Environmental efficiency analysis of listed cement enterprises in China

© 2016 by the authors.China's cement production has been the highest worldwide for decades and contributes significant environmental pollution. Using a non-radical DEA model with slacks-based measure (SBM), this paper analyzes the environmental efficiency of China's listed cement companies. The results suggest that the average mean of the environmental efficiency for the listed cement enterprises shows a decreasing trend in 2012 and 2013. There is a significant imbalance in environmental efficiency in these firms ranging from very low to very high. Further investigation finds that enterprise size and property structure are key factors. Increasing production concentration and decreasing the share of government investment could improve the environmental efficiency. The findings also suggest that effectively monitoring pollution products can improve environmental efficiency quickly, whereas pursuit for excessive profitability without keeping the same pace in energy saving would cause a sharp drop in environmental efficiency. Based on these findings, we proposed that companies in the Chinese cement sector might consider restructuring to improve environmental efficiency. They also need to make a trade-off between profitability and environmental protection. Finally, the Chinese government should reduce ownership control and management interventions in cement companies

Separation of uncontrollable factors and time shift effects from DEA scores

総合政策 / Multi Disciplinary policy studiesIt has been pointed out that DEA scores may be influenced by several external environmental factors, which are uncontrollable for DMUs. It implies that the DEA efficiency score without data adjustment might be biased and impractical for measuring genuine management efficiency. Therefore it is essential to eliminate uncontrollable effects from DEA scores and evaluate “pure” managerial efficiency for DMUs. In an effort to solve this problem, we employ a multi-stage data adjustment procedure using DEA and regression models, which is originally proposed by Fried et al. [1999] consisting of four stages. In this study, we further modify this procedure by introducing newly developed devices in each stage; Connected Slacks-Based Measure (CSBM) model at the first and fourth stages, the Tobit model with DMU dummies at the second stage, and a data tuning procedure at the third stage. Then we decompose the technical inefficiency into three factors, i.e. environmental effects, time shift effects and pure technical inefficiency. Lastly, we apply this procedure to the electric power utilities in Japan and the US and compare their pure technical efficiency and causes of inefficiency.http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/facultyinfo/tone_kaoru

Do feed-in tariffs promote environmental efficiency among wind farms?

It is generally known that wind power has an offsetting effect on emissions by crowding out fossil dependent energy sources. What has not been studied to any further extent is the variability in environmental impacts caused by wind turbine erection and manufacturing. Also, it is not known how economic incentives could affect these impacts. The argument made in this thesis was that the Danish price-premium feed-in tariff system provides incentives for WF operators to upscale, as this maximizes profit. Upscaling in turn is hypothesized to reduce the environmental impacts of the Danish wind farm (WF) fleet. The aim was to investigate whether the Danish wind subsidization policies indirectly have a positive effect on environmental efficiency for WFs, and if so, what factors mediate this effect. An environmental and operational two-stage LCA + DEA (SBM-I) efficiency analysis on a sample of 75 onshore and offshore Danish WFs was performed. The second stage analysis showed a strong association between environmental efficiency and feed-in tariffs per MW. There is suggestive evidence that the main driving factors behind this association are upscaling related variables, as well as production type. Such that Danish policy makers explicitly want to target environmental impact reductions of the WF fleet, it is recommended to promote large-scale operations, and preferably offshore.Det är allmänt känt att vindkraft har en utsläppsminskande effekt när denna energikälla ersätter fossila energikällor. Något som är mindre beforskat är variabiliteten i miljöpåverkan inom vindkraften – en variabilitet vars ursprung främst kan härledas till vindkraftverkets tillverknings- och installationsfas samt lokala förhållanden. Det är inte heller känt i vilken utsträckning – eller om – subsidier har någon effekt på vindkraftsbetingade miljöpåverkan. I denna uppsats argumenteras att det danska s.k. relativprisbaserade feed-in-tariffsystemet (sv. inmatningstariff) har en positiv inverkan på den miljömässiga effektiviteten. Vidare medlas denna effekt genom de storskalighetsincitament som denna subventionstyp skapar. Syftet bakom uppsatsen var att undersöka de hypotiserade positiva miljömässiga externa effekter som orsakas av detta subventionssystem – och om evidens för denna effekt finns, undersöka vilka exogena faktorer som påverkar den miljömässiga effektiviteten för vindkraftsparker. En miljöinriktad och en verksamhetsinriktad effektivitetsberäkning, kallad two-stage LCA + DEA, genomfördes på sjuttiofem land- och havsbaserade danska vindkraftsparker. Den statistiska analysen gav indicier för en stark association mellan feed-in-tariffer per MW och miljömässig effektivitet. Ytterligare fanns indikativ för att den medlande effekten är graden av storskalighet, liksom produktionstyp (havsbaserad vindkraft är mer miljömässigt effektiv). Om danska beslutsfattare önskar att specifikt inrikta sig mot att minska vindkraftsflottans miljöpåverkan rekommenderas att premiera havsbaserad vindkraft och storskalighet i både turbin- och parkstorlek

