			Home About us Contact

Economic Efficiency (economic + efficiency)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	60%
Humanities and Social Sciences	13%
Medical Sciences	10%
Engineering	5%
3 Other Domains	12%

Selected Abstracts

FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY, AND PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

THE DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, Issue 1 2006
Sylviane GUILLAUMONT JEANNENEY
O16; O47; R11 Financial development might lead to productivity improvement in developing countries. In the present study, based on the Data Envelopment Analysis approach, we use the Malmquist index to measure China's total factor productivity change and its two components (i.e., efficiency change and technical progress). We find that China has recorded an increase in total factor productivity from 1993 to 2001, and that productivity growth was mostly attributed to technical progress, rather than to improvement in efficiency. Moreover, using panel dataset covering 29 Chinese provinces over the period from 1993 to 2001 and applying the Generalized Method of Moment system estimation, we investigate the impact of financial development on productivity growth in China. Empirical results show that, during this period, financial development has significantly contributed to China's productivity growth, mainly through its favorable effect on efficiency. [source]

Housing Allowances and Economic Efficiency

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2006
MARIETTA E.A. HAFFNER
Housing allowances aim to make rental housing affordable for the recipients. Whether affordability for tenants is achieved in an economically efficient way is the question that is discussed in this essay. Three aspects of efficiency are focused on: disincentives to work, over-consumption of housing and horizontal inefficiency. These topics are tackled through a discussion that focuses mainly on the principles, but also on some of the outcomes, of the means-tested housing allowance systems in six Western countries: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden. Conclusions concern the apparent unimportance of the poverty trap or the unemployment trap specifically for rental housing, the concept of notional rent used to tackle over-consumption, and the frequent existence of some form of horizontal inefficiency. [source]

Economic Efficiency and Frontier Techniques

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 1 2004
Luis R. Murillo-Zamorano
Abstract. Most of the literature related to the measurement of economic efficiency has based its analysis either on parametric or on non-parametric frontier methods. The choice of estimation method has been an issue of debate, with some researchers preferring the parametric and others the non-parametric approach. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical and detailed review of both core frontier methods. In our opinion, no approach is strictly preferable to any other. Moreover, a careful consideration of their main advantages and disadvantages, of the data set utilized, and of the intrinsic characteristics of the framework under analysis will help us in the correct implementation of these techniques. Recent developments in frontier techniques and economic efficiency measurement such as Bayesian techniques, bootstrapping, duality theory and the analysis of sampling asymptotic properties are also considered in this paper. [source]

The Economics of Teams among Technicians

BRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 1 2001
Rosemary Batt
This paper examines the economic logic of organizing field technicians into self-managed teams, an approach to work organization that shifts the division of labour from a hierarchical to horizontal one. Economic efficiencies arise through the integration of direct and indirect labour tasks and the alignment of'the organizational structure with the occupational logic of communities of practice among technicians. Self-managed teams absorb the monitoring and co-ordination tasks of supervisors, substantially reducing indirect labour costs but without adversely affecting objective measures of quality and labour productivity. For technicians, team membership means longer work hours, but higher wages through overtime pay. [source]

Cataract surgery and effectiveness 2.

ACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2 2001
An index approach for the measurement of output, efficiency of cataract surgery at different surgery departments
ABSTRACT. Purpose: To describe a model for comparing the performance of cataract surgery among ophthalmology departments in terms of economic efficiency. Methods: An index approach for the measurement of outcome of cataract surgery is modeled. The index approach uses information about activities and difficulties in daily life as well as visual acuity and age. The change in activities and difficulties after surgery is expressed by changes in distances, and an overall index score is calculated as ratios of values to distances. Values to distances are estimated as solutions to linear programming problems. Index scores are calculated for two groups of patients, those with an ocular co-morbidity and those without. Economic efficiency is also estimated by use of an index approach. In the estimation of efficiency we use the calculated index scores of outcome of surgery as a measure of output of the ophthalmology department. Four different departments providing cataract surgery are compared. Results: The studied departments showed differences to a great extent when traditional measures of cataract surgery outcomes were used. These differences changed when the outcomes were compared by use of index scores. When economic efficiency was calculated the difference between the departments was further reduced and only one department was considered inefficient according to the model. Conclusion: An index approach was used to study outcomes of cataract surgery and economic efficiency in four departments. This approach takes into account the complexity of cost in relation to feasible outcome. The ranking between the departments described by traditional methods turned out differently using the model. [source]

