This paper calculates a human Wellbeing Composite Index (WCI) for 42 countries, belonging to the European Economic Space, North Africa and the Middle East, as an alternative to the shortcomings of other well-known measures of socio-economic development (i.e. Gross Domestic Product per head and...

This paper examines changes in the labor productivity, efficiency, technology, and physical and human capital experienced by different regions in Italy between 1980 and 2006. Cobb-Douglas and translog production specifications are not supported by the data. Thus, non-parametric methods are used...

This paper considers the provision of some important municipal services and applies the non-parametric double bootstrap Simar and Wilson (J Econ 136(1):31–64, <CitationRef CitationID="CR106">2007</CitationRef>) model based on a truncated-regression to estimate the effect of a group of relevant factors, which include the political sign of...</citationref>

Sensitivity of the returns to scale (RTS) classifications in data envelopment analysis is studied by means of linear programming problems. The stability region for an observation preserving its current RTS classification (constant, increasing or decreasing returns to scale) can be easily...

We innovate in the field of water companies' performance with an application of the directional distance function and the Luenberger productivity indicator (LPI) to the assessment of water companies' productivity growth. The advantage of our approach is that it takes into account both input...

DEA can be interpreted as a tool for the identification of “frontier outliers” among data points. These are points that are potentially interesting because they exhibit extreme properties in that the values of their attributes, either alone or combined, are at the upper or lower limits of...

We propose a way of using DEA cross-efficiency evaluation in portfolio selection. While cross efficiency is an approach developed for peer evaluation, we improve its use in portfolio selection. In addition to (average) cross-efficiency scores, we suggest to examine the variations of...

Effectiveness involves more than simple efficiency, which is limited to the production process assessment of peer operational units. Effectiveness incorporates variables that are both controllable (i.e. efficiency) and non-controllable (i.e. perceived quality) by the operational units. It is a...

This paper examines the applicability of data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a basis of selection criteria for equity portfolios. It is the first DEA application for constructing a combined equity investment strategy that aims to integrate the benefits of both value investing and momentum...

The measurement of technical efficiency allows managers and policy makers to enhance existing differentials and potential improvements across a sample of analyzed units. The next step involves relating the obtained efficiency estimates to some external or environmental factors which may...