Relative Performance Evaluation of Mutual Funds: A Non-Parametric Approach

We propose an alternative mutual fund performance index which addresses the benchmark problem and controls for economies of scale in managing mutual funds. We advance a new concept of 'return-cost' efficiency as another important element in evaluating portfolio management, in addition to the mean-variance efficiency concept. Our index based on a non-parametric estimation is shown to be similar to the Sharpe index with multiple slopes (or factors). We have shown that all fund categories, except income funds, have similar average efficiency scores after controlling for economies of scale. Most funds operate in increasing returns to scale and seem to be successful in holding mean-variance efficient portfolios, but unsuccessful in allocating transaction costs efficiently, evidenced by excessive turnovers and loads. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2001.

Effect of Website Quality Factors on the Success of Agricultural Products B2C E-commerce

International audienceBy applying analytic hierarchy process to extend the D&M IS success model, this paper builds a user preference hierarchical model for online consumers to select the most preferred website; this model is mainly constituted by the quality of information, service, system and supplier. Empirical study on agricultural products B2C field has shown that service quality is the most important factor affecting the website selections of online consumers, and e-commerce businesses should make greater efforts to improve the reliability and the rapid responsiveness of service. As supplier quality is highly correlated with user preferences, e-commerce businesses should take a balance strategy to increase product range, improve product quality with lower product price at the same time Information currency is high in the ranking, so e-commerce businesses should pay attention to update information on the website timely