Technical Efficiency of Pakistan s Manufacturing Sector: A Stochastic Frontier and Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper examines the efficiency of the large-scale manufacturing sector of Pakistan using parametric as well as non-parametric frontier techniques. Production frontiers are estimated for two periods-1995-96 and 2000-01-for 101 industries at the 5-digit PSIC. The results show that there has been some improvement in the efficiency of the large-scale manufacturing sector, though the magnitude of improvement remains small. The results are mixed at the disaggregated level: whereas a majority of industrial groups have gained in terms of technical efficiency, some industries have shown deterioration in their efficiency levels. The results from both the approaches are consistent, and in line with similar studies.Manufacturing Industries, Technical Efficiency, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis

STOCHASTIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION FUNCTION AND COST FUNCTION ESTIMATION METHODS. STUDY OF EFFICIENCY AT INDUSTRY LEVEL

This paper analyses the efficiency or productivity at the level of a production unit, but also at industry level, resorting for this purpose to both parametric and non-parametric techniques. Cost function model specifications are described herein, considering that the technical inefficiency effects determine the companies to operate below the production stochastic frontier. Also, the estimations of the production frontier are rendered by means of Cobb-Douglas, C.E.S. and translog functions, evidencing that the latter is the most flexible of them. On the other hand, in many respects, C.E.S. production function is more appropriate to reality as compared to Cobb-Douglas function. At the same time, the estimation of C.E.S. function parameters is more difficult, Cobb-Douglas function being, in this respect, preferred. The last part of the paper is consecrated to the study of efficiency at industry level and to conclusions. The Input variables used within the analysis are: fixed assets, inventories, number of employees, while the Output ones are: operating revenues and net profit. As for the conclusions, the results reveal that the efficiency level for several companies is quite low. Therefore, a deeper interest should be manifested in order to increase the efficiency level in the construction industry.cost function industry, Data Envelopment Analysis, production function, stochastic frontier.

Regulation and efficiency incentives: evidence from the England and Wales water and sewerage industry

This paper evaluates the impact of the tightening in price cap by OFWAT and of other operational factors on the efficiency of water and sewerage companies in England and Wales using a mixture of data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis. Previous empirical results suggest that the regulatory system introduced at privatization was lax. The 1999 price review signaled a tightening in regulation which is shown to have led to a significant reduction in technical inefficiency. The new economic environment set by price-cap regulation acted to bring inputs closer to their cost-minimizing levels from both a technical and allocative perspective

Measuring Eco-efficiency of Production: A Frontier Approach

Eco-efficiency of production is an important concept both from the viewpoint of society and business community; but as yet, there is no unambiguous way to its measurement. The purpose of this paper is to present a general measurement framework based on production theory and the activity analysis approach. Although we exploit the existing methods and techniques, our approach diverges essentially from the usual treatments of the environmental performance of firms in the productive efficiency analysis. The main difference between our approach and the earlier studies is that we build on the definition of eco-efficiency as the ratio of economic value added to the environmental damage index. Related to this orientation, we also approach eco-efficiency from a more aggregate perspective. Our general framework is illustrated by an empirical application to the evaluation of eco-efficiency of road transportation in Finland.Eco-efficiency, Environmental Pressures, Aggregation, Benefit of the Doubt Weighting, Distance Function, Activity Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis, Road transportation

Using DEA to estimate the importance of objectives for decision makers

In this paper we establish further connections between DEA and Multi-criteria Decision Analysis by suggesting a particular way to estimate preference weights for different objectives using DEA. We claim that the virtual multipliers obtained from a standard DEA model are not suitable to measure the preferences of a decision maker. Our suggestion takes advantage of the parallelism between DEA and the methodology proposed by Sumpsi et al. (1997) by projecting each unit on a linear combination of the elements of the pay-off matrix. Finally, we make an application of the proposed methodology to agricultural economics in a case study with Spanish data.Data Envelopment Analysis, Multicriteria Decision Analysis, preferences, weights, virtual multipliers.

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

Input Substitutability in English Higher Education

This paper investigates input substitutability in English higher education and compares merging and non-merging institutions. A stochastic frontier translog output distance function is estimated using a thirteen-year panel of data for all institutions in England. Some differences between merging and non-merging institutions in labour and capital substitutability are revealed, and administrative input becomes an abundant resource for merged institutions. Policy implications are discussed

Optimal Capacity Utilization and Reallocation in a German Bank Branch Network: Exploring Some Strategic Scenarios

Quite a few studies have considered efficiency at the bank branch level by comparing mostly a single branch network, while an abundance of studies have focused on comparing banking institutions. However, to the best of our knowledge no study has ever assessed performance at the level of the branch bank network by looking for ways to reallocate resources such that overall performance improves. Here, we introduce the Johansen-Färe measure of plant capacity of the firm into a multi-output, frontier-based version of the short-run Johansen industry model. The first stage capacity model carefully checks for the impact of the convexity assumption on the estimated capacity utilization results. Policy scenarios considered for the short-run Johansen industry model vary in terms of their tolerance with respect to existing bank branch inefficiencies, the formulation of closure policies, the reallocation of labor in terms of integer units, etc. The application to a network of 142 bank branches of a German savings bank in the year 1998 measures their efficiency and capacity utilization and demonstrate that by this industry model approach one can improve the performance of the whole branch network.Bank Branch Network, Efficiency, Capacity, Reallocation

Internet Based Benchmarking

We discuss the design of interactive, internet based benchmarking using parametric (statistical) as well as non-parametric (DEA) models. The user receives benchmarks and improvement potentials. The user is also given the possibility to search different efficiency frontiers and hereby to explore alternative improvement strategies. An implementation of both a parametric and a non parametric model are presented.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Efficiency of Large Scale Manufacturing in Pakistan : A Production Frontier Approach

This paper examines the efficiency of the large scale manufacturing sector of Pakistan using the stochastic production frontier approach. A stochastic production frontier is estimated for two periods1995-96 and 2000-01for 101 industries at the 5-digit PSIC. The results show that there has been some improvement in the efficiency of the large scale manufacturing sector, though the magnitude of improvement remains small. The results are mixed at the disaggregated level : whereas a majority of industrial groups have gained in terms of technical efficiency, some industries have shown deterioration in their efficiency levels.Manufacturing Industries, technical efficiency, stochastic frontier analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis