Technical Efficiency of Nigerian Insurance Companies

This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of Nigerian insurance companies, from 2001 to 2005, combining operational and financial variables. The paper also analyses the situations of these companies in relation to the frontier of best practices. In addition, it tests for the roles played by dimension, bank network and market share in the efficiency of the Nigerian insurance companies. The implications of this research for managerial purposes are then drawn.Nigerian insurance companies; Data Envelopment Analysis; Efficiency.

Productivity Drivers in Japanese Seaports

This paper analyses efficiency drivers of a representative sample of Japanese seaports by means of the two-stage procedure proposed by Simar and Wilson (2007). In the first stage, the technical efficiency of seaports is estimated using several models of data envelopment analysis (DEA) that might be employed in order to establish which of them are most efficient. In the second stage, the Simar and Wilson (2007) procedure is used to bootstrap the DEA scores with a truncated bootstrapped regression to identify efficiency drivers. The policy implications of our findings are considered.Seaports; Japan; Data Envelopment Analysis; Truncated Bootstrapped Regression.

COOPER-framework: A Unified Standard Process for Non-parametric Projects

Practitioners assess performance of entities in increasingly large and complicated datasets. If non-parametric models, such as Data Envelopment Analysis, were ever considered as simple push-button technologies, this is impossible when many variables are available or when data have to be compiled from several sources. This paper introduces by the ‘COOPER-framework’ a comprehensive model for carrying out non-parametric projects. The framework consists of six interrelated phases: Concepts and objectives, On structuring data, Operational models, Performance comparison model, Evaluation, and Result and deployment. Each of the phases describes some necessary steps a researcher should examine for a well defined and repeatable analysis. The COOPER-framework provides for the novice analyst guidance, structure and advice for a sound non-parametric analysis. The more experienced analyst benefits from a check list such that important issues are not forgotten. In addition, by the use of a standardized framework non-parametric assessments will be more reliable, more repeatable, more manageable, faster and less costly.DEA, non-parametric efficiency, unified standard process, COOPER-framework.

Robust data envelopment analysis via ellipsoidal uncertainty sets with application to the Italian banking industry

AbstractThis paper extends the conventional DEA models to a robust DEA (RDEA) framework by proposing new models for evaluating the efficiency of a set of homogeneous decision-making units (DMUs) under ellipsoidal uncertainty sets. Four main contributions are made: (1) we propose new RDEA models based on two uncertainty sets: an ellipsoidal set that models unbounded and correlated uncertainties and an interval-based ellipsoidal uncertainty set that models bounded and correlated uncertainties, and study the relationship between the RDEA models of these two sets, (2) we provide a robust classification scheme where DMUs can be classified into fully robust efficient, partially robust efficient and robust inefficient, (3) the proposed models are extended to the additive DEA model and its efficacy is analyzed with two imprecise additive DEA models in the literature, and finally, (4) we apply the proposed models to study the performance of banks in the Italian banking industry. We show that few banks which were resilient in their performance can be robustly classified as partially efficient or fully efficient in an uncertain environment

Using Data Envelopment Analysis to Evaluate Environmentally Conscious Tourism Management

This paper discusses a methodology to assess the performances of tourism management of local governments when economic and environmental aspects are considered as equally relevant. In particular, the focus is on the comparison and efficiency assessment of Italian municipalities located on the costal areas. In order to assess the efficiency status of the considered management units, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a methodology for evaluating the relative efficiency of decision making units, is applied. The efficiency index measure used in DEA analysis accounts for both environmental and economic features correlated to the tourism industry. Further, potential managerial improvements for those areas resulting far from the efficiency frontier can be investigated.Data envelopment analysis, Sustainable tourism

Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Transit System Efficiency and Incentive-based Subsidy Allocation

Over the past several decades, contending with traffic congestion and air pollution has emerged as one of the imperative issues across the world. Development of a transit-oriented urban transport system has been realized by an increasing number of countries and administrations as one of the most effective strategies for mitigating congestion and pollution problems. Despite the rapid development of public transportation system, doubts regarding the efficiency of the system and financing sustainability have arisen. Significant amount of public resources have been invested into public transport; however complaints about low service quality and unreliable transit system performance have increasingly arisen from all walks of life. Evaluating transit operational efficiency from various levels and designing incentive-based mechanisms to allocate limited subsidies/resources have become one of the most imperative challenges faced by responsible authorities to sustain the public transport system development and improve its performance and levels of service. After a comprehensive review of existing literature, this dissertation aims to develop a multi-dimensional framework composed of a series of robust multi-criteria evaluation models to assess the operational and financial performance of transit systems at various levels of application (i.e. region/city level, operator level, and route level). It further contributes to bridging the gap between transit efficiency evaluation and the subsequent subsidy allocation by developing a set of incentive-based resource allocation models taking various levels of operational and financial efficiencies into consideration. Case studies using real-world transit data will be performed to validate the performance and applicability of the proposed models

