Benchmarking by means of applying the DEA model is appearing as an interesting alternative for regulators under the new regimes for electricity distributors. A sample of large electricity distribution utilities from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands for the year 1997 is...

The contributions of the paper are threefold: i) compare with mathematical rigour the Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes DEA model and the Farrell model exhibiting constant returns to scale, ii) reinterpret the contribution of Farrell and Fieldhouse that extended the analysis to variables returns to...

The performance of local tax offices of Norway is studied over a three year period applying Data Envelopment Efficiency analysis and a Malmquist productivity index. The estimates are biascorrected using a bootstrap approach recently developed for DEA models. The results show that bias correction...

The municipalities in Norway are responsible for providing care for their inhabitants in need. The care takes two main forms: institutionalised care in nursing homes and home-based care. Based on cross-section data for 1995 for 471 municipalities the efficiency of the care activity is...

The concept “Data Envelopment Analysis” (DEA) was introduced in the journal literature by the highly influential 1978 paper of Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes. In the subsequent literature the development of research leading up to this paper tended to be forgotten. However, studying this...

The RAINS model is used to calculate cost minimising abatement policies subject to European-wide spatial restrictions on pollution. The principle for choosing environmental targets for the 1994 Oslo Protocol was closing a gap between benchmark- and critical loads for each grid with a uniform...

Regional colleges in Norway were reorganised in 1994 with the purpose of promoting efficiency and productivity. This is the first effort of checking what actually has happened afterwards with efficiency and productivity. DEA and Malmquist index approaches are used. Data for three years, 1994,...

The field of theoretical and applied efficiency analysis is pursued both by economists and people from operational research and management science. Each group tends to cite a different paper as the seminal one. Recent availability of electronically accessible databases of journal articles makes...

An important conclusion from the literature on hydropower is that if there are no other constraints than the available water reservoirs for a year, and operating costs are ignored, the competitive (and socially optimal) outcome is characterized by the (present value) price being constant through...

The key question in hydropower production is the time pattern of the use of the water in the reservoir. The water used to produce electricity today can alternatively be used tomorrow. The analysis of the operation of hydropower is therefore essentially a dynamic one. The paper introduces some...