The paper estimates cost efficiency of 99 general hospitals in the Czech Republic during 2001-2008 using Stochastic Frontier Analysis. We estimate a baseline model and also a model accounting for various inefficiency determinants. Group-specific inefficiency is present even having taken care of...

This paper evaluates the political economy and structural factors explaining the collection efficiency of the Value Added Tax [VAT]. We consider the case where the collection efficiency is determined by the probability of audit and by the penalty on underpaying. Implementation lags imply that...

This discussion paper attempts the investigation of inefficiency with respect to water suppliers in rural areas of East and West Germany. This is done by using a nonradial measure of input-specific allocative inefficiency based on the demand system derived from a flexible cost function for the...

Si no hay de todo, para todos, gratis; si más es mejor que menos; y si con los recursos productivos se puede hacer más de una cosa, entonces la eficiencia es importantísima. ¿Por qué, entonces, observamos tanta ineficiencia en la realidad? Respuestas posibles: porque los economistas estamos...

This study explores the prevalence and nature of the regional divide for the Mexican manufacturing production across sub-national regions. We utilize a unique panel of municipality-level data from the manufacturing sector. An important contribution is the use of different panel methods to...

This paper deals with the optimal provision of infrastructure by means of public-private partnership contracts. Inthe economic literature infrastructure is characterized as a large, indivisible and non-rival capital good thatproduces services for its users. The non-rivalness or nonexcludability...

Next to technological progress and deregulation, theintroduction of the euro is widely considered to be an importantcatalyst for bank consolidation in Europe. In order to assessthe public policy issues surrounding bank mergers, this paperanalyzes the efficiency effects of 52 horizontal bank...

The Dutch drinking water sector experienced two drastic changes over the last 10 years. Firstly, in 1997, the sector association started with a voluntary benchmarking aimed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the sector. Secondly, merger activity arose. This paper develops a tailored...

Abundant empirical evidence links well-functioning institutions and good governance to better economic and social outcomes. It is thus an important challenge to determine which conjunction of factors produces better institutions. Along this line, the objective of this paper is twofold. First, it...