Measuring the effect of virtual mergers on banks’ efficiency levels:A non parametric analysis

This study illustrates how the recent developments in efficiency analysis and statistical inference can be applied when evaluating banks’ performance issues from a potential merger. By using a sample of 29 Greek commercial banks the paper provides a six step procedure in order to evaluate whether a potential bank merger can exhibit economies of scale and characterized as favorable.Data Envelopment Analysis; Bootstrap techniques; Virtual Mergers; Bank efficiency.

Allocating the fixed cost:an approach based on data envelopment analysis and cooperative game

Allocating the fixed cost among a set of users in a fair way is an important issue both in management and economic research. Recently, Du et al. (Eur J Oper Res 235(1): 206–214, 2014) proposed a novel approach for allocating the fixed cost based on the game cross-efficiency method by taking the game relations among users in efficiency evaluation. This paper proves that the novel approach of Du et al. (Eur J Oper Res 235(1): 206–214, 2014) is equivalent to the efficiency maximization approach of Li et al. (Omega 41(1): 55–60, 2013), and may exist multiple optimal cost allocation plans. Taking into account the game relations in the allocation process, this paper proposes a cooperative game approach, and uses the nucleolus as a solution to the proposed cooperative game. The proposed approach in this paper is illustrated with a dataset from the prior literature and a real dataset of a steel and iron enterprise in China

The Tale of Two research Communities: The Diffusion of Research on Productive Efficiency

The field of theoretical and applied efficiency analysis is pursued both by economists and people from operational research and management science. Each group tends to cite a different paper as the seminal one. Recent availability of extensive electronically accessible databases of journal articles makes studies of the diffusion of papers through citations possible. Research strands inspired by the seminal paper within economics are identified and followed by citation analysis during the 20 year period before the operations research paper was published. The first decade of the operations research paper is studied in a similar way and emerging differences in diffusion patterns are pointed out. Main factors influencing citations apart from the quality of the research contribution are reputation of journal, reputation of author, number of close followers; colleagues, “cadres of protégés”, Ph.D. students, and extent of network (“invisible college”). Such factors are revealed by the citing papers. In spite of increasing cross contacts between economics and operations research the last decades co-citation analysis reveals a relative constant tendency to stick to “own camp” references.Farrell efficiency measures, data envelopment analysis, DEA, bibliometry

The Administrative Efficiency of Hospitals and the Effect of Electronic Data Interchange: A Critical Evaluation of the Stochastic Frontier and the Data Envelopment Analysis Models to Efficiency Measurement

The investigation and measurement of administrative efficiency is an issue of great concern for health care policy decision makers and has important implications for the efficiency of the overall health care sector itself as well as for the cost containment efforts and the restructuring of the health care system. The administrative cost efficiency of the United States health care system has received much attention during the last years, and has been under continuous criticism since it became widely known that the country\u27s administrative costs are higher than those of any other country in the world. As criticism on administrative inefficiency of the U.S. health care system has intensified, the need for detailed empirical studies has become imperative. To answer the question of administrative efficiency, this study undertakes an empirical investigation of the largest component of the health care sector; the hospital sector. The variety of proposed health care reform proposals that involve the reduction of administrative costs of hospitals consider the application of Electronic Data Interchange as the potential mechanism towards streamlined administration, cost efficiency and cost containment. Efficiency is the main concern of all economic sectors and a variety of models have been developed to examine every aspect of it. In this dissertation, the two leading approaches to efficiency measurement (Stochastic Frontier and Data Envelopment Analysis) are used and compared. To increase the reliability and comparability of estimates, a variety of models are estimated. In addition, an integrated model that incorporates the characteristics of the Stochastic Frontier with Data Envelopment Analysis techniques is developed. The model provides a new approach for incorporating Technologically Consistent information into DEA in the form of weight restrictions. In this integrated framework the extent of administrative efficiency of hospitals is evaluated. In a second stage analysis, the determinants of inefficient performance are assessed with special attention to the effect of Electronic Data Interchange. The results support the common belief that hospital administration is inefficient. Hospital administration appears to be the most significant determinant of hospital inefficiency. Furthermore, the results indicate that Electronic Data Interchange could be used as a mechanism of reducing administrative inefficiency