The Indian textiles industry is now at the crossroads with the phasing out of quota regime that prevailed under the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) until the end of 2004. In the face of a full integration of the textiles sector in the WTO, maintaining and enhancing productive efficiency is a...

We address the problem of input aggregation in DEA models within a broader framework and provide a direct link between input aggregation in DEA on the one hand and the test of parameter restrictions implied by input aggregation in an explicitly specified production function on the other. We show...

Using the non parametric approach of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) this paper examines firm’s heterogeneity in the Indian pharmaceutical industry by measuring their input and output efficiencies for the period 1991 to 2005. The analysis establishes that even though firms have been able to...

In this paper we use the nonparametric approach of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to obtain Pareto-Koopmans measures of technical efficiency of individual states in India over the years 1970-71 through 2000-01 in a multi-output, multi-input model of agricultural production. The Pareto-Koopmans...

In the present study we evaluate the overall cost efficiency of a network of branches of a single large public sector bank in India within the city of Calcutta using the data for the year 2002. Our objective is to determine the optimal number of branches within a postal district that could...

In production economics, little attention is paid to transportation costs in any discussion of cost minimization by the firm. When the output is produced at multiple locations, transportation costs can become quite important in light of the geographical dispersion of plants and markets. In...

The extent to which Indian organized manufacturing performance changed after the Economic Reform of 1991 has been an important question among empirical analysts. Using input-output data from the Annual Survey of Industries for the period 1970-71 through 2007-08, this paper compares the pre- and...

An economic measure of scale efficiency is the ratio of the minimum average cost to the average cost at the actual output level of a firm. It is easily measured by the ratio of the total cost of this output under the constant and variable returns to scale assumptions. This procedure does not...

In this study, we attempt to identify the channels through which economic reforms enhanced the productivity growth in total manufacturing sector in India. Because one possible channel is better utilization of plant capacity, we estimate capacity utilization rate in Indian manufacturing....

This review essay discusses and appraises Douglas Allen’s The Institutional Revolution (2011) as a way of reflecting on the uses of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) in economic history. It praises and defends Allen’s method of asking “what economic problem were these institutions...