The use of non-parametric frontier methods for the evaluation of product market efficiency in heterogeneous markets seems to have gained some popularity recently. However, the statistical properties of these frontier estimators have been largely ignored. The main point is that non-parametric...

This paper introduces a novel method to incorporate categorical non-discretionary variables in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. While solutions to this problem have been introduced before, they have rarely been employed in applied work. We surmise that existing solution concepts pose...

The recent contribution by Cheng et al. (2013) presents a variant of the traditional radial input- and output-oriented efficiency measures whereby original values are replaced with absolute values. This comment spells out that this article contains some imprecisions and therefore presents some...

This contribution compares existing and newly developed techniques for geometrically representing mean–variance–skewness portfolio frontiers based on the rather widely adapted methodology of polynomial goal programming (PGP) on the one hand and the more recent approach based on the shortage...

We explore the effect of balancing unbalanced panel data when estimating primal productivity indices using non-parametric frontier estimators. First, we list a series of pseudo-solutions aimed at making an unbalanced panel balanced. Then, we discuss some intermediate solutions (e.g., balancing...

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, in the framework of the strategic groups' literature, it analyZes changes in productivity and efficiency of Spanish private and savings banks over an eight-year period (1998-2006). Second, by adapting the decomposition of the Malmquist productivity...

The literature suggests that investors prefer portfolios based on mean, variance and skewness rather than portfolios based on mean-variance (MV) criteria solely. Furthermore, a small variety of methods have been proposed to determine mean-variance-skewness (MVS) optimal portfolios. Recently, the...