Technical efficiency of water use and its determinants, study at smallscale irrigation schemes in North-West Province, South Africa

This paper analyses the efficiency with which water is used in small-scale irrigation schemes in North-West Province in South Africa and studies its determinants. In the study area, small-scale irrigation schemes play an important role in rural development, but the increasing pressure on water resources and the approaching introduction of water charges raise the concern for more efficient water use. With the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques used to compute farm-level technical efficiency measures and sub-vector efficiencies for water use, it was shown that under Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) and Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) specification, substantial technical inefficiencies, of 49% and 16% respectively, exist among farmers. The sub-vector efficiencies for water proved to be even lower, indicating that if farmers became more efficient using the technology currently available, it would be possible to reallocate a fraction of the irrigation water to other water demands without threatening the role of small-scale irrigation. In a second step, Tobit regression techniques were used to examine the relationship between sub-vector efficiency for water and various farm/farmers characteristics. Farm size, landownership, fragmentation, the type of irrigation scheme, crop choice and the irrigation methods applied showed a significant impact on the sub-vector efficiency for water. Such information is valuable for extension services and policy makers since it can help to guide policies towards increased efficiency

Effects of Changes in Public Policy on Efficiency and Productivity of General Hospitals in Vietnam

The health sector reform programme which began in Vietnam in 1989 in order to improve the efficiency of the health system has altered the way in which Vietnamese hospitals operate. The programme put the spotlight on input savings. This study aims to examine the relative efficiency of hospitals during the health reform process and assess - by looking at the relative efficiency of hospitals - the effects of the regulatory changes. The study employs the DEA two-stage approach referring to data from 101 general public hospitals over the period 1998-2006. The study revealed that there was evidence of improvement in the productivity of Vietnamese hospitals over the period 1998-2006, with a progress in total factor productivity of 1.4% per year. Furthermore, the differences in hospital efficiency can be attributed to both the regulatory changes and hospital-specific characteristics. The user fees and autonomy measures were found to increase technical efficiency. Provincial hospitals were revealed to be more technically efficient than their central counterparts and hospitals located in the North East, South East and Mekong River Delta regions performed better that hospitals from other regions

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

Identifying and Measuring Technical Inefficiency Factors:Evidence from Unbalanced Panel Data for Thai Listed Manufacturing Enterprises

This study employs stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and two-stage DEA approaches to predict firm technical efficiency and analyse an inefficiency effects model. Aggregate translog stochastic frontier production functions are estimated under the SFA approach using an unbalanced panel data of 178 Thai manufacturing enterprises listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), covering the period 2000 to 2008. The maximum-likelihood Tobit model is used to conduct the second-stage of the two-stage DEA model to investigate the relationship between technical inefficiency and environmental variables. Both parametric and nonparametric approaches are found to produce consistent results. The empirical evidence from both approaches highlight that Thai listed manufacturing firms had been operating under decreasing returns to scale over the period 2000 to 2008. The SFA approach reports that technical progress decreased over time, and relied on labour input. Both estimation approaches suggest that leverage (financial constraints), executive remuneration, managerial ownership, exports, some types of listed firms (i.e., family-owned firm and foreign-owned firm), and firm size have a negative (positive) and significant effect on technical inefficiency (technical efficiency). The empirical results obtained from both approaches also suggest that liquidity, external financing, and research & development (R&D) have a significantly positive (negative) effect on technical inefficiency (technical efficiency)Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA); Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA);Technical Efficiency; Manufacturing; Thailand

Statistical inference and efficient portfolio investment performance

Two main methods have been used in mutual funds evaluation. One is portfolio evaluation, and the other is data envelopment analysis (DEA). The history of portfolio evaluation dates from the 1960s with emphasis on both expected return and risk. However, there are many criticisms of traditional portfolio analysis which focus on their sensitivity to chosen benchmarks. Imperfections in portfolio analysis models have led to the exploration of other methodologies to evaluate fund performance, in particular data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA is a non-parametric methodology for measuring relative performance based on mathematical programming. Based on the unique characteristics of investment trusts, Morey and Morey (1999) developed a mutual funds efficiency measure in a traditional mean-variance model. It was based on Markowitz portfolio theory and related the non-parametric methodologies to the foundations of traditional performance measurement in mean-variance space. The first application in this thesis is to apply the non-linear programming calculation of the efficient frontier in mean variance space outlined in Morey and Morey (1999) to a new modern data set comprising a multi-year sample of investment funds. One limitation of DEA is the absence of sampling error from the methodology. Therefore the second innovation in this thesis extends Morey and Morey (1999) model by the application of bootstrapped probability density functions in order to develop confidence intervals for the relative performance indicators. This has not previously been achieved for the DEA frontier in mean variance space so that the DEA efficiency scores obtained through Morey and Morey (1999) model have not hitherto been tested for statistical significance. The third application in this thesis is to examine the efficiency of investment trusts in order to analyze the factors contributing to investment trusts’ performance and detect the determinants of inefficiency. Robust-OLS regression, Tobit models and Papke-Wooldridge (PW) models are conducted and compared to evaluate contextual variables affecting the performance of investment funds. From the thesis, new and original Matlab codes designed for Morey and Morey (1999) models are presented. With the Matlab codes, not only the results are obtained, but also how this quadratic model is programming could be very clearly seen, with all the details revealed

Efficiency and Bank Merger in Singapore: A Joint Estimation of Non-Parametric, Parametric and Financial Ratios Analysis

This paper provides event study window analysis of pre- and post-merger bank performance in Singapore by employing Financial Ratio Analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. The findings from financial ratio analysis suggests that the merger has not resulted in a higher profitability of Singaporean banking groups post-merger, which could be attributed to the higher costs incurred. However, the merger has resulted in higher Singaporean banking groups’ mean overall efficiency. In most cases, the acquiring banks mean overall efficiency improved (deteriorates) post-merger resulting from merger with a more (less) efficient bank. Further, Tobit regression analysis is employed to explain changes in the efficiencies with the finding shows that, more efficient banks tend to maintain higher degree of capitalization, post higher profits and incur higher overhead costs.Bank Mergers, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Tobit Model, Financial Ratios, Singapore