Analysis of technical efficiency can be carried out by several possible approaches, such as a deterministic parametric approach, deterministic non-parametric approach (data envelopment analysis) and stochastic parametric approach. The content of this work is an analysis using stochastic parametric approach and deals with the efficiency computed by the help of production functions. The best known and most commonly used aggregate production function is a Cobb-Douglas production function, which is a modification of the static formulation of a relationship between variables and factors of production. The analysis of efficiency can be explained by using of different factors. In this work, the effectiveness is analyzed by the export value of controlled entities and dependent on GDP and public investment. Technical efficiency is studied comparing twenty-seven European Union economies. The analysis is applied to the universal values of the variables and the values per capita.

This paper seeks to compare production costs of similar farms to determine competitiveness across countries. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach was used to calculate efficiency indices for farms producing corn, soybeans, wheat, both corn and soybeans, and both corn and wheat. Technical efficiency, allocative efficiency, and cost efficiency were compared for all farms. The data consisted of a five-year (2013-2017) panel of 24 corn-producing farms, 15 soybean-producing farms, 38 wheat-producing farms, 13 farms producing both corn and soybeans, and 17 farms producing both corn and wheat. The <i>agri benchmark</i> network at the Thünen Institute (TI) of Farm Economics manages the dataset that was used in this analysis. Outputs were measured using revenue. Input costs included direct costs, operating costs, and overhead costs.<br>

O objetivo desse estudo é avaliar a eficiência técnica dos sistemas municipais de educação no Estado de São Paulo, especificamente no nível de ensino fundamental. Para calcular a eficiência técnica na provisão de serviços educacionais, vamos empregar o método não-paramétrico denominado Análise Envoltória de Dados Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) em dois estágios. O primeiro estágio consiste em calcular os índices de eficiência pelo modelo DEA e, o segundo em estimar, por meio de uma regressão censurada Tobit, os parâmetros das variáveis que podem influenciar nos índices obtidos no primeiro estágio. Os resultados identificaram, sob a hipótese de retornos variáveis à escala, 93 municípios eficientes tecnicamente e, que os municípios operam em média com 14% de ineficiência de escala. Foi possível, ainda, constatar o grau de influência das variáveis socioeconômicas sobre a eficiência técnica e, identificar os fatores que afetam positivamente a eficiência técnica dos sistemas municipais de educação, como a escolaridade das mães, não reprovar de ano, entre outros. / The objective of this study is to evaluate the technical efficiency of the municipal system of education in the state of São Paulo, specifically in the level of fundamental school. To calculate the technical efficiency in the provision of educational services we will adopt the non parametric method denominated Data envelopment analysis (DEA) in two stages. The first stage consists in calculate the efficiency indexes with the DEA model and the second consists in estimate through a censored regression Tobit, the parameters of the variables that can influence the indexes obtained in the first stage. The results identified, under the hypothesis of variables returns to scale, 93 municipals technically efficient and that the municipals operate with 14% of inefficiency of scale. It was possible yet to identify the degree of influence of the socioeconomic variables over the technical efficiency and the factors that affect positively the technical efficiency of the municipal systems of education as the mothers educational level, non repetition, amongst others.

