This paper studies the cost structure of gas distribution utilities in Switzerland. Three stochastic frontier models are applied to a panel of 26 companies operating from 1996 to 2000. Efficiency is assumed to be constant over time. The analysis highlights the importance of output...

With the data of 831 Japanese water utilities from 1999 to 2008, we used the stochastic cost frontier analysis with a true fixed-effect model in order to estimate the cost efficiency and scale economies. We found that cost inefficiency was approximately 37%. The economies of water delivery...

The Italian water sector is characterized by the presence of several water companies, with different ownership types; Fabbri and Fraquelli (Empirica 27:65–82, <CitationRef CitationID="CR11">2000</CitationRef>) and Antonioli and Filippini (Util Policy 10:181–187, <CitationRef CitationID="CR2">2001</CitationRef>) have analyzed the presence of economies of scale and scope in the...</citationref></citationref>

Between 1974 and 1983, intertemporal cost efficiency for u.s. field crops increased about 1.4 to 1.2% percent for corn, soybeans, and wheat and .2% per year for cotton. competitive advantage in 1983 was held by central Illinois and north central Iowa in corn, central Illinois in soybeans, the...

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the way subsidization mechanisms affect the cost efficiency of public transit systems, taking into account the role played by the environmental characteristics of each network. A cost frontier model is estimated for a seven-year panel of 44...

Network regulation is playing an active role in a context of restructuring energy systems for long term transition to a smart grid. Regulation of network companies' activities should consider both cost efficiency objectives and other objectives such as quality and network innovation. It is in...

Following the liberalisation of the electricity industry since the early 1990s, many sector regulators have recognised the potential for cost efficiency improvement in the networks through incentive regulation aided by benchmarking and productivity analysis. This approach has often resulted in...

Since the publication by Williamson (1968) of his seminal paper on antitrust there has been a growing recognition by regulators of the need to assess trade-offs between merger-related efficiency gains and merger-induced increases in market power. This paper addresses that need by presenting a...