A rich literature on the analysis of efficiency in production has developed since pioneering work of Tjalling Koopmans … some shape constraints, in multiple dimensions. New results that enable inference about mean efficiency as well as tests of … convexity, returns to scale, differences in mean efficiency and the separability condition described by Simar and Wilson …

The issue of quality and its relationship with efficiency and performance is a crucial operational issue in many fields … provide a methodology for identifying latent quality factors, estimate their statistical significance and analyze their impact …

technical efficiency in nonparametric settings. Two-stage estimation has been widely used, but requires a strong assumption: the … for uncondi- tional efficiency estimators developed by Kneip et al. (Econometric Theory, 2015a) and new CLTs for … conditional efficiency estimators developed in this paper. The test can be implemented relying on either asymptotic normality of …

demonstrate how the nonparametric conditional approach can be used to integrate quality into the analysis of efficiency. The … results refute the existence of a clear trade-off between efficiency and quality. The conditional approach can be applied to … deal with the complexity of the underlying relationships between efficiency and quality. …