This paper models the firm's production process as a system of simultaneous technologies for desirable and undesirable outputs. Desirable outputs are produced by transforming inputs via the conventional transformation function, whereas (consistent with the material balance condition) undesirable...

In this paper we consider a novel stochastic frontier model with multi-output multi-input production technology that accommodates non-radial inefficiency in both inputs and outputs. These measures are also observation-specific. To identify them, we use (i) a system model consisting of the...

This paper primarily reviews the panel stochastic frontier (SF) model in which the composite error term εit has four components, i.e. εit=τi−ηi+vit−uit, where ηi and uit are the persistent and transient inefficiency components, τi is the random firm effect and vit is the random noise....

Productivity and efficiency analyses have been indispensable tools for evaluating firms’ performance in the banking sector. In this context, the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) has been recently proposed in order to obtain a globally flexible functional form which is capable of...

When benchmarking production units by non-parametric methods like data envelopment analysis (DEA), an assumption has to be made about the returns to scale of the underlying technology. Moreover, it is often also relevant to compare the frontiers across samples of producers. Until now, no exact...

This paper analyzes the performance of the European railway sector in the period of deregulation (1990-2005). Using a stochastic frontier panel data model that controls for unobserved heterogeneity a multiple-output multipleinput distance function model is estimated in order to evaluate the...

Since the late 1990s, the European higher education system has had to face deep structural changes. With the public authorities seeking to create an environment of quasi-markets in the higher education sector, the increased competition induced by recent reforms has pushed all publicly financed...

Scale characteristics are key properties of production functions that determine optimal firm sizes, and have considerable policy implications for sectors undergoing restructuring. However, estimates of scale characteristics typically vary with the assumptions of the underlying empirical model....

Economic theories explain the economic growth affected by accumulation of production factors and increase in productivity and efficiency. Traditional growth theories focus on the first factor where in developing countries, and especially due to the low input of capital, serious problems arise in...