Incentive regulation and the change in productive efficiency of local exchange carriers

Incentive regulation is now an important regulatory tool in the telecommunications industry in the United States. The issue that is explored here is whether incentive regulation in the form of a price cap for interstate access service to local loops has resulted in an increase in productive efficiency. The methodology for measuring the effects of incentive regulation on productive efficiency is data envelopment analysis (DEA). The results of empirically implementing the DEA approach indicate that most local exchange carriers (LECs) were technically efficient over the 1988–1998 period. Three LECs, however, consistently demonstrate scale inefficiency while two LECs show continued improvement in scale efficiency, attaining optimal scale efficiency by 1998. Finally, in the aggregate, there is a small, but clearly identifiable, improvement in aggrega LECs' technical efficiency (TE) between 1988 and 1998. This sort of improvement is precisely what incentive regulation in the form of price caps was designed to promote.     

中国乡镇企业增长的随机前沿生产函数分析

论文在运用中国1990-2005年间省际平衡面板数据的基础上,采用考虑非效率项的非中性技术进步随机前沿生产函数模型,分析了影响我国各省区乡镇企业增长的规模报酬、技术效率和技术进步因素。主要得出结论如下:在乡镇企业的发展过程中,资本产出弹性不断接近甚至有超过劳动产出弹性的趋势,呈现出一定的"资本深化"过程;整个规模报酬略大于1,这表明适当扩大乡镇企业经营规模存在着一定的规模经济效应;而整体平均技术效率水平逐年递增,技术进步率则逐年下降。在这些实证工作的基础上,论文还得出一些政策建议,希冀能够对实现我国乡镇企业的可持续发展有所裨益。     

中国城市公共交通行业技术效率实证研究

本文选取1999-2004年间中国城市公共交通行业的面板数据,在Cobb-Douglas函数的基础上运用随机边界法对我国城市公共交通行业的技术效率进行了考察,并从时间、地域、交通工具类型和客运规模方面,分析了该行业的效率差异及其产生原因,旨在为该行业的未来发展和管制改革提供决策依据。研究结果表明,我国城市公共交通行业技术效率情况为:近几年虽有小幅上升,但基数总体不高;东部地区技术效率偏高;客运量大和拥有轨道交通的省市的技术效率较高。     

Estimation and decomposition of cost efficiency in the health care food service sector: an extended stochastic frontier approach

K. M. Matawie School of Computing and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC NSW 1797, Australia Email: a.assaf{at}uws.edu.au Corresponding author. Email: k.matawie{at}uws.edu.au Received on 11 February 2007. Accepted on 14 September 2007. This paper introduces and implements an extended stochasticfrontier model to estimate and decompose cost efficiency (CE)in the health care foodservice sector. The interesting featureof this model is that it allows differentiation between thethree different types of efficiency: technical efficiency (TE),allocative efficiency (AE) and their associated CE. A completeillustration of these efficiencies is presented using a cross-sectionalsample of 101 hospital foodservice operations. Results showedthat the model and all its parameter coefficients were plausible,significant and satisfy all theoretical requirements. It wasalso clear that the average efficiency scores were lower forTE (80%) than AE (88%), indicating that TE is the main sourceof CE and requires further attention.     

转型期中国工业全要素生产率与效率——基于细分行业的随机前沿模型分析

本文利用1996-2007年我国工业36个细分行业的面板数据,通过建立随机前沿模型,测算了转型期我国工业及其细分行业的全要素生产率,以及其分解要素的波动情况。实证研究表明,1996-2007年我国TFP平均为4.76%,并呈逐步上升趋势;TFP提高的主要原因是技术进步,平均来说,TFP增长的85.50%来源于技术进步的贡献;因为技术效率的提高使TFP平均每年提高了0.94个百分点;资源配置效率的提高对TFP的贡献年平均0.52个百分点,并有较大的波动;而因为规模总报酬递减的影响,TFP每年反而下降了0.78个百分点。通过经济增长来源分析,我国工业经济增长由主要靠资本驱动逐渐向靠技术创新驱动转变,转型期经济增长方式已表现为集约型。     