How to better identify the true managerial performance: State of the art using DEA

Our motivation is to detail a potential improvement on the three-stage analysis published by Fried et al. [Accounting for environmental effects and statistical noise in data envelopment analysis. Journal of Productivity Analysis 2002;17:157–74] that can distinguish true performers from those that may be advantaged by favourable environments or measurement errors. The method starts with data envelopment analysis (DEA), and continues with stochastic frontier analysis to explain the variation in organisational performance in terms of the operating environment, statistical noise and managerial efficiency. It concludes with DEA again using adjusted data to reveal a measure of performance based on management efficiency only. Our proposed contributions include (i) a comprehensive approach where total input and output slacks are identified simultaneously for non-radial inefficiencies before levelling the playing field, (ii) identifying percent adjustments attributable to the environment and statistical noise, and (iii) using a fully units-invariant DEA model

Two-stage DEA method in identifying the exogenous factors of insurers’ risk and investment management efficiency

The objective of this study was to identify the exogenous variables of risk and investment management efficiency by using a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. The first stage involves obtaining the efficiency scores of risk and investment management via DEA that requires only the traditional inputs and outputs. In the second stage, the Tobit regression analysis is conducted in which the efficiency score obtained from the first stage is treated as a dependent variable, while the exogenous factors are considered to be independent variables. The exogenous factors consist of operating systems, organizational form, consumer preference and size. The results showed that the mutual company as well as the takaful system demonstrate better risk management performance than their stock and conventional system counterparts. In addition, size is also a significant indicator for risk management efficiency in which the larger insurer/takaful operator exhibits better risk management performance than the smaller one. However, consumer preference is found to be insignificantly correlated with the efficiency of risk management. In contrast, with risk management, organizational form, operating system and size are not indicators of the investment management efficiency, but consumer preference is significantly and positively associated with investment management efficiency

Resource abundance, industrial structure, and regional carbon emissions efficiency in China

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd With increasing concerns over climate change and the global consensus regarding low carbon growth, the transition of resource-based regions has become urgent and challenging. We employ a Slacks-Based Measure with windows analysis approach to estimate the carbon emissions efficiency and abatement potential of China's provinces over the period of 2003–2016. A panel Tobit model is further employed to analyze the direct and indirect effects of natural resource abundance on emissions efficiency. We find that: (1) There exists a negative correlation between resource abundance and carbon emissions efficiency. The more abundant the resources, the lower the emissions efficiency. (2) Although emissions efficiency and abatement potential are generally negatively correlated, abatement potential also depends on the scale of the economy. (3) Resource dependence is unfavourable for the rationalization and advancement of the industrial structure, which indirectly affects the carbon emissions efficiency. These findings imply that resource-based regions should make the improvement of emissions efficiency and the exploration of abatement potential as their top priority of actions for a low-carbon transition, and promote the transformation of industrial structure in order to obtain a double dividend in sustainable development and carbon emissions efficiency

The comprehensive environmental efficiency of socioeconomic sectors in China: An analysis based on a non-separable bad output SBM

The increasingly high frequency of heavy air pollution in most regions of China signals the urgent need for the transition to an environmentally friendly production performance by socioeconomic sectors for the sake of people's health and sustainable development. Focusing on CO2 and major air pollutants, this paper presents a comprehensive environmental efficiency index based on evaluating the environmental efficiency of major socioeconomic sectors, including agriculture, power, industry, residential and transportation, at the province level in China in 2010 based on a slack-based measure DEA model with non-separable bad output and weights determined by the coefficient of variation method. In terms of the environment, 5, 16, 6, 7 and 4 provinces operated along the production frontier for the agricultural, power, industrial, residential and transportation sectors, respectively, in China in 2010, whereas Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Ningxia, Hubei and Yunnan showed lowest efficiency correspondingly. The comprehensive environmental efficiency index varied from 0.3863 to 0.9261 for 30 provinces in China, with a nationwide average of 0.6383 in 2010; Shanghai ranked at the top, and Shanxi was last. Regional disparities in environmental efficiency were identified. A more detailed inefficiency decomposition and benchmarking analysis provided insight for understanding the source of comprehensive environmental inefficiency and, more specifically, the reduction potential for CO2 and air pollutants. Some specific research and policy implications were uncovered from this work

