School choice, competition and the efficiency of secondary schools in England

In this paper we calculate the technical efficiencies, based upon multiple outputs - school exam performance and attendance rates - of all secondary schools in England over the period 1993-97. We then estimate models to examine the determinants of efficiency in a particular year, and the determinants of the change in efficiency over the period. Our results suggest that the greater the degree of competition between schools the more efficient they are. The strength of this effect has also increased over time which is consistent with the evolution of the quasi-market in secondary education. Competition is also found to be an important determinant of the change in efficiency over time. There is, however, some evidence of conditional convergence between schools.

Production efficiency in Peasant Agriculture: The Case of Mixed Farming System in the Ethiopian Highlands

An aggregate measure of production efficiency involving crop and livestock enterprises is examined in the Selale and Ada regions of Ethiopia using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). In general, farmers in regions more suitable to crop production (Ada) tend to attain higher production efficiency compared to farmers in regions suitable to livestock production (Selale). This implies that Ada farmers produce agricultural outputs with a minimal outlay of inputs. DEA results also reveal that farmers who adopted cross-bred cows (refrred as test farmers) are more efficient than those who have not adopted ( referred as control farmers) in both study sites. Analysis of the contribution of socioeconomic variables to measures of production efficiency indicated that the magnitude of knowledge-related variables (i.e. production knowledge and schooling) are relatively higher compared to physical or other non-physical variables. This finding implies that sustainable increases in production efficiency and attainment of food self-sufficiency could be attained if development strategies design methods of incorporating indigenous production knowledge of peasants in the planning process.Production efficiency; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); agriculture; knowledge Ethiopia. technologies; peasants

Agricultural Economics Education in Ukrainian Agricultural Universities: An Efficiency Analysis Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Ukraine's transition from a centrally-planned to a market economy has had a profound effect upon its agricultural sector and agricultural universities. A substantial reduction in state financing has forced universities to adopt a range of survival strategies, with varying degrees of success. In this paper we use data envelopment analysis to examine the technical efficiency of 44 agricultural economics programs from 19 Ukrainian universities during the 2002/03 academic year. Our empirical results indicate wide disparities in performance, ranging from 36% to 100% technical efficiency. A second-stage analysis suggests that factors such as student demand, commercial activities and staff quality help explain a portion of this variation.higher education, Ukraine, efficiency, data envelopment analysis, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, I21, C14, Q16,

Maintaining the Regular Ultra Passum Law in data envelopment analysis

The variable returns to scale data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is developed with a maintained hypothesis of convexity in input-output space. This hypothesis is not consistent with standard microeconomic production theory that posits an S-shape for the production frontier, i.e. for production technologies that obey the Regular Ultra Passum Law. Consequently, measures of technical efficiency assuming convexity are biased downward. In this paper, we provide a more general DEA model that allows the S-shape.Data envelopment analysis; homothetic production; S-shaped production function; non-convex production set

Efficiency of Economic Regions in Finland 1988-1999: Application of the DEA method

The economic efficiency of the private sector in the 83 Finnish labour market areas is investigated by using the Data Envelopment Analysis method. This method is often used for assessing efficiency in public service production, but it can also be applied to regional economies. Compared with ordinary production function analysis, one of its advantages is the possibility to handle several output variables at the same time. For the study, private sector capital stock was first estimated. Other inputs included the number of employed by education level, years of schooling of the population and the local volume of public sector activity. As outputs, regional value added and personal real income were used. The study period 1988-1999 is interesting, because it includes years of rapid growth (1988-1990), falling into a deep recession (1990-94) as well as a time of recovery (1994-1999).

The Efficiency of Private Universities As Measured By Graduation Rates

It is well known that human capital is enhanced by graduation from a college or university. How efficient are such institutions in conveying this mark of human capital? Efficiency and productivity in private higher education is measured by using undergraduate graduation rates as the output, and demographic variables, the quality of the students, and the annual expenditures (adjusted for academic mission) as inputs. Tests of several models using OLS and stochastic frontier analysis confirm that private schools can increase their graduation rates by increasing focused expenditures and through more selective admissions. Estimated elasticities are reported and point toward increasing expenditures as the most responsive method. Estimate graduation efficiencies of 93.0, 91.5, and near 100% are also reported for four, five and six year graduation rates respectively. A rank correlation with the U S News and World Report 2008 rankings is consistent with our measure of relative efficiencies

On the Use of Data Envelopment Analysis in Hedge Fund Performance Appraisal

This paper aims to show that Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is an efficient tool to assist investors in multiple criteria decision-making tasks like assessing hedge fund performance. DEA has the merit of offering investors the possibility to consider simultaneously multiple evaluation criteria with direct control over the priority level paid to each criterion. By addressing main methodological issues regarding the use of DEA in evaluating hedge fund performance, this paper attempts to provide investors sufficient guidelines for tailoring their own performance measure which reflect successfully their own preferences. Although these guidelines are formulated in the hedge fund context, they can also be applied to other kinds of investment funds.hedge fund, mutual fund, alternative investment, data envelopment analysis, performancemeasures, Sharpe ratio

AN EMPIRICAL SURVEY OF FRONTIER EFFICIENCY MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES IN HEALTHCARE SERVICES

Healthcare institutions worldwide are increasingly the subject of analyses aimed at defining, measuring and improving organisational efficiency. However, despite the importance of efficiency measurement in healthcare services, it is only relatively recently that the more advanced econometric and mathematical frontier techniques have been applied to hospitals, nursing homes, health management organisations and physician practices. This paper attempts to provide a synoptic survey of the comparatively few empirical analyses of frontier efficiency measurement in healthcare services. Both the measurement of inefficiency in healthcare services and the determinants of healthcare efficiency are examined.data envelopment analysis; stochastic frontiers; technical, allocative and productive efficiency

Adverse effects of Interbank funds on bank efficiency: evidence from Turkish banking sector

This paper investigates the relationship between interbank funds and efficiencies is for the commercial banks operating in Turkey between 2001-2006. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is executed to find the efficiency scores of the banks for each year, and fixed effects panel data regression is carried out, with the efficiency scores being the response variable. It is observed that interbank funds (ratio) has negative effects on bank efficiency, while bank capitalization and loan ratio have positive, and profitability has insignificant effects. Our study serves as an illustrative evidence that interbank funds can have adverse effects in an emerging market