O setor agropecuário brasileiro apresentou nas últimas décadas elevadas taxas de crescimento da produtividade total dos fatores (PTF). Conforme dados da Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB, 2016), as culturas de milho e soja situam-se entre as principais cadeias produtivas da agropecuária brasileira, caracterizando o Brasil como um dos principais produtores mundiais dessas culturas. Entretanto, as produtividades médias das culturas de milho e soja observadas em diversas regiões do território nacional apresentam-se aquém daquelas observadas em outros países produtores, indicando que ganhos de eficiência produtiva ainda são possíveis. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho, utilizando a metodologia de fronteira estocástica apresentada por Kumbhakar, Wang e Horncastle (2015), estimou a eficiência técnica dos produtores de milho e soja no Brasil incluindo na análise variáveis institucionais e agronômicas. Foram realizadas duas análises da eficiência técnica, uma considerando apenas os produtores do estado de São Paulo, a partir dos microdados do Levantamento Censitário das Unidades de Produção Agropecuária (LUPA), realizado pelo Instituto de Economia Agrícola no ano safra 2007/2008, e a segunda análise examinando a eficiência técnica em todo o país, utilizando os microdados do Censo Agropecuário 2006 do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE. Os principais resultados estimados revelaram que os produtores de milho são, na média, tecnicamente menos eficientes que os produtores de soja. Foi observado, também, a importância de técnicas modernas de manejo, como plantio direto, colheita mecanizada e manejo integrado de pragas, e do nível de instrução do produtor como determinantes da eficiência na produção de ambas as culturas no país. / In the last decades, the Brazilian agricultural sector presented high rates of growth of total factor productivity (TFP). According to data from the National Supply Company (CONAB, 2016), corn and soybean crops are among the main productive chains of Brazilian agriculture, characterizing Brazil as one of the main producers of these crops worldwide. However, the average yields of corn and soybean crops observed in several regions of the national territory are lower than those obtained in the other producing countries, indicating that gains in productive efficiency are still possible. In this sense, the present work, using the stochastic frontier methodology presented by Kumbhakar, Wang and Horncastle (2015), analyzed the technical efficiency of corn and soybean producers in Brazi, including in the analysis institutional and agronomic variables . Two analyzes of the technical efficiency were carried out, the first one considering only the producers within the state of São Paulo, based on the microdata of the Censitary Survey of Agricultural Production Units (LUPA), conducted by the Institute of Agricultural Economics in the 2007/2008 crop year, and the second was an analysis to estimate the technical efficiency throughout the country, using the microdata of the Agricultural Census 2006 of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - IBGE. The main estimated results showed that corn producers are, on average, technically less efficient than soybean producers. It was also observed the importance of modern management techniques such as tillage, mechanized harvesting and integrated pest management, and the producer level of education for the agricultural efficiency gains in the country.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo a análise da eficiência técnica das operadoras de planos de saúde vis-à-vis a criação da Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar - ANS, no período de 2003 a 2008. Para tanto, foi utilizada a Análise Envoltória de Dados nos dados da saúde suplementar para geração das medidas de eficiência das operadoras, agrupadas em cinco modalidades: autogestão, cooperativa médica, filantropia, medicina de grupo e seguradora. Foram propostas quatro diferentes abordagens que pretenderam visualizar as performances das operadoras nas questões econômico-financeiras e assistenciais, bem como a relação do setor de saúde suplementar com o Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS. Além disso, os dados foram desagregados em grandes regiões brasileiras proporcionando a observação das diferenças regionais. Observou-se que existem grandes diferenças entre modalidades e também entre regiões. A comparação entre as medidas de eficiência nas quatro diferentes abordagens e a evolução, ano a ano, dos normativos da ANS, ainda necessita de uma análise mais detalhada, mas indica, ainda que primariamente, que as modalidades tiveram diferentes reações à regulação. / This dissertation has as its objective the analysis of the technical efficiency of health care companies in view of the creation of the National Health Agency ANS, from 2003 to 2008. For this purpose, Data Envelopment Analysis Model was used for the generation of efficiency measures of companies grouped into five modalities: self-management, medical cooperative, philanthropy, group medicine and insurance company. Four different approaches were proposed wich were intended to help visualise the companies performance in the economic, finanacial and social areas, as well as the relationship between the health care insurance market and the Health Unified System SUS. Moreover, data were separated into large brazilian regions so that regional differences could be considered. As a result, we can see that there are considerable differences among modalities as well as regions. The comparasion of the efficiency measures of four different approaches and the evolution of ANS regulatory norms, year after year, still requires a detailed analysis, although it indicates, even if superficially, that modalities have reacted differently to the regulation.

