业税占地税机关征税总收入比重的提高、税收分权度的提升、就业率的增长等有助于营业税征管效率的改善,转移支付比重的提高无益于营业税征管效率的改善,营业税征管存在"粘蝇纸"效应现象。     

Rise and fall of stars: Investigating the evolution of star status in professional team sports

This article describes an empirical study of the rise and fall of star athletes, using data from the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1987 to 2008. We measure star status by the number and share of all-star votes, and we apply both Tobit regression and hazard models to investigate the determining factors for star status. We find that the attainment of star status begins with the athlete's exceptional individual performance. We also find that having won a championship in the past can have a long-lasting effect on a player's popularity. The popularity of an athlete depends on his team in two ways: the attainment of star status is associated with strong team performance, and star teammates can reinforce each other's popularity. Interestingly, whereas stars can move from a losing team to a winning team to extend their star life, a team change can be very risky for new stars. Our results also suggest that teams with a large fan base, winning records, and star players should leverage these assets in attracting and retaining star players.