This thesis analyzes the efficiency structure of Turkish agriculture in farm household level by using various models of stochastic frontier analysis. A household level survey conducted in 2002 and 2004 is used in the analysis. Firstly, an efficient production frontier is estimated by a panel data models. By using these estimates, relative importance of production factors and their interaction with various farm specific factors are inspected. The parameters of production frontier show that agricultural production is crucially dependant on land and there is an excessive employment of labor in Turkish agriculture. Secondly, the efficiency scores are estimated at farm household level. The results are reported according to NUTS-II regional classification and many other farm specific characteristics. The western parts of the country are found to be relatively more efficient and there is a high deviation in mean efficiencies of different regions. There is an increase in mean efficiencies of all regions from 2002 to 2004. Besides, crop patterns, farm size, education level of household chief and irrigation are found to be effective on efficiency.

Orientador: Maristela Simões do Carmo / Banca: Elias José Simon / Banca: José Maria Ferreira J.da Silveira / Banca: Liciana Vaz de Arruda Silveira / Banca: Paulo André de Oliveira / Resumo: A reforma agrária permanece um tema atual em função das tensões provocadas pela concentração de terras e pela falta de alternativas de ocupação para parte da população que ainda vive no meio rural. Ao transferir terras improdutivas para famílias com potencial produtivo, a reforma agrária pode aumentar a eficiência econômica. O modelo de reforma agrária brasileiro, baseia-se no assentamento de famílias sem terra, em terras devolutas ou desapropriadas de imóveis improdutivos. Os programas de acesso à terra via mercado são instrumentos complementares, disponibilizam crédito para grupos de produtores comprarem a propriedade no mercado fundiário. Portanto, espera-se que estes mecanismos produzam resultados distintos sobre a alocação de recursos e eficiência produtiva. O objetivo deste trabalho foi medir a eficiência de produção relativa entre os assentados segundo o mecanismo de acesso à terra. A análise de eficiência produtiva foi realizada utilizando-se um modelo de fronteira estocástica de produção sob a forma funcional Cobb-Douglas. Os dados são representativos para o conjunto dos estados: Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pernambuco e Norte de Minas Gerais. A eficiência média estimada foi de 0,3163, sendo 0,3678 para os assentados por desapropriação e 0,3537 para os beneficiários com acesso à terra via mercado. A produção apresentou rendimentos decrescentes em função dos fatores de produção, com maior elasticidade parcial para terra. Os resultados não indicaram evidências de que o acesso à terra via mercado contribuísse para a eficiência dos assentados. Contribuíram positivamente para eficiência, as fontes: trabalho externo, trabalho coletivo, localização em municípios com solos de qualidade superior, localização nos estados do Maranhão e Ceará, idade do chefe da família, o cultivo irrigado e emprego de tração mecânica nas atividades produtivas / Abstract: Land reform remains a current theme considering the tensions provoked by the concentration of lands and the lack of alternatives of employment for the population who live in rural areas. Land reform can improve the economic efficiency level when the unproductive lands are transferred to families with productive potential. The model of Brazilian land reform is based on settlements of families without land, in unoccupied public lands, or expropriation of unproductive estates. The market assisted land reform programs are considered complementary instruments of land reform. They are used to provide credit for land purchase by groups of landless farmers directly from the land market. The aim of this research was to measure the profit efficiency, considering two different mechanisms of land access. The analysis of profit efficiency was performed using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The frontier of production was estimated based on Cobb-Douglas production function. The data set represents the states: Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pernambuco and the north region of Minas Gerais. The overall efficiency estimates were 0.3163. The efficiency estimates were 0.3678 for the farmers assigned by expropriation, and 0.3678 for the farmers with market land access. The production showed decreasing gains with the major partial elasticity for land. The positive efficiency effect sources are: farm labor, collective labor, location in superior soil class county areas, location in Maranhão and Ceará states, age of head of household, crops with irrigation or flood, and use of machinery. The negative efficiency effect sources are: outer-incomes and family consumption of its own production. There was no evidence that the farmers assigned by market assisted land reform developed more efficiency. On the other hand, it is not correct to conclude that farmers assigned by land expropriation developed better profit efficiency level / Doutor