O estudo apresenta uma análise dos principais determinantes da eficiência técnica das escolas do ensino básico brasileiras. Por se tratar de uma amostra de escolas do Saeb (Sistema de Avaliação do Ensino Brasileiro) para os anos de 1999, 2001 e 2003, optou-se por utilizar um método conhecido como fronteira estocástica. Todos os exercícios foram realizados com as instituições da quarta e oitava séries do ensino fundamental e terceira série do ensino médio, dando ênfase para a quarta série do ensino fundamental em duas disciplinas, Matemática e Português. Dois modelos foram aplicados, sendo que um deles inclui variáveis ambientais como regressores da fronteira estocástica (Modelo A), enquanto o outro especifica a ineficiência técnica como dependente dessas variáveis ambientais (Modelo B). Ambos os modelos mostraram que a eficiência técnica depende positivamente da escolaridade da mãe e do fato do aluno ser branco e negativamente com a proporção de alunos reprovados. Contudo, os dois modelos produziram estimativas de ineficiência técnica distintas, diferenciando-se em termos de média e de densidade. De forma geral, foi possível identificar ineficiência técnica média menor do que 5%. Ademais, foi possível verificar uma correlação positiva entre desempenho escolar e ineficiência técnica das escolas brasileiras. Dada a disponibilidade de um painel de escolas para os anos de análise, num segundo momento, foram realizados alguns exercícios comparativos com os resultados gerados pela amostra total do SAEB e com os resultados do painel de escolas. Um deles, se fez com a estimação da fronteira de produção propriamente dita, comparando-se os coeficientes e a significância das variáveis. O outro levou em conta o ranking de ineficiência gerado pela regressão. Os resultados comparativos sugerem que o painel de escolas não é por si só suficiente para explicar toda amostra de escolas pesquisadas pelo Saeb, mesmo que apresentem similaridades. / This study presents an analysis of the main determinants of technical efficiency of primary and secondary schools in Brazil. Since we used a sample of schools from the database Saeb (Assessment System for Brazilian Education) for the years 1999, 2001 and 2003, we chose to use a method known as stochastic frontier. All exercises were performed in the institutions of the fourth and eighth grades of elementary school and third grade of secondary education, with emphasis on the fourth grade of primary education in two disciplines, Mathematics and Portuguese. Two models were applied, one of which includes environmental variables as regressors of the stochastic frontier (Model A), while the other specifies the technical inefficiency as dependent on these environmental variables (Model B). Both models showed that the technical efficiency positively depends on the mothers education and the fact that the student is white and depends negatively of the proportion of students who failed. However, both models produced distinct estimates of technical inefficiency, differing in terms of average and density. In general it was possible to identify technical inneficiency average less than 5%. Furthermore, it was also observed a positive correlation between schools performance and technical inefficiency of the Brazilian schools. Given the availability of a panel of schools for the years of analysis, in a second moment, we performed some comparative exercises with the results generated by the total sample of SAEB and the panel results of schools. One of them, was done with the estimation of the production frontier itself, comparing the coefficients and significance of the variables. The other took into account the ranking of inefficiency generated sufficient by the regression. The comparative results suggest that the panel of schools is not by itself sufficient to explain the entire sample of schools surveyed by Saeb although they present similarities.

