The paper considers the estimation of a translog cost function employing panel data for a sample of 43 Swiss hydropower companies, over the period of 1995-2002. The results of this analysis indicate the existence of economies of scale and density for most output levels. The basic novelty in this...

This paper studies the sensitivity problems of the benchmarking methods used in the regulation practice. Three commonly used methods have been applied to a sample of 52 electricity distribution utilities to estimate their cost efficiency. These methods include stochastic frontier, corrected...

This paper explores the application of several panel data models in measuring productive efficiency of the electricity distribution sector. Stochastic Frontier Analysis has been used to estimate the cost-efficiency of 59 distribution utilities operating over a nine-year period in Switzerland....

This paper evaluates cost and scale efficiencies of Switzerland’s regulated bus companies operating in regional networks. The adopted methodology can be used in benchmarking analyses applied to incentive regulation systems. Moreover, the estimations can be used to evaluate the bidding offers...

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...

The electricity generation in Switzerland is mainly based on hydropower (55% of total production). The exploitation of water in the hydropower sector can generate significant so-called resource rents. These are defined by the surplus return above the value of capital, labor, materials, and...

In this paper we present an empirical analysis of the residential demand for electricity using annual aggregate data at the state level for 48 US states from 1995 to 2007. We estimate a dynamic partial adjustment model using the Kiviet corrected LSDV (1995) and the Blundell-Bond (1998)...

This paper presents an empirical analysis on the residential demand for electricity by time-of-day. This analysis has been performed using aggregate data at the city level for 22 Swiss cities for the period 2000 to 2006. For this purpose, we estimated two log-log demand equations for peak and...

This paper attempts to estimate a panel ‘frontier’ whole economy aggregate energy demand function for 29 countries over the period 1978 to 2006 using parametric stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Consequently, unlike standard energy demand econometric estimation, the energy efficiency of...

The electricity generation in Switzerland is mainly based on hydropower (55% of total production). The exploitation of water in the hydropower sector can generate significant so-called resource rents. These are defined by the surplus return above the value of capital, labor, materials and energy...