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-05-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:22:33Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 magalhaes_mm_dr_botfca.pdf: 1978084 bytes, checksum: a0a61735ae0e07c85cc492d025d2c1f4 (MD5) / A reforma agrária permanece um tema atual em função das tensões provocadas pela concentração de terras e pela falta de alternativas de ocupação para parte da população que ainda vive no meio rural. Ao transferir terras improdutivas para famílias com potencial produtivo, a reforma agrária pode aumentar a eficiência econômica. O modelo de reforma agrária brasileiro, baseia-se no assentamento de famílias sem terra, em terras devolutas ou desapropriadas de imóveis improdutivos. Os programas de acesso à terra via mercado são instrumentos complementares, disponibilizam crédito para grupos de produtores comprarem a propriedade no mercado fundiário. Portanto, espera-se que estes mecanismos produzam resultados distintos sobre a alocação de recursos e eficiência produtiva. O objetivo deste trabalho foi medir a eficiência de produção relativa entre os assentados segundo o mecanismo de acesso à terra. A análise de eficiência produtiva foi realizada utilizando-se um modelo de fronteira estocástica de produção sob a forma funcional Cobb-Douglas. Os dados são representativos para o conjunto dos estados: Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pernambuco e Norte de Minas Gerais. A eficiência média estimada foi de 0,3163, sendo 0,3678 para os assentados por desapropriação e 0,3537 para os beneficiários com acesso à terra via mercado. A produção apresentou rendimentos decrescentes em função dos fatores de produção, com maior elasticidade parcial para terra. Os resultados não indicaram evidências de que o acesso à terra via mercado contribuísse para a eficiência dos assentados. Contribuíram positivamente para eficiência, as fontes: trabalho externo, trabalho coletivo, localização em municípios com solos de qualidade superior, localização nos estados do Maranhão e Ceará, idade do chefe da família, o cultivo irrigado e emprego de tração mecânica nas atividades produtivas / Land reform remains a current theme considering the tensions provoked by the concentration of lands and the lack of alternatives of employment for the population who live in rural areas. Land reform can improve the economic efficiency level when the unproductive lands are transferred to families with productive potential. The model of Brazilian land reform is based on settlements of families without land, in unoccupied public lands, or expropriation of unproductive estates. The market assisted land reform programs are considered complementary instruments of land reform. They are used to provide credit for land purchase by groups of landless farmers directly from the land market. The aim of this research was to measure the profit efficiency, considering two different mechanisms of land access. The analysis of profit efficiency was performed using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The frontier of production was estimated based on Cobb-Douglas production function. The data set represents the states: Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pernambuco and the north region of Minas Gerais. The overall efficiency estimates were 0.3163. The efficiency estimates were 0.3678 for the farmers assigned by expropriation, and 0.3678 for the farmers with market land access. The production showed decreasing gains with the major partial elasticity for land. The positive efficiency effect sources are: farm labor, collective labor, location in superior soil class county areas, location in Maranhão and Ceará states, age of head of household, crops with irrigation or flood, and use of machinery. The negative efficiency effect sources are: outer-incomes and family consumption of its own production. There was no evidence that the farmers assigned by market assisted land reform developed more efficiency. On the other hand, it is not correct to conclude that farmers assigned by land expropriation developed better profit efficiency level