Este estudo investiga os fatores determinantes da eficiência técnica no setor de supermercados brasileiro com base na aplicação de diferentes métodos de fronteira de produção que permitem uma comparação de desempenho entre companhias. Para isso, utilizou-se uma amostra de 85 redes de supermercados em operação no Brasil entre os anos de 2006 e 2015. A metodologia de pesquisa baseou-se em três abordagens de estimação da fronteira de produção: paramétrica, não paramétrica e semiparamétrica. Na primeira, a eficiência é estimada por meio da análise da fronteira estocástica com dados em painel, e diferentes especificações para função de produção. Nessa etapa também são estimados modelos com heterogeneidade a fim de encontrar os determinantes da eficiência dos supermercados. Em seguida os métodos não paramétricos de fronteira são classificados quanto à organização dos dados, primeiramente calculou-se o DEA-Malmquist para dados em painel, e, em seguida a técnica de DEA tradicional para cada ano separadamente. Por fim, os escores de eficiência obtidos pelo DEA são organizados em painel e utilizados como variável dependente na abordagem semiparamétrica, que estima um modelo Tobit para encontrar os determinantes da eficiência. Os resultados de todas as abordagens apontam para a ineficiência do setor de supermercados brasileiro, um alerta às companhias para melhorarem seus processos produtivos. Foi identificada uma queda na eficiência técnica do setor nos últimos anos, enquanto a produtividade apresentou variação positiva, em grande parte causada pela mudança tecnológica. A análise comparativa dos resultados dos modelos mostrou que a escolha da abordagem não influencia no ranking de eficiência, por outro lado a magnitude dos escores de eficiência varia de forma significativa de um método para outro. Os modelos de SFA com heterogeneidade e DEA em dois estágios forneceram resultados diferentes quanto aos determinantes da eficiência, no entanto, na comparação da eficiência média foi possível encontrar evidências do impacto do tamanho, do poder de mercado e da realização de fusões e aquisições sobre a ineficiência dos supermercados, confirmando três das hipóteses propostas na pesquisa. Tais achados representam uma significativa contribuição para literatura sobre eficiência no varejo, ainda pouco explorada no Brasil / This study investigates the determinant technical efficiency factors in the Brazilian supermarket sector based on the application of different production frontier methods that allow a comparison of performance between companies. A sample of 85 supermarket chains operating in Brazil between 2006 and 2015 was used. The research methodology was based on three approaches of estimation of the frontier of production: parametric, non-parametric and semiparametric approach. In the first one, the efficiency is estimated through the analysis of the stochastic frontier with panel data, and different specifications for production function. In this step, models with heterogeneity are also estimated in order to find the determinants of supermarket efficiency. Then the non-parametric frontier methods are classified as to the organization of the data, first the DEA-Malmquist was used for panel data, and then the traditional DEA technique for each year separately. Finally, the efficiency scores obtained by the DEA are organized as a panel and used as the dependent variable in the semiparametric approach, which estimates a Tobit model to find the determinants of efficiency. The results of all approaches point to the inefficiency of the Brazilian supermarket sector, which represents an alert for companies to improve their production processes. In addition, a drop in the sector\'s technical efficiency was identified in recent years, while the productivity showed a positive variation, largely due to technological change. The comparative analysis of the model results showed that the choice of the approach did not influence the construction of the efficiency ranking, on the other hand, the magnitude of the efficiency scores varies significantly between the approaches. SFA models with heterogeneity and two-stage DEA provided different results regarding efficiency determinants; however, in the comparison of the average efficiency it was possible to find evidence of the impact of size, market power and mergers and acquisitions on the supermarket inefficiency, confirming three of the hypotheses proposed in the research. These findings represent a significant contribution to literature on retail efficiency, which is still little explored in Brazil.

Ghanaian banks struggle to maintain sufficient capital after the Bank of Ghana increased the minimum capital requirement as a buffer against the 2008 financial crisis. Grounded in the efficient structure theory (EST), the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationships between efficiency, size, risk, and ownership structure on banks' performance when minimum capital requirement increases. Archival data were collected from PricewaterhouseCoopers website covering all Ghanaian banks with available data for the 5-year period ending 2013. Initial one tail paired sample t tests revealed significant increases over time for efficiency, t(21) = 3.849, p -?¤ .001, net interest margin (NIM), t(21) = 5.201, p -?¤ .001, return on equity (ROE), t(21) = 1.833, p -?¤ .041, and risk t(21) = 3.614, p -?¤ .001. The results of the multiple regression analysis indicated the EST models could significantly predict bank performance for the 5-year period ending 2013. X-efficiency model could predict NIM F(8, 123) = 6.94, p =.00, R2 = .288, efficiency and ownership type were statistically significant with efficiency (t = 6.09, p -?¤ .001) denoting higher to the model than foreign banks (t = 2.96, p -?¤ .004). While, scale efficiency model could predict ROE, F(8, 123) = 5.18, p =.00, R2 = .133, ownership type and size were statistically significant with State banks (t = -2.26, p -?¤ .025) denoting more to the model than size (t = 2.00, p -?¤ .047). Society can benefit from the results of this doctoral study because investors, bank of Ghana, and bank managers could better predict the banks' performance based on the information from the study, which may lead to a higher families' confidence in the positive contribution of banks in their communities.