Limited partnership: the lack of sustainable development in relation to participation in Hungarian public,private partnerships

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 4 2005
David Regéczi
Abstract Public,private partnerships represent a new form of network governance, potentially offering flexibility, economic efficiencies and non-governmental participation in policy development. Such partnerships can be viewed in terms of sustainable development, achieving two of its three tenets , economic and social growth. Combining growth and participation has particular appeal in transition economies such as Hungary's, where both need stimulation. However, policy-making at the national level in Hungary inhibits participation. One key element of partnerships is trust. In transition economies such as Hungary, public- and private-sector actors have not had the time to develop the relationships necessary to create partnerships based on joint decision-making. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Foreign Investment, Vertical Integration and Local Equity Requirements

ECONOMICA, Issue 284 2004
Avik Chakrabarti
The paper presents a spatial model in which a foreign firm and local government behave strategically in setting a local equity requirement (LER). Contrary to simple intuition, larger equity requirements may increase economic efficiency, but this conclusion is highly sensitive to the vertical structure of the foreign firm. When the foreign firm has monopoly power in both foreign (upstream) and domestic (downstream) markets, the optimal equity requirement is zero. Surprisingly, the introduction of domestic competition upstream causes the government to adopt a LER which lowers economic efficiency. [source]

An Evaluation of the Cod Fishing Policies of Denmark Iceland and Norway

EUROCHOICES, Issue 3 2004
R. Arnason
Summary An Evaluation of the Cod Fishing Policies of Denmark, Iceland and Norway Many ocean fisheries are subject to a fundamental economic problem generally referred to as the common property problem. This problem manifests itself as excessive fishing fleets and fishing effort, depressed fish stocks and little or no profitability of the fishing activity, irrespective of the richness of the underlying marine resources. European fisheries represent some of the most dramatic examples of the common property problem. This article employs simple empirical models and recently developed mathematical techniques to examine the economic efficiency of three European fisheries, namely the Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian cod fisheries, The optimal harvesting policies for each of these fisheries are calculated. Comparing these optimal policies with actual harvests provides a measure of the relative efficiency in these three cod fisheries. The comparison confirms the widely held impression that the cod harvesting policies of ail three countries have been hugely inefficient in the past. Moreover, it appears that the inefficiency has been increasing over time. Only during the last few years of our data are there indications that this negative trend may have been halted. Somewhat more surprisingly, in spite of radically different fisheries management systems, we find relatively little difference in the level of stock over-exploitation between these three countries. Politiques compareées de pêhe à la morue au Danemark, en Islande et en Norvège Beaucoup de pêcheries océaniques sont confrontées au problème nique fondamental de la "propriété collective". Celui-ci se manifeste par des flottes de taille excessive, au service d' efforts de péche exagérés, qui aboutissent à détruire les stocks de poisson et la rentabilité des pécheries, en dépit de la richesse des ressources marines sousjacentes. Les pêcheries européennes constituent actuellement l'un des exemples les plus dramatiques des problèmes associés a la propriété collective. On présente ici un modèle empirique assez simple mais associéà de nouvelles techniques mathématiques récemment développé es pour mesurer l' efficacitééconomique de trois types de politiques de pêche à la morue, au Danemark, en Norvège et en Islande. On commence par calculer le volume optimal des prises pour chacun de ces pays. La comparaison entre le niveau optimal et le niveau réel des prises permet de mesurer le degré d' efficacité des politiques suivies. Elle permet de confirmer l'opinion largement répandue selon laquelle les politiques passées ont été extrêmement peu efficaces. En outre, il apparaît que l'inefficacité est croissante avec le temps. C'est seulement dans les toutes dernières années des séries de données que l' on observe un infléchissement de cette tendance négative. Enfin, et c'est le plus surprenant, on trouve peu de differences entre les trois pays en ce qui conceme le degré de surexploitation du stock, et cela, bien que les principes de gestion des pêcheries y soient entiArement différents. Eine Bewertung der Kabeljaufischereipolitik in Dänemark, Island und Norwegen ahlreiche Hochseefischereien tehen einem grundlegenden ftliehen Problem gegenüber, das allgemein als Problem des kollektiven Eigentums bezeichnet wird. Dieses Problem zeigt sich in übermäßig großen Fangflotten und beträchtlichem Fischereiaufwand, geschrumpften Fischbeständen und geringer oder fehlender Rentabilität der Fischerei; dabei ist die Höhe der Fischressourcen unbedeutend für das Problem. Die europäischen Fischereien stellen einige der drastischsten Beispiele für das Problem des kollektiven Eigentums dar. In diesem Beitrag werden einfache empirische Modelle und kürzlich entwickelte mathematische Verfahren angewendet, um die wirtschaftliche Effizienz von drei europäischen Fischereien zu untersuchem der dänischen, der isländischen und der norwegischen Kabeljaufischerei. Für jede dieser Fischereien wird die optimale Nutzungsstrategie berechnet. Aus dem Vergleich dieser optimalen Nutzungsstrategie mit den tatsächlichen Erträgen ergibt sich ein Maß fur die relative Effizienz, die bei diesen drei Kabeljaufischereien vorliegt. Der Vergleich bestätigt den weit verbreiteten Eindruck, dass die Strategien zum Kabeljaufang in alien drei Ländern in der Vergangenheit enorm ineffizient waren. Darüber hinaus wird deutlich, dass die Ineffizienz im Laufe der Zeit zugenommen hat. Lediglich die Daten der letzten jahre enthalten Hinweise darauf, dass dieser negative Trend zum Stillstand gekommen sein könnte. Obwohl sich die Fischwirtschaft in jedem dieser drei Länder sehr stark unterscheidet, lassen sich erstaunlich wenige Unterschiede im Maß der Übernutzung des Fischbestandes finden. [source]