Performance of cultural heritage institutions: A regional perspective

Producción CientíficaMost studies on performance evaluation in the cultural sector are based on the efficiency assessment of a network of institutions. Nevertheless, very few works take territorial divisions as the case study. Under this approach, we design a spatial production function which merges several cultural resources in order to optimize the impact of a regional system of cultural institutions in terms of cultural production and use of services provided. The aim of this paper is therefore to evaluate the efficiency of cultural heritage institutions in Spain from a regional perspective. We take regional networks of museums and libraries as emblematic case studies over a long period, from 2002 to 2020. We first apply a dynamic-network DEA model to measure efficiency, which allows the production function to be divided into stages and time intervals, considering inter-reliant inputs between production phases and time lapses. We also apply truncated regression models to study the effect of external variables on regional cultural efficiency, especially those related to socioeconomic conditions in regions, the scope of the cultural and tourist sector, and institutional indicators. Results show that regional cultural efficiency depends on the level of training and on the demographic structure rather than on economic wealth. Differences are also found between the goals of cultural production and cultural consumption (visitor impact). These findings might prove useful for policy implications regarding resource allocation vis-à-vis defining and accomplishing cultural purposes at a regional scale, and also for revealing causes of inefficiency with a view to improving quality in institutions –which ultimately drives economic development

The global airline industry: an assessment of the impact of low-cost carriers on the technical efficiency of full-service airlines

Since the emergence of the first low-fare airline, Southwest Airlines, we have witnessed the spread of the low-cost phenomenon in different regions of the world. The simplicity, the low fares and the focus on core business (flying) have been the critical basis for their success, and the concern of traditional operators who see their market positioning threatened. To remain competitive, full-service operators have been forced to redefine their business model. With great interest in the innovative nature of low-cost carriers, literature has covered inter-business model comparisons of efficiency, as well as on the analysis of the strategies carried out by full-service to adapting to the increased competition. However, there seems to be no study on the impact of low-cost operators on the technical efficiency of full-service airlines. Thus, this thesis aims to analyse the impact of the low-cost regional market share on the technical efficiency of full-service airlines domiciled in the same region. In order to pursue this analysis, a two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis was implemented. Initially, bootstrapped efficiency scores were estimated for a set of 137 passenger airlines. Subsequently, the estimated efficiency measures were used as a dependent variable in a truncated bootstrap regression to identify the determinants of the technical efficiency. Results suggest that larger low-cost market shares are associated with lower input uses for the same full-service carriers’ output levels based on that region. This relationship might be explained by the adoption of better management practices that approach the full-service model to the low-cost model.A criação da primeira companhia aérea de baixo-custo, a "Southwest Airlines", impulsionou o desenvolvimento mundial de tantas outras no sector da aviação. A simplicidade, os preços baixos e o foco no principal objetivo da atividade (voar) têm sido a chave do seu sucesso e, simultaneamente, uma ameaça às companhias aéreas tradicionais. Inevitavelmente, os operadores de serviço-completo têm vindo a realizar mudanças no seu modelo de negócio para conseguirem manter-se competitivas. Recentemente, alguns estudos têm-se focado na comparação entre os dois modelos de negócio e na análise das estratégias das transportadoras tradicionais ao aumento concorrencial. No entanto, parece não existir qualquer investigação acerca do impacto dos operadores de baixo-custo na eficiência técnica dos tradicionais. Assim, este estudo foca-se na relação entre a quota de mercado regional das transportadoras de baixo-custo e a eficiência técnica das companhias aéreas tradicionais sediadas nessa região. Para prosseguir esta investigação, foi implementada uma Análise por Envoltória de Dados de duas etapas. Inicialmente, foram estimadas as pontuações de eficiência técnica com métodos de "bootstrap" para 137 transportadoras de passageiros e, posteriormente, as pontuações foram usadas como variável dependente numa regressão "bootstrapped" truncada para identificar as fontes de eficiência. Os resultados sugerem que uma maior concentração de operadores de baixo-custo numa dada região está associada a uma menor utilização de recursos, por parte dos operadores tradicionais dessa região, para o mesmo nível de produção. Esta relação poderá ser explicada por práticas de gestão mais adequadas que aproximam o modelo tradicional do modelo de baixo-custo

Energy and CO2 emissions performance in China's regional economies: Do market-oriented reforms matter?

【Abstract】This paper employs a newly developed non-radial directional distance function to evaluate China's regional energy and CO2 emission performance for the period 1997–2009. Moreover, we analyze the impact of China's market-oriented reform on China's regional energy and carbon efficiency. The main findings are as follows. First, most of China's regions did not perform efficiently in energy use and CO2 emissions. Provinces in the east area generally performed better than those in the central and west areas.By contrast, provinces in the west area generally evidenced the lowest efficiency. Second, Market-or-iented reforms, especially the promotion of factor market, were found to have positive effect on the efficiency of energy use and CO2 emissions. Third, the share of coal in the total energy consumption and the expansion of the industrial sector were found to be negatively correlated with China's regional energy and CO2 emissions performance. Based on the empirical findings, we provide policy suggestions for enhancing energy and carbon efficiency in China.This paper is supported by the Research Fund of Newhuadu Business School, Ministry of Education Foundation (Funding no.10JZD0018), Basic Research Universities Special Foundation (Funding no.2010221051), Ministry of Education Foundation (Funding no. 10JBG013) and National Social Science Foundation (Funding no.09&ZD050). Kerui Du thanks the financial support of Yinxing Economic Research Fund