Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), as well as combinations thereof, are widely applied in incentive regulation practice, where the assessment of efficiency plays a major role in regulation design and benchmarking. Using a Monte Carlo simulation experiment,...

This paper analyzes the efficiency of Czech small and medium enterprises. We use the data from 2002 to 2005 of thirty manufacturing industries, each divided into five subgroups according to the number of employees. We employ standard and advanced robust data envelopment analysis (DEA) to obtain...

We measure cost efficiency of 202 Czech municipalities of extended scope in period 2003-2008. The study is the first application of overall efficiency measurement of the local governments in the new EU member states, and the second in post-communist countries. We measure government efficiency...

Analysis (DEA) have become very popular in the analysis of productive efficiency. This paper undertakes a comparison of the SFA and the constant returns to scale (CRS) and variable returns to scale (VRS) output-oriented DEA models, based on a sample of 165 dairy farms in Greece. However, the aim...

While productivity growth in electricity generation is associated with multiple positive effects from an economic and environmental perspective, measuring it is challenging. This paper proposes a framework to estimate and decompose productivity growth for a sector characterized by multiple...

This paper evaluates the efficiency of the twenty-one largest Syndicates of Lloyd's of London. Members of Lloyd's of London are grouped into Syndicates in order to undertake insurance liabilities. In this study, the Syndicate is regarded as the counterpart of an insurance company in a regular...

The English and Welsh water and sewerage industry is characterised by indivisible capital which has a long service life. Previous studies of efficiency of the English and Welsh water and sewerage industry take a static framework, assuming all inputs can be adjusted instantaneously. This paper...

We propose a two-stage procedure for finding realistic benchmarks for nonparametric efficiency analysis. On the first stage the efficient DMUs are figured out by a free disposal hull approach. These benchmarks are directly targeted by directional distance functions and the extent of inefficiency...

Scale characteristics are key properties of production functions that determine optimal firm sizes, and have considerable policy implications for sectors undergoing restructuring. However, estimates of scale characteristics typically vary with the assumptions of the underlying empirical model....

The recent period of crisis in credit markets has highlighted the crucial role of bank risk taking. Our paper assesses the inter-temporal relationships among bank efficiency, capital and bank risk-taking in the EU-26 commercial banking industry between 1995 and 2007. Our results support the bad...