The enhancement of abalone stocks: lessons from Japanese case studies

FISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 3 2008
Katsuyuki Hamasaki
Abstract The dramatic declines in abalone Haliotis spp. fishery production have been documented all over the world. Release of hatchery-reared juveniles into natural habitats has been considered as one measure to sustain and/or augment the current fishery production of abalone, as well as to restore collapsed abalone stocks. However, attempts at abalone release programmes have only been undertaken at experimental scales, except for Japan, where large-scale stock enhancement programmes for abalone have been undertaken since late 1960s. To evaluate the potential of stock enhancement for abalone, we analysed the release surveys of 13 case studies in Japan in terms of the overall recapture rate (number of recaptures through a lifetime/number of juveniles released), yield per release (YPR, yields from released individuals), the economic efficiency of releases (ratio of income from recaptured abalone to release cost) for each release year, and the contribution of hatchery releases to total catches for each fishing year. The average estimates for overall recapture rates (0.014,0.238) and YPR (3.1,60.3 g/individual) varied between locations and release years. The economic efficiency was estimated at 0.4,6.2. The released abalone contributed 6.9,83.5% to total catches. Hatchery releases could augment total production at some locations, but the success of release programmes would be limited by the carrying capacity at release areas, because density-dependent mortality occurred following releases in some cases. Throughout Japan, the annual catch of abalone has continuously declined from ,6500 t in 1970 to ,2000 t in the mid-1990s, despite the increase in the number of hatchery releases. Based on the estimates for YPR, the magnitude of the abalone releases on a national scale has not been sufficiently large to sustain the total production of Japanese abalone, which has primarily fluctuated according to the abundances of wild populations. Our results suggest that releases should be targeted at local populations in regions where stock enhancement is predicted to have the greatest chance of success, and the magnitude of releases should be considered carefully and determined for each region by taking the local carrying capacity into account. We also address the future prospects of abalone stock enhancement. [source]

Global constraints on rural fishing communities: whose resilience is it anyway?

FISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 1 2007
Martin D Robards
Abstract Sustaining natural resources is regarded as an important component of ecological resilience and commonly assumed to be of similar importance to social and economic vitality for resource-dependent communities. However, communities may be prevented from benefiting from healthy local resources due to constrained economic or political opportunities. In the case of Alaskan wild salmon, the fisheries are in crisis due to declining economic revenues driven by the proliferation of reliable and increasingly high-quality products from fish farms around the world. This stands in contrast with many of the world's wild-capture fisheries where diminished biological abundance has led to fishery collapse. Furthermore, increasing efficiency of salmon farm production, globalization, and dynamic consumer preferences, suggests that the wild salmon industry will continue to be challenged by the adaptability, price and quality of farmed salmon. Conventional responses to reduced revenues by the wild-capture industry have been to increase economic efficiency through implementing a range of entry entitlement and quota allocation schemes. However, while these mechanisms may improve economic efficiency at a broad scale, they may not benefit local community interests, and in Alaska have precipitated declines in local ownership of the fishery. To be viable, economic efficiency remains a relevant consideration, but in a directionally changing environment (biological, social or economic), communities unable to procure livelihoods from their local resources (through access or value) are likely to seek alternative economic opportunities. The adopted strategies, although logical for communities seeking viability through transformation in a changing world, may not be conducive to resilience of a ,fishing community' or the sustainability of their wild fish resources. We use a theoretically grounded systems approach and data from Alaska's Bristol Bay salmon fishery to demonstrate feedbacks between global preferences towards salmon and the trade-offs inherent when managing for the resilience of wild salmon populations and human communities at different scales. [source]

The Illusion of Equity: An Examination of Community Based Natural Resource Management and Inequality in Africa

GEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 9 2010
Cerian Gibbes
This article examines the dual goals of community based natural resource management (CBNRM) as a way to protect the environment (specifically wildlife) and enhance the socio-economic equity of communities. As described in the literature, CBNRM should integrate ecological sustainability, economic efficiency and social equity (Pagdee et al. 2006). Although occasionally successful at the first two ideal objectives, the enhancement of social equity is often wanting due to a priori assumptions about communities and resource management devolution. This article based largely on published literature, and addresses the constraints and opportunities for successful CBNRM in Africa, largely focusing on southern Africa as that part of the world has been one of the early testing grounds for these environmental management ideas. [source]

East,west: does it make a difference to hospital efficiencies in Ukraine?

HEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 11 2006
Anatoly I. Pilyavsky
Abstract Ukraine's history has given it a split personality (e.g. divergent cultural influences on economic and managerial behavior), as was observed in the recent political developments both prior to and following the December 2004 elections. Eastern regions were heavily influenced by Russo-Soviet rule, while western regions have more of a European outlook. This study, which is largely exploratory, compares recent trends in hospital efficiency in Ukraine to see if this split personality manifests itself in differential rates of improvement. Given the inflexibility of Soviet-style planned economies, it is hypothesized that western regions will show greater improvement in economic efficiency that can be attributed to higher levels of managerial and medical entrepreneurship. Data for this study comes from three oblasts (i.e. geopolitical regions), one in the west and two in the east, spanning from 1997 to 2001. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to estimate technical efficiency for the hospitals. After correcting for bias, a second,stage Tobit regression was estimated. Results indicate that hospitals in the west improved efficiencies, while those in the east stayed constant. These western areas of the nation, being more amenable to western management and medical ,business' practice, may be quicker to pick up on new techniques to increase healthcare delivery efficiencies. This may stem from the more limited effects of a shorter history of incorporation into a Soviet-style planned and controlled economy in which individual decision-making and entrepreneurship was suppressed in favor of central decision-making by the state. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Relationship-based e-commerce: theory and evidence from China

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2008
Maris G. Martinsons
Abstract., Electronic commerce models and prescriptions from rule-based market economies like the United States have limited applicability in emerging markets. This paper adopts a strategic management perspective to examine the distinctive challenges facing e-commerce in China. A theory is developed to explain how the lack of dependable rules encourages guanxi and relationship-based commerce. It suggests that personal trust, contextual and informal information, and blurred boundaries between business and government have shaped e-commerce in mainland China. Case studies of online retailers in Beijing and Shanghai and a business-to-business (B2B) marketspace reveal how dynamic business relationships with complementary service providers and state agents can overcome institutional deficiencies. Short message service (SMS)-based mobile commerce (m-commerce) and other leapfrogging information technology (IT) applications could transform Chinese consumer behaviour and improve economic efficiency. The evidence from China helps to explain the influence of culture and institutions on different types of IT applications. Implications for e-commerce research and practice in China and other emerging markets are discussed. [source]