This thesis explored the measurement of performance of New Zealand tertiary education institutions (TEIs) and the demand for their services. This involved analysing the research performance of New Zealand universities, analysing the productive efficiency of New Zealand TEIs and examining the choice of provider by bachelor’s degree starters. Bibliometric data was used to measure the research productivity of New Zealand universities. This showed that following a fall during the early 2000s, the research productivity of New Zealand universities increased following the introduction of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF). A multi-dimensional analysis of university research performance between 2000 and 2005 showed that no individual university was top in all four of the performance measures assessed. The overall performance of three universities, Massey University, Lincoln University and Auckland University of Technology, were noticeably below that of the other five universities. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was then applied to input and output data of New Zealand TEIs to analyse their productive efficiency. In 2006, polytechnics that had: low levels of bachelor’s degree provision, were not regionally based, had a high proportion of subcontracting and were larger institutions, achieved higher levels of pure technical efficiency. The analysis showed that several polytechnics could improve their technical efficiency by reducing their scale of operations. In polytechnics, higher technical efficiency was associated with better financial performance. A number of technically efficient polytechnics struggled financially, indicating that the overall efficiency of the polytechnic sector was not high, or the funding model they operate under is not appropriate. The analysis also showed that decreasing bachelor’s degree provision, poor financial performance in the previous year, an increase in provision of community education, was associated with higher growth in total factor productivity between 1996 and 2006. The application of DEA to Australasian university data between 1997 and 2005 showed that New Zealand universities performed relatively well in terms of relative pure technical efficiency, compared with their Australian counterparts. However, the total factor productivity of New Zealand universities increased at a lower rate, on average, than that of the Australian Group of Eight and newer Australian universities. The application of DEA to a dataset of the participating TEIs in the PBRF showed that polytechnics had lower technical efficiency, on average, than other TEIs. The choices of bachelor’s degree starters in 2006 were analysed for evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between university and polytechnic degrees. The results showed that a lack of parity of esteem between polytechnic and university degrees may be influencing student choices. Students from higher deciles schools, with higher secondary school qualifications, Asians, students who travel for study, were all more likely to enrol in a university to start a bachelor’s degree. There was less clear cut evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between selected groupings of New Zealand universities. However, there did appear to be a lack of parity of esteem between the four older metropolitan universities and the two newest universities, with signs the former were held in higher esteem.

Self governance has proved to be a suitable instrument for the management of a common pool resource like fisheries. Under self governance, individuals organize themselves for the use of a resource, to deal with problems derived from the free access: overexploitation and low profit levels. Although there is a large amount of research devoted to investigate the common pool resources and self governance, there are two areas that represent a gap in the current research. One, what are the main variables related to likely self governance adoption? Two, how is the potential for self governance related to the economic efficiency of the resource users? Unlike most of previous research that involves ex-post analysis, this is an ex-ante assessment of the potential for self governance for management of a common pool resource: a small-scale fishery located in Mexico. This research hypothesizes a positive relationship between fisher's technical efficiency and the likely adoption of self governance for the management of the fishery. Taking a set of theoretical conditions, this research assesses the fishers' perception on the adoption of self governance. Further, a stochastic frontier analysis is applied to estimate the technical efficiency of each fisher. Finally, a relationship between the potential for self governance with technical efficiency, revenue, and other variables such as education and fisher experience is explored. The results show no significant effect of technical efficiency and revenue on the potential for self governance, as well a weak positive effect of fisher experience on the likelihood for self governance adoption. The findings of this research may be useful to improve the efficiency of the fishing activity and encourage the adoption of self governance in the study site. The method proposed in this research is based on attitudes of the fishers, and it represents a step toward understanding apriori whether self governance would be implementable or not. Thus, as an ex-ante assessment, it is hoped to help predicting individual's behavior to deal with the overexploitation and low income levels derived from the use of a common pool resource.