Developing a decomposable measure of profit efficiency using DEA

In for-profit organizations efficiency measurement with reference to the potential for profit augmentation is particularly important as is its decomposition into technical, and allocative components. Different profit efficiency approaches can be found in the literature to measure and decompose overall profit efficiency. In this paper, we highlight some problems within existing approaches and propose a new measure of profit efficiency based on a geometric mean of input/output adjustments needed for maximizing profits. Overall profit efficiency is calculated through this efficiency measure and is decomposed into its technical and allocative components. Technical efficiency is calculated based on a non-oriented geometric distance function (GDF) that is able to incorporate all the sources of inefficiency, while allocative efficiency is retrieved residually. We also define a measure of profitability efficiency which complements profit efficiency in that it makes it possible to retrieve the scale efficiency of a unit as a component of its profitability efficiency. In addition, the measure of profitability efficiency allows for a dual profitability interpretation of the GDF measure of technical efficiency. The concepts introduced in the paper are illustrated using a numerical example.     

Allocative efficiency in branch banking

Bank branch efficiency and organization change is analyzed using data from 50 savings bank branches in Sweden. First, technical and allocative efficiencies are analyzed, using non-priced and priced inputs. Secondly, by grouping the branches according to their organizational designation, efficiency is examined by level of service. Trends in performance over two time periods are also analyzed.     

Bank branch sales evaluation using extended value efficiency analysis

This article results from our collaborative project with a Finnish bank aiming to evaluate the sales performance of bank branches. The management wishes to evaluate the branches’ ability to generate profit, which rules out the pure technical efficiency considerations. The branches operate in heterogeneous environments. We deal with the heterogeneity by subdividing the branches according to the bank specification into overlapping clusters and analyze each cluster separately. The prices of the branch outputs are hard to assess as the results from the sales efforts can only be observed with long delays. We employ benchmark units similarly as in value efficiency analysis (VEA). However, we extend VEA in two ways. First, in standard VEA the benchmark unit is assumed to yield the maximum profit among the set of feasible technologies; instead, our benchmark technology may or may not be in the feasible set. Second, we consider efficiency tests employing a benchmark with respect to both profit and return. We propose a solution strategy for these extensions. The bank uses the study to support decisions concerning new branches, changes in the operations of inefficient branches, and actions aiming to more flexible deployment of the staff.     

A DEA approach to derive individual lower and upper bounds for the technical and allocative components of the overall profit efficiency

In this paper, we propose a slack-based data envelopment analysis approach to be used in economic efficiency analyses when the objective is profit maximization. The focus is on the measurement of the technical component of the overall efficiency with the purpose of guaranteeing the achievement of the Pareto efficiency. As a result, we will be able to estimate correctly the allocative component in the sense that this latter only reflects the improvements that can be accomplished by reallocations along the Pareto-efficient frontier. Some new measures of technical and allocative efficiency in terms of both profit ratios and differences of profits are defined. We do not make any assumption on the way the technical efficiency is to be measured, that is, we do not use, for example, either a hyperbolic measure or a directional distance function, which allows us to extend this approach and derive individual lower and upper bounds for these efficiency components. To do it, we use novel models of minimum distance to the frontier. This broadens the range of possibilities for the explanation of the overall efficiency in terms of technical and allocative inefficiencies.     

Comparative efficiency analysis of Portuguese bank branches

The advent of Internet banking and phone banking is changing the role of bank branches from a predominantly transaction-based one to a sales-oriented role. This paper reports on an assessment of the branches of a Portuguese bank in terms of their performance in their new roles in three different areas: Their efficiency in fostering the use of new transaction channels, their efficiency in increasing sales and their customer base, and their efficiency in generating profits. Service quality is also a major issue in service organisations like bank branches, and therefore we analyse the way this dimension of performance has been accounted for in the literature and take it into account in our empirical application. We have used data envelopment analysis (DEA) for the different performance assessments, but we depart from traditional DEA models in some cases. Performance comparisons on each dimension allowed us to identify benchmark bank branches and also problematic bank branches. In addition, we found positive links between operational and profit efficiency and also between transactional and operational efficiency. Service quality is positively related with operational and profit efficiency.     