A decision support tool for irrigation infrastructure investments,

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE, Issue 4 2010
Shahbaz Khan
outil d'aide à la décision; gestion de l'eau; investissements saisonniers et à long terme; optimisation; simulation; analyse coûts-avantages; ensemble de l'exploitation; négociation de l'eau; économie d'eau Abstract Increasing water scarcity, climate change and pressure to provide water for environmental flows urge irrigators to be more efficient. In Australia, ongoing water reforms and most recently the National Water Security Plan offer incentives to irrigators to adjust their farming practices by adopting water-saving irrigation infrastructures to match soil, crop and climatic conditions. WaterWorks is a decision support tool to facilitate irrigators to make long- and short-term irrigation infrastructure investment decisions at the farm level. It helps irrigators to improve the economic efficiency, water use efficiency and environmental performance of their farm businesses. WaterWorks has been tested, validated and accepted by the irrigation community and researchers in NSW, Australia. The interface of WaterWorks is user-friendly and flexible. The simulation and optimisation module in WaterWorks provides an opportunity to evaluate infrastructure investment decisions to suit their seasonal or long-term water availability. The sensitivity analysis allows substantiation of the impact of major variables. Net present value, internal rate of return, benefit,cost ratio and payback period are used to analyse the costs and benefits of modern irrigation technology. Application of WaterWorks using a whole farm-level case study indicates its effectiveness in making long- and short-term investment decisions. WaterWorks can be easily integrated into commercial software such as spreadsheets, GIS, real-time data acquisition and control systems to further enhance its usability. WaterWorks can also be used in regional development planning. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. L'augmentation de la rareté de l'eau, le changement climatique et la pression pour fournir de l'eau pour l'environnement incitent les irrigants à être plus efficaces. En Australie les réformes en cours sur l'eau, et plus récemment le Plan National de Sécurité de l'Eau, incitent les irrigants à ajuster leurs pratiques agricoles par l'adoption d'infrastructures d'irrigation économisant l'eau pour s'adapter aux conditions de sols, de cultures et de climat. WaterWorks est un outil d'aide à la décision pour faciliter les décisions d'investissement à long terme et court terme au niveau de l'exploitation. Il aide les irrigants à améliorer l'efficacité économique, l'efficacité de l'utilisation de l'eau et la performance environnementale de leurs exploitations agricoles. Le WaterWorks a été testé, validé et accepté par la communauté de l'irrigation dans le New South Wales, Australie. L'interface de WaterWorks est convivial et flexible. Le module de simulation et d'optimisation dans WaterWorks permet d'évaluer les décisions d'investissement en fonction de la disponibilité en eau saisonnière ou à long terme. L'analyse de sensibilité permet d'étayer l'impact des principales variables. La valeur actuelle nette, le taux de rendement interne, le ratio coûts-avantages et la période de récupération sont utilisés pour analyser les coûts et les avantages des technologies modernes d'irrigation. L'application de WaterWorks à une étude de cas complète au niveau de l'exploitation montre son efficacité pour les décisions d'investissement à long terme et court terme. Le WaterWorks peut être facilement intégré dans des logiciels commerciaux tels que les tableurs, les SIG, des systèmes d'acquisition de données en temps réel et de contrôle afin d'améliorer sa convivialité. Le WaterWorks peut également être utilisé pour la planification du développement régional. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Mid-term report on St Luke's College of Nursing's 21st century Center of Excellence Program: Core elements and specific goals of people-centered care

JAPAN JOURNAL OF NURSING SCIENCE, Issue 1 2006
Hiroko KOMATSU
Abstract Aim:, This paper, at the halfway point of the 5 year Center of Excellence (COE) Program, aims to extract common core elements of each COE project working on the development of people-centered care and to clarify future issues related to the COE Program through the evaluation of those elements. Methods:, All data obtained in such research activities, including records, interviews, meeting minutes, and results, are shared for each project in COE section meetings or general assemblies and the findings that are established there are accumulated. We also have set up a working group to develop the people-centered care concept by continuously reviewing the core elements of people-centered care based on the collected data. In order to track the projects in an orderly manner, we classified and organized the activities of the 11 COE projects based on the Process Evaluation Model and reviewed common important elements. Results:, The characteristic components, related to participation, relationships, capacity-building, empowerment, and product (specific achievements), were extracted as common core elements of each COE project. Conclusion:, In order to maintain the sustainability of people-centered care incorporated in communities, concrete strategies for improving economic efficiency, social significance and utility, and evaluation methods need to be developed. [source]

Economic Efficiency and Frontier Techniques

Progressive Taxes and the Labour Market: Is the Trade,off Between Equality and Efficiency Inevitable?