农民健康状况对农业生产效率影响的实证研究

利用2012年福建安溪随机抽样的335茶农的调查数据,探讨农民健康状况对农业生产效率的影响。通过建立随机前沿生产函数,对茶叶生产的效率损失值进行了测算;以健康损害为关键变量、农户家庭特征和其他变量为控制变量,对效率损失值进行Tobit回归。结果显示,农业生产效率不仅受到劳动、茶园面积、化学要素投入量等传统要素的影响,而且与农民的健康状况显著正相关,说明投资于健康对农民增产增收至关重要。     

中国区域技术效率的随机前沿分析

本文采用1996-2006年全国30个省实际GDP、人力资本和物质资本的面板数据,在随机误差项自相关和异方差的假定下,运用随机前沿分析模型对我国省际技术效率进行测算;同时分东部、中部和西部进行分析,并进行了严格的假设检验。结果表明:我国中部地区的技术效率最高,东部次之,西部最低;且三大地区技术效率均逐年提高,三者之间的技术效率差异呈现收敛趋势。     

Nonparametric measurement of productive efficiency in the presence of regulation

During the late 1970s and 1980s, volatility in the demand for natural gas in the United States created havoc in the industry's transmission sector. Managers of firms were presented with the task of improving productive efficiency in an uncertain and regulated industry. We measure the relative performance of 20 pipelines, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to produce a regulation constrained minimum cost frontier. With the results we construct a Fisher Productivity Index (FPI). Results show that despite productive efficiency decline for most years, most firms experienced improvement in technical efficiency and technical progress in most years. Most of the productive efficiency decline was due to scale diseconomies.     

基于SFA和Malmquist方法的公共部门效率区域差异及其决定因素分析

利用测量Malmquist生产率指数的SFA方法和BC(1995)模型,分析了中国省级地方政府公共部门效率区域差异及其决定因素,结果显示,省级公共部门技术效率随时间变化存在持续改进趋势,同时也发现居民受教育水平、城镇居民家庭可支配收入、每一公职人员服务人数和政府支出规模对公共部门技术效率有显著正影响,而人口密度和人均行政管理费支出对公共部门技术效率有显著负影响.     

我国粮食生产的技术推进模式及影响机制研究

基于农业生产技术的功能性特征及随机前沿理论,构建可分离柯布-道格拉斯形式生产函数,测算我国粮食生产全要素增长率及其组成成分.实证结果表明,1999-2011年间,小麦、稻谷和玉米作物的全要素增长率普遍较低,其中,前沿技术进步率对全要素增长率具有正的贡献;但技术效率(尤其是M技术效率)在逐年降低,是造成全要素增长率偏低的主要原因.在此基础上,对影响我国粮食生产技术效率变化的因素进行理论分析和实证检验.研究发现,以直接补贴为主的农业财政支出政策对BC和M技术效率提高作用明显,且影响效果最强.粮食生产技术的推广与普及、粮食生产的规模化和专业化对技术效率具有显著正向影响,但市场机制的影响效果并没有显现出来.     

中国经济随机前沿模型效率的贝叶斯统计推断

基于扩展的随机生产前沿模型,研究了区域生产效率的差异和其影响因素的作用效果,应用贝叶斯统计方法对中国各省份2010-2017的年度数据(不包含港澳台地区,下同)进行了实证研究.研究发现:生产效率总体呈逐渐下降的趋势,地区间生产效率有一定的差异,高等教育规模对生产效率具有显著的直接影响.人力资本能有效促进东部和中部地区的经济增长,西部地区主要依靠资本促进经济增长.环境污染对中部地区的经济增长具有一定的负向作用.     

Cost efficiency in data envelopment analysis under the law of one price

To impose the law of one price (LoOP) restrictions, which state that all firms face the same input prices, Kuosmanen, Cherchye, and Sipiläinen (2006) developed the top-down and bottom-up approaches to maximizing the industry-level cost efficiency. However, the optimal input shadow prices generated by the above approaches need not be unique, which influences the distribution of the efficiency indices at the individual firm level. To solve this problem, in this paper, we developed a pair of two-level mathematical programming models to calculate the upper and lower bounds of cost efficiency for each firm in the case of non-unique LoOP prices while keeping the industry cost efficiency optimal. Furthermore, a base-enumerating algorithm is proposed to solve the lower bound models of the cost efficiency measure, which are bi-level linear programs and NP-hard problems. Lastly, a numerical example is used to demonstrate the proposed approach.     