Decomposing technical inefficiency using the principle of least action

In for-profit organizations, profit efficiency decomposition is considered important since estimates on profit drivers are of practical use to managers in their decision making. Profit efficiency is traditionally due to two sources – technical efficiency and allocative efficiency. The contribution of this paper is a novel decomposition of technical efficiency that could be more practical to use if the firm under evaluation really wants to achieve technical efficiency as soon as possible. For this purpose, we show how a new version of the Measure of Inefficiency Proportions (MIP), which seeks the minimization of the total technical effort by the assessed firm, is a lower bound of the value of technical inefficiency associated with the directional distance function. The targets provided by the new MIP could be beneficial for firms since it specifies how firms may become technically efficient simply by decreasing one input or increasing one output, suggesting that each firm should focus its effort on a specific dimension (input or output). This approach is operationalized in a data envelopment analysis framework and applied to a dataset of airlines.     

Estimating technical and allocative efficiency in the public sector: A nonparametric analysis of Dutch schools

Public sector output provision is influenced not only by discretionary inputs but also by exogenous environmental factors. In this paper, we extended the literature by developing a conditional DEA estimator of allocative efficiency that allows a decomposition of overall cost efficiency into allocative and technical components while simultaneously controlling for the environment. We apply the model to analyze technical and allocative efficiency of Dutch secondary schools. The results reveal that allocative efficiency represents a significant 37 percent of overall cost efficiency on average, although technical inefficiency is still the dominant part. Furthermore, the results show that the impact of environment largely differs between schools and that having a more unfavorable environment is very expensive to schools. These results highlight the importance of including environmental variables in both technical and allocative efficiency analysis.     

Evolution of bank efficiency in Brazil: A DEA approach

This paper investigates cost, technical and allocative efficiencies for Brazilian banks in the recent period (2000–2007). We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to compute efficiency scores. Brazilian banks were found to have low levels of economic (cost) efficiency compared to banks in Europe and in the US. For the period with high macroeconomic volatility (2000–2002) the economic inefficiency in Brazilian banks can be attributed mainly to technical inefficiency rather than allocative inefficiency. State-owned banks are significantly more cost efficient than foreign, private domestic and private with foreign participation. There is no evidence of differences in economic efficiency due to type of activity and bank size. These results may provide some useful guidance for financial regulators and bank managers.     

基于ROI,VMI和CS三种库存方式长短期绩效的对比研究

ROI、VMI和Cs是基于供应链的三种库存管理方式.本文以两层供应链的ROI、VMI和CS方式为例,通过数学模型和具体算例,比较分析了三种库存方式下买方和卖方成本和利润构成的不同之处.本文研究发现:在长期内相对于ROI方式而言,VMI方式下供应链的效率更高;如果卖方的单位存储成本大于买方,CS方式下供应链的长短期效率可能高于VMI更高于ROI方式.     

An overall measure of technical inefficiency at the firm and at the industry level: The ‘lost profit on outlay’

As a measure of overall technical inefficiency, the Directional Distance Function (DDF) introduced by Chambers, Chung, and Färe ties the potential output expansion and input contraction together through a single parameter. By duality, the DDF is related to a measure of profit inefficiency, which is calculated as the normalized deviation between optimal and actual profit at market prices. As we show, in the most usual case, the associated normalization represents the sum of the actual revenue and the actual cost of the assessed firm. Consequently, the corresponding profit inefficiency measure associated with the DDF has no obvious economic interpretation. In contrast, in this paper we allow outputs to expand and inputs to contract by different proportions. This results in a modified DDF that retains most of the properties of the original DDF. The corresponding dual problem has a much simpler interpretation as the lost profit on (average) outlay that can be decomposed into a technical and an allocative inefficiency component. In addition, an overall measure of technical inefficiency at the industry level is introduced resorting to the direction corresponding to the average input–output bundle.     