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 1 2002
Knut Røed
Does an income tax harm economic efficiency more the more progressive it is? Public economics provides a strong case for a definite ,yes'. But at least three forces may pull in the other direction. First, low,wage workers may on average have more elastic labour supply schedules than high,wage workers, in which case progressive taxes contribute to a more efficient allocation of the total tax burden. Second, in non,competitive labour markets, progressive taxes may encourage wage moderation, and hence reduce the equilibrium level of unemployment. And third, if wage setters have egalitarian objectives, progressive taxes may reduce the need for redistribution in pre,tax wages, and hence increase the demand for low,skilled workers. This paper surveys the theoretical, as well as the empirical literature about labour supply, taxes and wage setting. We conclude that in a second best world, the trade,off between equality and efficiency is not always inevitable. [source]

Privatization, Labor and Social Safety Nets

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 5 2001
Sanjeev Gupta
Privatization promotes economic efficiency and growth, thereby reinforcing macroeconomic adjustment. In the short run, however, it can lead to job losses and wage cuts for workers. This paper discusses these adverse impacts of privatization in terms of various methods of privatization and surveys the existing empirical evidence. It finds that public sales and auctions can have stronger negative effects on workers but maximize the government's revenue. Policymakers' options for mitigating the social impact of privatization are surveyed. [source]

Non-Mandatory Approaches to Environmental Protection

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 3 2001
Madhu Khanna
The approach to environmental protection has been evolving from a regulation-driven, adversarial ,government-push' approach to a more proactive approach involving voluntary and often ,business-led' initiatives to self-regulate their environmental performance. This has been accompanied by increasing provision of environmental information about firms and products to enlist market forces and communities in creating a demand for corporate environmental self-regulation by signaling their preferences for environmentally friendly firms. This paper provides an overview of the non-mandatory approaches being used for environmental protection and surveys the existing theoretical literature analyzing the economic efficiency of such approaches relative to mandatory approaches. It also discusses empirical findings on the factors motivating self-regulation by firms and its implications for their economic and environmental performance. It examines the existing evidence on the extent to which information disclosure is effective in generating pressures from investors and communities on firms to improve their environmental performance. [source]

A speculative bubble in commodity futures prices?

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2010
Cross-sectional evidence
Commitment's of traders; Index funds; Commodity futures markets Abstract Recent accusations against speculators in general and long-only commodity index funds in particular include: increasing market volatility, distorting historical price relationships, and fueling a rapid increase and decrease in the level of commodity prices. Some researchers have argued that these market participants,through their impact on market prices,may have inadvertently prevented the efficient distribution of food aid to deserving groups. Certainly, this result,if substantiated,would counter the classical argument that speculators make prices more efficient and thus improve the economic efficiency of the food marketing system. Given the very important policy implications, it is crucial to develop a more thorough understanding of long-only index funds and their potential market impact. Here, we review the criticisms (and rebuttals) levied against (and for) commodity index funds in recent U.S. Congressional testimonies. Then, additional empirical evidence is added regarding cross-sectional market returns and the relative levels of long-only index fund participation in 12 commodity futures markets. The empirical results provide scant evidence that long-only index funds impact returns across commodity futures markets. [source]

Policy dependency and reform: economic gains versus political pains

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2-3 2004
David R. Harvey
Abstract Economic analysis condemns market intervention in favour of farmers as inefficient and ineffective, and therefore worthy of radical reform. Practical experience, however, indicates that such lessons are hard to learn and implement. Economic analysis tends to ignore the path dependencies generated by the policy evolution process. Without reform strategies that take full account of these dependencies, policy reform will continue to be reluctant, slow and frequently counter-productive. This paper reconsiders the evolution of farm policies and the economic assessment of their costs and benefits. In so doing, it re-phrases conventional economic arguments in terms which seem to accord better with sensible intuition, which may prove more accessible and credible to policymakers and advisors. The difficulties of reconciling economic efficiency with political acceptability are identified. The paper concludes with a substantial challenge to the agricultural economics profession. [source]