行业投入产出技术系数与行业获利性波动识别

企业经营环境外部系统因素的不确定性是影响企业所有者与经营者之间委托代理问题解决的主要因素,目前还没有文献系统建立企业经营环境信息的识别方法。本文利用技术效率评价中的理论来研究企业经营环境信息的识别问题。基于(k,y)空间的生产可能集与技术效率发展了描述不同行业投入产出差别的技术系数,给出行业获利性波动的时序识别方法。这些方法对弱化企业所有者与经营者之间信息非对称程度,解决二者之间的委托代理问题提供了一个有效途径。     

Improving weak efficiency frontiers in the fuzzy data envelopment analysis models

Evaluating the performance of activities or organization by common data envelopment analysis models requires crisp input/output data. However, the precise inputs and outputs of production processes cannot be always measured. Thus, the data envelopment analysis measurement containing fuzzy data, called “fuzzy data envelopment analysis”, has played an important role in the evaluation of efficiencies of real applications. This paper focuses on the fuzzy CCR model and proposes a new method for determining the lower bounds of fuzzy inputs and outputs. This improves the weak efficiency frontiers of the corresponding production possibility set. Also a numerical example illustrates the capability of the proposed method.     

基于三阶段SBM-DEA模型的中国区域碳排放效率研究

结合非期望产出的SBM-DEA模型与SFA方法,提出基于非期望产出的三阶段SBM-DEA模型,用于对全要素碳排放效率的测算。该模型具有非径向和非角度的特点,而且能剔除外部环境和随机因素的影响,使效率评价更接近实际情况。运用该模型对2000~2012年我国各区域二氧化碳排放绩效进行了评价与分析。结果表明,全国平均碳排放效率不高,但从2006年呈现加速上升趋势,表现了低碳经济良好的发展态势。剔除外部环境和随机因素影响后的碳减排效率将进一步下降。分区域来看,我国碳排放效率呈现出“东>中>西”的格局,且东部的优势有所扩大。基于对投入、产出冗余以及外部环境因素影响的分析表明,提升能源、资本、人员的配置效率,加强东部地区与中西部地区之间的人才和技术交流,有利于提升碳排放效率。
关键词:碳排放效率;三阶段DEA;SBM模型;SFA回归     

Measuring the joint impact of governance form and economic regulation on airport efficiency

This paper examines the joint impact that governance structure and economic regulation has on airport efficiency. The previous literature has focused on one or the other of these factors but not both. The empirical investigation uses a semi-parametric Bayesian distance stochastic frontier model, as well as a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. Based on a panel of airports in several countries we find that the form of economic regulation is relatively more important than the type of governance in affecting efficiency. The article provides measures of changes in expected efficiency when either or both the governance form and price regulation changes.     

空间的生产可能集和技术效率

技术效率的估计方法有参数法和非参数法,由于传统效率分析指标--资金K、劳动力L和产出Y,识别不出资产技术的差异,部分文献在参数法中采用资金装备率k（或加职工人数L）和劳动生产率y来估计企业技术效率.为探讨这一指标体系下的非参数技术效率分析方法,本文将传统（K,L,Y）空间的规模不变生产可能集映射到（k,y）空间,得到（k,y）空间的规模非增生产可能集.我们证明,决策单元在（k,y）空间的规模非增技术效率等于决策单元在传统（K,L,Y）空间的规模不变技术效率（C^2R技术效率）.这一结果简化了传统C^2R技术效率的计算,而且可以在（k,y）空间得到资产物理技术的最佳近似值--资产运营前沿技术.     

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.     

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.     

中国上市建筑企业规模经济和范围经济评价——一种随机边界成本函数方法

目前对于企业规模经济和范围经济的研究大多数是在不存在X无效的假设下进行的。即认为企业始终是在它们的有效边界内的,因此对企业规模经济和范围经济的实证研究也都是X有效的前提下的。本文试图采用一种成本非有效的随机边界成本函数,建立广义超越对数成本函数模型对企业规模经济和范围经济进行评价。数据来源于深沪两市建筑业板块25家上市公司2003-2007年的年度报告。研究结果表明:我国上市建筑企业中同时存在着规模不经济和范围不经济,而不存在X无效性假设条件下的估计结果使得规模经济值被提高。