Submitted by Nicoli Carolini de Lázari null (nicolicarol@hotmail.com) on 2017-04-21T22:58:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 NicoliCaroliniDeLázari_PGAD_TUPA_Fevereiro2017.pdf: 2566566 bytes, checksum: 7acca8a7e2294f9242da9387a0ceda7d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com) on 2017-04-25T19:25:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 lazari_nc_me_tupa.pdf: 2566566 bytes, checksum: 7acca8a7e2294f9242da9387a0ceda7d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-25T19:25:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 lazari_nc_me_tupa.pdf: 2566566 bytes, checksum: 7acca8a7e2294f9242da9387a0ceda7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo deste estudo é medir o crescimento da produtividade total dos fatores (PTF) segundo o tamanho dos estabelecimentos agropecuários na região Sudeste entre os Censos Agropecuários de 1985, 1995/96 e 2006, assim como decompor a mudança da PTF em dois componentes, mudança tecnológica e mudança na eficiência técnica. Este objetivo está fundamentado nas hipóteses de que exista heterogeneidade no crescimento da PTF segundo o tamanho dos estabelecimentos, e que distintas fontes expliquem essa heterogeneidade. A metodologia está baseada na análise de fronteira estocástica de produção. Os dados são representativos para os municípios da macrorregião, considerando cinco classes de área: 0-5 ha, 5-20 ha, 20-100 ha, 100-500 ha, 500 e mais ha. Observou-se crescimento da PTF para a região Sudeste. A decomposição deste crescimento apontou a mudança tecnológica como a principal fonte de ganho de produtividade. A mudança na eficiência técnica foi negativa. O crescimento da PTF entre os tamanhos de estabelecimentos e entre as unidades da federação da região Sudeste foi heterogêneo. Os maiores estabelecimentos, 100-500 ha e 500 e mais ha, alcançaram maior crescimento da PTF do que os estabelecimentos das três primeiras classes de área, 0-5 ha, 5-20 ha e 20-100 ha. Para as unidades da federação, notou-se que a PTF do estabelecimento de São Paulo cresceu relativamente mais rápido. / The aim of this paper is to measure the total factor productivity (TFP) growth by farm size in Southeast, from the 1985, 1995/96 and 2006 Agricultural Census, as well as to decompose TFP change into two components, technical change and technical efficiency change. This aim is based on the hypothesis that there is heterogeneity in TFP growth by farm size, and that different sources explain such heterogeneity. The methodology is based on stochastic frontier analysis. The data are aggregated at the municipality level into five size classes: 0-5 ha, 5-20 ha, ha 20-100, 100-500 ha, greater than 500 ha. It was observed productivity growth in Southeast. The decomposition of this growth showed to technical change as the main source of productivity gain. The technical efficiency change was negative. This growth was heterogeneous among size class and among states of the Southeast region. The largest farms, 100-500 ha and greater than 500 ha, achieved higher TFP growth than the first three size classes, 0-5 ha, 5-20 ha and 20-100 ha. Among states, it was noticed that the TFP in São Paulo farm grew relatively faster.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / Dennis L. Weisman / This empirical dissertation consists of three essays on mergers and regulation in the U.S. telecommunications industry. An abstract for each of the three essays follows. Essay 1: This study has attempted to measure the productivity growth associated with 25 incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) over the period 1996-2005 using a Malmquist productivity index. The average efficiency scores for our sample companies have not changed significantly between 1996 and 2005, which indicates that the average ILECs shows no measurable improvement in terms of optimizing their input-output combinations over time. We find some empirical evidence of a positive merger effect, although this effect diminishes over time. In addition, we find that non-merged firms underperform in terms of average productivity growth. Essay 2: This study analyzes the merger effects for 25 ILECs over the period 1996-2005 using stochastic frontier analysis with a time-varying inefficiency model. In addition, we conduct a comparison of indices between the stochastic frontier analysis and the Malmquist index method. The empirical results indicate that the sample of telecommunications firms has experienced deterioration in average productivity growth following the mergers. In addition, both approaches suggest that firms that do not merge underperform in terms of average productivity growth. Essay 3: This essay investigates whether the substitution of price cap regulation (PCR), along with other regulatory regimes, for traditional rate of return regulation (RRR) has had a measurable effect on productivity growth in the U.S. telecommunications industry. A stochastic frontier approach, which differs from previous studies, is employed to compute efficiency change, technological progress, and productivity growth for 25 LECs over the period 1988-1998. By examining the relationship between the change in productivity growth and regulatory regime variables, while controlling for other effects, we find that PCR and other regulatory regimes have a positive effect on productivity growth. However, only PCR has a significant and positive effect in both contemporaneous and lagged model specifications.