A circular global profit Malmquist productivity index in data envelopment analysis

To remove the difficulty caused by different profit frontiers in different periods of time for calculating profit efficiency changes and its components, this paper proposes a circular global profit Malmquist productivity index. This index is applicable when the input costs and output prices are known and when producers seek to maximize the total profit of their decision making units (DMUs). To this end, first, two methods are introduced to obtain the common costs and prices with or without the decision maker’s preferences, and then, a common profit efficient frontier is obtained. The proposed index can be decomposed into several circular components, viz., profit efficiency change, profit technical change, technical efficiency change, allocative efficiency change, technical change, and cost/price change. The proposed index is then generalised to compare the productivity of two different units at two different points in time. The global profit Malmquist productivity index developed here is unique and is computed using nonparametric linear programming model known as data envelopment analysis (DEA), and there is no need to resort to the geometric mean in the calculation. To illustrate the proposed index and its components, numerical examples at three successive periods of time are given.     

Pro-efficiency: Data speak more than technical efficiency

In this study, we demonstrate a new method of addressing efficiency in situations in which only the input and output data are available, while evaluating efficiency more accurately than is possible via the ordinary data envelopment analysis (DEA). Technical efficiency is important, but management always desires information regarding the profit aspects of performance. In practice, however, the precise price data are frequently unavailable. Is it possible to approximate profit efficiency in the absence of price information? We develop a simple and usable approach, a linear programming model, for the evaluation of profit efficiency. Our approach implies technical efficiency in DEA and gives rise to the upper bound of profit efficiency, referred to as pro-efficiency. We also report a successful application of our method to a securities company, in which a comparison of the actual profit data and the pro-efficiency measures of the company’s branches demonstrates a significant correlation.     

Technical and allocative efficiency in European banking

This paper specifies an empirical framework for estimating both technical and allocative efficiency using the translog cost-share system, thus providing a solution to the issue known in the literature as the Greene problem. The model is applied to a large panel of European banks and the results are compared with those of a model that does not include an allocative inefficiency term and also with those obtained by using a consistent Bayesian technique. Our results suggest that models which include only technical efficiency, significantly overestimate it, while parameter estimates from the model that includes both technical and allocative efficiency are very close to the ones obtained from the Bayesian approach, thus enhancing our confidence in the proposed methodology. Finally, the fact that allocative efficiency of banks in our sample improves more than technical efficiency underlines the importance of including an allocative inefficiency component in parametric efficiency models.     

Allocative efficiency of technically inefficient production units

We discuss how to measure allocative efficiency without presuming technical efficiency. This is relevant when it is easier to introduce reallocations than improvements of technical efficiency. We compare the approach to the traditional one of assuming technical efficiency before measuring allocative efficiency. In particular, we develop necessary and sufficient conditions in the technology to ensure consistent measures, we suggest alternative interpretations of the approaches, and we relate them to motivational and organizational change perspectives.     

基于两阶段DEA方法的中国商业银行效率评价

本文考虑商业银行吸收存款和发放贷款的两阶段特点,引入“顾客满意度”这一产出指标,应用两阶段DEA模型计算了我国15家商业银行在2008年和2011年的服务质量效率和盈利效率,结果显示我国商业银行的盈利效率显著高于服务质量效率。进而综合考虑服务和盈利指标,分析了各银行的综合效率,并通过计算各银行Malmquist指数研究我国商业银行2008年到2011年间的效率变化。结果表明:各商业银行从2008年到2011年的效率整体呈上升趋势,各商业银行的技术效率以及整个银行业的效率都有一定的提高。最后,应用Tobit模型分析了影响银行效率的因素,结果显示银行的贷存比、资产利润率和不良贷款率对效率影响显著。     

Estimating output allocative efficiency and productivity change: Application to Japanese banks

A new measure of output allocative efficiency is developed by comparing the input technical efficiency of a firm for the direct input requirement set and the indirect input requirement set proposed by Shephard [Indirect Production Functions, Verlag Anton Hain, Meisenheim Am Glan]. The ratio of the direct and indirect input quasi-distance functions serves as the measure of output allocative efficiency. As such, it measures the ratio of potential to actual inputs if the firm had chosen the revenue maximizing output mix. Using panel data on Japanese banks operating during 1992–1996 productivity growth is measured and decomposed into changes in output allocative efficiency, changes in input technical efficiency, and technical change. During the period, Japanese banks experienced productivity declines averaging 2% per year and could have used only 78–93% of actual inputs if they had chosen the revenue maximizing output mix.     

