This work focuses on measuring and explaining producer performance. The authors view performance as a function of the state of technology and economic efficiency, with the former defining a frontier relation between inputs and outputs; the former incorporating waste and misallocation relative to this frontier. They show that insights can be gained by allowing for the possibility of a divergence between the economic objective and actual performance, and by associating this inefficiency with causal variables subject to managerial or policy influence. Derived from a series of lectures held on techniques and applications of the three approaches to the construction of production frontiers and measure of efficiency, this work will be an essential reference to scholars of a variety of disciplines who are involved with quantitative methods or policy.

Provides a comprehensive approach to productivity and efficiency analysis using economic and econometric theory.

When Harold Fried, et al. published The Measurement of Productive Efficiency: Techniques and Applications with OUP in 1993, the book received a great deal of professional interest for its accessible treatment of the rapidly growing field of efficiency and productivity analysis. The first several chapters, providing the background, motivation, and theoretical foundations for this topic, were the most widely recognized. In this tight, direct update, these same editors have compiled over ten years of the most recent research in this changing field, and expanded on those seminal chapters. The book will guide readers from the basic models to the latest, cutting-edge extensions, and will be reinforced by references to classic and current theoretical and applied research. It is intended for professors and graduate students in a variety of fields, ranging from economics to agricultural economics, business administration, management science, and public administration. It should also appeal to public servants and policy makers engaged in business performance analysis or regulation.

Softcover version of the second edition Hardcover. Incorporates a new author, Dr. Chris O'Donnell, who brings considerable expertise to the project in the area of performance measurement. Numerous topics are being added and more applications using real data, as well as exercises at the end of the chapters. Data sets, computer codes and software will be available for download from the web to accompany the volume.

This book provides a coherent description of the main concepts and statistical methods used to analyse economic performance. The focus is on measures of performance that are of practical relevance to policy makers. Most, if not all, of these measures can be viewed as measures of productivity and/or efficiency. Linking fields as diverse as index number theory, data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis, the book explains how to compute measures of input and output quantity change that are consistent with measurement theory. It then discusses ways in which meaningful measures of productivity change can be decomposed into measures of technical progress, environmental change, and different types of efficiency change. The book is aimed at graduate students, researchers, statisticians, accountants and economists working in universities, regulatory authorities, government departments and private firms. The book contains many numerical examples. Computer codes and datasets are available on a companion website.

A systematic treatment of dynamic decision making and performance measurement Modern business environments are dynamic. Yet, the models used to make decisions and quantify success within them are stuck in the past. In a world where demands, resources, and technology are interconnected and evolving, measures of efficiency need to reflect that environment. In Dynamic Efficiency and Productivity Measurement, Elvira Silva, Spiro E. Stefanou, and Alfons Oude Lansink look at the business process from a dynamic perspective. Their systematic study covers dynamic production environments where current production decisions impact future production possibilities. By considering practical factors like adjustments over time, this book offers an important lens for contemporary microeconomic analysis. Silva, Stefanou, and Lansink develop the analytical foundations of dynamic production technology in both primal and dual representations, with an emphasis on directional distance functions. They cover concepts measuring the production structure (economies of scale, economies of scope, capacity utilization) and performance (allocative, scale and technical inefficiency, productivity) in a methodological and comprehensive way. Through a unified approach, Dynamic Efficiency and Productivity Measurement offers a guide to how firms maximize potential in changing environments and an invaluable contribution to applied microeconomics.

Presents the proceedings of two workshops on productivity measurement and analysis, which brought together representatives of statistical offices, central banks and other officials involved with the analysis and measurement of productivity at aggregate and industry levels.

The 22 papers in this volume illustrate the itinerary of Henry Tulkens on the occasion of his retirement from teaching. The volume presents contemporary analysis of Tulkens’ classic papers on public sector economics. The collection is structured in four parts: I. Decentralized resource allocation processes for public and private goods - II. Environment, public goods and externalities - III. Efficiency analysis - IV. Fiscal competition and optimality.