Innovation efficiency is a key factor influencing the position of high-tech industries in the global value chain. Through stochastic frontier analysis, innovation efficiency of China's high-tech industry from 2000 to 2016 was estimated and analyzed. Through five random frontier analysis models, innovation efficiency of new product sales revenue and number of patent applications are analyzed. Results show that the overall level of innovation efficiency in China's high-tech industry is not high. Government subsidies for innovation have a positive impact on the R&D results of new product income from China’s high-tech industry, but have a negative impact on the number of patent applications. Scale of enterprise, degree of openness of enterprise, quality of the labor force and export delivery have a positive impact on innovation efficiency of China's high-tech industry. R&D capital stock and R&D human capital stock have a positive effect on high-tech industry innovation. In high-tech industry's transition from patents to new products, there will be a low conversion rate. Results of economic analysis can help the government to make the basis for management decisions. Conclusion of innovation performance analysis provides practical normative guidance for these high-tech industries.

This paper provides a systematic review of the literature that employs stochastic frontier analysis to measure the efficiency of higher education institutions. The overview opens with a look at the general development of the literature, before emphasis is laid on the methodical aspects. Focus is thereby placed on the necessary underlying assumptions and the employed specifications, discussing their advantages and drawbacks. Afterwards, the factors that were specified in the literature, including the input and output variables, as well as the determinants of efficiency, are discussed in detail. Based on the insights of the literature review, the paper highlights some of the existing deficiencies and ways forward. To our knowledge, the present study provides the first systematic review on the usage of the stochastic frontier analysis to measure efficiency in the higher education sector.

The thesis examines technical efficiency using frontier efficiency estimation techniques from parametric and non-parametric approaches. Five different frontier efficiency estimation techniques are considered which are SFA, DFA, DEA-CCR, DEA-BCC and DEA-RAM. These techniques are then used on an artificially generated panel dataset using a two-input two-output production function framework based on characteristics of German life-insurers. The key contribution of the thesis is firstly, a study that uses simulated panel dataset to estimate frontier efficiency techniques and secondly, a research framework that compares multiple frontier efficiency techniques across parametric and non-parametric approaches in the context of simulated panel data. The findings suggest that, as opposed to previous studies, parametric and non-parametric approaches can both generate comparable technical efficiency scores with simulated data. Moreover, techniques from parametric approaches, i.e. SFA and DFA are consistent with each other whereas the same applies to non-parametric approaches, i.e. DEA models. The research study also discusses some important theoretical and methodological implication of the findings and suggests some ways whereby future research can enable to overcome some of the restrictions associated with current approaches.

Evaluations of the Higher Education Sector are receiving increased attention, due to the rising expenditures and the absence of efficiency enhancing market pressure. To what extent universities are able to eliminate inefficiency is a question that has only partially been answered. This paper argues that heterogeneity among universities as well as persistent inefficiency hinder the institutions to achieve full efficiency - at least in the short run. Two standard and one novel specification of the Stochastic Frontier Analysis are applied to a new, comprehensive set of panel data to show how the standard efficiency evaluation changes when both aspects are taken into account. It is the first time that the idea of persistent inefficiency is considered in the analysis of the German Higher Education Sector. The comparison reveals that the disregard of heterogeneity distorts the estimation results towards lower efficiency values. The newly introduced specification improves the accuracy of the heterogeneity assumption and exposes that inefficiency tends to be long term and persistent rather than short term and residual. This implies that increasing efficiency requires a comprehensive change of the university structure.

Evaluations of the Higher Education Sector are receiving increased attention, due to the rising expenditures and the absence of efficiency enhancing market pressure. To what extent universities are able to eliminate inefficiency is a question that has only partially been answered. This paper argues that heterogeneity among universities as well as persistent inefficiency hinder the institutions to achieve full efficiency - at least in the short run. Two standard and one novel specification of the Stochastic Frontier Analysis are applied to a new, comprehensive set of panel data to show how the standard efficiency evaluation changes when both aspects are taken into account. It is the first time that the idea of persistent inefficiency is considered in the analysis of the German Higher Education Sector. The comparison reveals that the disregard of heterogeneity distorts the estimation results towards lower efficiency values. The newly introduced specification improves the accuracy of the heterogeneity assumption and exposes that inefficiency tends to be long term and persistent rather than short term and residual. This implies that increasing efficiency requires a comprehensive change of the university structure.