Cost,revenue and profit efficiency measurement in DEA: A directional distance function approach

Estimation of efficiency of firms in a non-competitive market characterized by heterogeneous inputs and outputs along with their varying prices is questionable when factor-based technology sets are used in data envelopment analysis (DEA). In this scenario, a value-based technology becomes an appropriate reference technology against which efficiency can be assessed. In this contribution, the value-based models of Tone (2002) are extended in a directional DEA set up to develop new directional cost- and revenue-based measures of efficiency, which are then decomposed into their respective directional value-based technical and allocative efficiencies. These new directional value-based measures are more general, and include the existing value-based measures as special cases. These measures satisfy several desirable properties of an ideal efficiency measure. These new measures are advantageous over the existing ones in terms of (1) their ability to satisfy the most important property of translation invariance; (2) choices over the use of suitable direction vectors in handling negative data; and (3) flexibility in providing the decision makers with the option of specifying preferable direction vectors to incorporate their preferences. Finally, under the condition of no prior unit price information, a directional value-based measure of profit inefficiency is developed for firms whose underlying objectives are profit maximization. For an illustrative empirical application, our new measures are applied to a real-life data set of 50 US banks to draw inferences about the production correspondence of banking industry.     

Using a nonparametric technique to measure the cost efficiency of postal delivery branches

A multiple-input and multiple-output model for measuring the cost efficiency of postal delivery branches is proposed. We analyze the complete postal network of the Serbian post delivery offices, which includes 1,194 post office branches. To compare the branches that operate under the same or similar conditions, the branches are grouped into 18 clusters by implementing the appropriate clustering algorithm. This enables a three-level analysis: branches–clusters–network. The cost efficiency of the branches is measured using data envelopment analysis. The efficiency of a particular cluster is calculated as an average cost efficiency score of the branches that belong to this cluster, and finally, the efficiency of the postal delivery network is assessed. The distribution of cost efficiency scores per clusters takes values from 15 to 92 %. At the level of the total network, the cost efficiency is 40 %, which indicates that there are possibilities for improvement. To obtain more specific guidelines, that is, the decomposition of cost efficiency into pure technical efficiency, the scale efficiency and allocative efficiency were assessed for each cluster and for the total delivery network. This research is beneficial to policy makers defining the scope of universal service obligation and to company managers who want to optimize the postal network. For example, the results of this study indicate that, at a minimum, 794 delivery branches could improve their efficiency by resource reallocation.     

基于数据包络分析方法的上市银行盈利效率研究

银行是我国金融市场的主导力量。银行的一举一动对金融市场,乃至整体经济运行均有重要的影响。特别是在经济进入新常态,金融深化改革的新环境下,研究银行的效率,既是银行发展的内在需要,也是宏观经济的必然需求。本文基于银行所有者的角度,以资本金和不良贷款作为投入,利息收入和非利息收入作为产出,测算2015年16家上市银行的盈利效率,结果表明:上市银行盈利的纯技术效率普遍较高,规模效率受规模因素影响较显著;国有商业银行的规模效率低,导致其技术效率偏低。对于大型银行,规模已经成为影响盈利技术效率的重要因素之一。     

Resource allocation based on cost efficiency

In this paper, we consider a resource allocation (RA) problem and develop an approach based on cost (overall) efficiency. The aim is to allocate some inputs among decision making units (DMUs) in such way that their cost efficiencies improve or stay unchanged after RA. We formulate a multi-objective linear programming problem using two different strategies. First, we propose an RA model which keeps the cost efficiencies of units unchanged. This is done assuming fixed technical and allocative efficiencies. The approach is based on the assumption that the decision maker (DM) may not have big changes in the structure of DMUs within a short term. The second strategy does not impose any restrictions on technical and allocative efficiencies. It guarantees that none of the cost efficiencies of DMUs get worse after RA, and the improvement for units is possible if it is feasible and beneficial. Two numerical examples and an empirical illustration are also provided.