Groundwater Banking in Aquifers that Interact With Surface Water: Aquifer Response Functions and Double-Entry Accounting,

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 6 2009
Bryce A. Contor
Contor, Bryce A., 2009. Groundwater Banking in Aquifers That Interact With Surface Water: Aquifer Response Functions and Double-Entry Accounting. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45(6):1465-1474. Abstract:, Increasing worldwide demands for water call for mechanisms to facilitate storage of seasonal supplies and mechanisms to facilitate reallocation of water. Markets are economically efficient reallocation and incentive mechanisms when market conditions prevail, but special hydrologic and administrative conditions of water use and allocation interfere with required market conditions. Water banking in general can bring market forces to bear on water storage and reallocation, improving economic efficiency and therefore the welfare of society as a whole. Groundwater banking can utilize advantages of aquifers as storage vessels with vast capacity, low construction cost, and protection of stored water. For groundwater banking in aquifers that interact with surface water, an accounting system is needed that addresses the depletion of stored volumes of water as water migrates to surface water. Constructing such a system requires integration of hydrologic, economic, and legal principles with principles of financial accounting. Simple mass-balance accounting, even with allowances for depletion, is not adequate in these aquifers. Aquifer response functions are mathematical descriptions of the impact that aquifer pumping or recharge events have upon hydraulically connected surface water bodies. Double-entry accounting is a financial accounting methodology for tracking asset inventories and ownership claims upon assets. The powerful innovation of linking aquifer response functions with double-entry accounting technologies allows application of groundwater banking to aquifers where deposits can be depleted by migration to hydraulically connected surface water. It honors the hydrologic realities of groundwater/surface water interaction, the legal requirements of prior appropriation water law, and the economic requirements for equitable and efficient allocation of resources. [source]

On the Edge of the Law: Women's Property Rights and Dispute Resolution in Kisii, Kenya

LAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, Issue 1 2009
Elin Henrysson
Scholars have argued that economic efficiency requires a clear definition of the rights of ownership, contract, and transfer of land. Ambiguity in the definition or enforcement of any of these rights leads to an increase in transaction costs in the exchange and transfer of land as well as a residual uncertainty after any land contract. In Kenya, government efforts at establishing clearly defined property rights and adjudication mechanisms have been plagued by the existence of alternative processes for the adjudication of disputes. Customary dispute resolution has been praised as an inexpensive alternative to official judicial processes in a legally pluralistic environment. However, our research demonstrates that customary processes may also carry a monetary cost that puts them beyond the means of many citizens. This article compares the costs and processes of the formal and informal methods of property rights adjudication for women in the Kisii region of Kenya. The research results suggest that women have weak property rights overall, they have limited access to formal dispute resolution systems because of costs involved, and even the informal systems of conflict resolution are beyond the means of many citizens. [source]

Efficient organization of information processing

MANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2007
Jacek Cukrowski
The paper examines the application of the concept of economic efficiency to organizational issues of collective information processing in decision making. Information processing is modeled in the framework of the dynamic parallel processing model of associative computation with an endogenous setup cost of the processors. The model is extended to include the specific features of collective information processing in the team of decision makers which may lead to an error in data analysis. In such a model, the conditions for efficient organization of information processing are defined and the architecture of the efficient structures is considered. We show that specific features of collective decision making procedures require a broader framework for judging organizational efficiency than has traditionally been adopted. In particular, and contrary to the results available in economic literature, we show that there is no unique architecture for efficient information processing structures, but a number of various efficient forms. The results indicate that technological progress resulting in faster data processing (ceteris paribus) will lead to more regular information processing structures. However, if the relative cost of the delay in data analysis increases significantly, less regular structures could be efficient. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The impact of privatization and regulation on the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales: a translog cost function model

MANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 6 2000
David S Saal
After the ten Regional Water Authorities (RWAs) of England and Wales were privatized in November 1989, the successor Water and Sewerage Companies (WASCs) faced a new regulatory regime that was designed to promote economic efficiency while simultaneously improving drinking water and environmental quality. As legally mandated quality improvements necessitated a costly capital investment programme, the industry's economic regulator, the Office of Water Services (Ofwat), implemented a retail price index (RPI)+K pricing system, which was designed to compensate the WASCs for their capital investment programme while also encouraging gains in economic efficiency. In order to analyse jointly the impact of privatization, as well as the impact of increasingly stringent economic and environmental regulation on the WASCs' economic performance, this paper estimates a translog multiple output cost function model for the period 1985,1999. Given the significant costs associated with water quality improvements, the model is augmented to include the impact of drinking water quality and environmental quality on total costs. The model is then employed to determine the extent of scale and scope economies in the water and sewerage industry, as well as the impact of privatization and economic regulation on economic efficiency. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Oil and non-oil sectors in the Saudi Arabian economy

OPEC ENERGY REVIEW, Issue 3 2000
Masudul A. Choudhury
An empirical study of the sectoral diversification of the Saudi Arabian economy reveals that this economy is fast diversifying into non-oil sector activity. Such a transformation is carrying with it encouraging impacts on productivity growth, economic efficiency and social well-being. There is also found to occur all-round intersectoral linkages in the economy. These two patterns of economic change together define balanced and sustainable development for Saudi Arabia in the years ahead. The policy implications of non-oil sector diversification and intersectoral complementarity and their effects on realizing sustainable self-reliant development are important conclusions of this paper. [source]

Fiscal decentralisation in Africa: a framework for considering reform

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2003
Rémy Prud'hommeArticle first published online: 4 FEB 200
This article argues that there is no simple (or even complex) uniform model for fiscal decentralisation in Africa. Each country has to devise its own strategy. The article proposes an analytical framework to help countries consider how to structure fiscal decentralisation. It presents briefly the main decentralisation instruments available,allocation of functions and revenues across the levels of government, development of intergovernmental transfers, institution of central monitoring and control mechanisms and the institution of electoral rules. It then examines the various objectives that will be served or impacted by these instruments, including economic efficiency, macro-economic stability, interregional or interpersonal equity and political efficiency. Selected impacts are reviewed and illustrated to demonstrate how an understanding of these issues in each country is a prerequisite for designing appropriate decentralisation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Feature: The Price of Reconciliation: Part-Time Work, Families and Women's Satisfaction,

THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 526 2008
Mary Gregory
While the gender pay gap has been narrowing for women in full-time jobs the pay penalty for the 40% of women who work part-time has risen, reflecting the growing polarisation of part-time jobs in low-wage occupations. A further dimension is that women often experience downgrading from higher-skill full-time into lower-skill part-time occupations. As women reorganise their working lives around the presence of children their reported hours and job satisfaction are highest in part-time work, but life-satisfaction is scarcely affected by hours of work. This Feature explores these issues and their challenge for economic efficiency as well as gender equity. [source]

Value-Enhancing Capital Budgeting and Firm-specific Stock Return Variation

THE JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Issue 1 2004
Art Durnev
ABSTRACT We document a robust cross-sectional positive association across industries between a measure of the economic efficiency of corporate investment and the magnitude of firm-specific variation in stock returns. This finding is interesting for two reasons, neither of which is a priori obvious. First, it adds further support to the view that firm-specific return variation gauges the extent to which information about the firm is quickly and accurately reflected in share prices. Second, it can be interpreted as evidence that more informative stock prices facilitate more efficient corporate investment. [source]

Comparison of Economic Efficiency Estimation Methods: Parametric and Non,parametric Techniques

THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 5 2002
Hsin Huang
We employ a wide range of parametric and non,parametric cost frontiers' efficiency estimation methods to estimate economic efficiency and economies of scale, using the same panel data of 22 Taiwanese commercial banks over the period 1982,97. According to our empirical implementation, the two methodologies yield similar average efficiency estimates, yet they come to very dissimilar results pertaining to the efficiency rankings, the stability of measured efficiency over time, the consistency between frontier efficiency and conventional performance measures, and the estimates of scale economies. Thus, the choice of an estimation approach can result in very different conclusions and policy implications regarding cost efficiencies and cost economies. These findings suggest that making policy decisions and evaluations relies on multiple techniques and specifications. [source]