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Panel Data (panel + data)
Terms modified by Panel Data Selected AbstractsTHE CRIMINOGENIC EFFECTS OF IMPRISONMENT: EVIDENCE FROM STATE PANEL DATA, 1974,2002CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 3 2007LYNNE M. VIERAITIS Research Summary: The heavy reliance on the use of incarceration in an attempt to address the crime problem has resulted in a dramatic growth in the number of state prisoners over the past 30 years. In recent years, however, a growing concern has developed about the impact that large numbers of offenders released from prison will have on crime rates. Using a state panel data set for 46 states from 1974 to 2002, this study demonstrates that although prison population growth seems to be associated with statistically significant decreases in crime rates, increases in the number of prisoners released from prison seem to be significantly associated with increases in crime. Because we control for changes in prison population levels, we attribute the apparent positive influences on crime that seem to follow prison releases to the criminogenic effects of prison. Policy Implications: Policy makers should continue to serve the public interest by carefully considering policies that are designed to reduce incarceration rates and thus assuage the criminogenic effects of prison. These policies may include changes in sentencing, changes in probation and/or parole practices, or better funding of reentry services prerelease and postrelease. [source] INVENTOR PRODUCTIVITY AND FIRM SIZE: EVIDENCE FROM PANEL DATA ON INVENTORSPACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2009Jinyoung Kim It has long been recognized that worker wages and productivity are higher in large firms. Moreover, economists have been interested in the efficiency of large firms in R&D enterprises. This paper uses inventor panel data to examine the relationship between inventor productivity and firm size in the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries. In both industries, we find that inventors' productivity increases with firm size even after controlling for inventors' experience, education and other firm characteristics. We find evidence in the pharmaceutical industry that this is partly accounted for by differences in the way in which large and small firms organize R&D activities. [source] FOREIGN NETWORKS AND EXPORTS: RESULTS FROM INDONESIAN PANEL DATATHE DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, Issue 4 2008Fredrik SJÖHOLM F10; F23; L10 Most firms and plants in developing countries produce only for the domestic market and few are able to export. One plausible hypothesis is that foreign networks decrease export costs and that plants with large amounts of such networks will be relatively likely to start exporting. We focus on two types of foreign networks: foreign ownership and imports of intermediate products. Our results suggest that plants in Indonesian manufacturing with any foreign ownership are substantially more likely to start exporting than wholly domestically owned plants. The results remain robust to alternative model specifications and after controlling for other plant characteristics. There is no effect on exports of imports of intermediate products. [source] EFFECT OF IT JOB TRAINING ON EMPLOYMENT AND WAGE PREMIUM: EVIDENCE FROM KOREA PANEL DATATHE DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, Issue 4 2003Hong-Kyun KIM In this paper, we examine whether IT job training raises the probability of getting employed and enables the trainee to obtain a high wage. In this paper, it is reported that, in the Republic of Korea, IT job training as a whole affects not only employment but also wage premium, even though the effect on wage premium is somewhat less conspicuous. In particular, the intensity of IT job training is more instrumental in the opportunity of getting employed than simply whether receiving IT job training or not. This effect is intensified in the low-education group. In this group, the probability for the persons who undergo IT job training for more than six months of getting employed is higher than that for a person without any job training. Additionally, provision of IT job training by a private institute and cost sharing with the government enhances the opportunity of employment. [source] The Impact of Managerial Entrenchment on Agency Costs: An Empirical Investigation Using UK Panel DataEUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2009Chrisostomos Florackis G3; G32 Abstract This paper empirically investigates the relationship between managerial entrenchment and agency costs for a large sample of UK firms over the period 1999,2005. To measure managerial entrenchment, we use detailed information on ownership and board structures and managerial compensation. We develop a managerial entrenchment index, which captures the extent to which managers have the ability and incentives to expropriate wealth from shareholders. Our findings, which are based on a dynamic panel data analysis, show that there is a strong negative relationship between managerial entrenchment and our inverse proxy for agency costs, namely asset turnover ratio. There is also evidence that short-term debt and dividend payments work as effective corporate governance devices for UK firms. Finally, our findings reveal that agency costs are persistent over time. The results are robust to a number of alternative specifications, including varying measures of managerial entrenchment and agency costs. [source] The Underinvestment and Overinvestment Hypotheses: an Analysis Using Panel DataEUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2003Artur Morgado G31 We study the relationship between firm value and investment to test the underinvestment and overinvestment hypotheses. The results obtained, using panel data methodology as the estimation method, indicate that the abovementioned relation is quadratic, which implies that there exists an optimal level of investment. As a consequence, firms that invest less than the optimal level suffer from an underinvestment problem, while those investing more than the optimum suffer from overinvestment. The quadratic relation is maintained when firms are classified depending on their investment opportunities, the optimum being in accordance with the quality of investment opportunities. [source] Accruals quality and corporate cash holdingsACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 1 2009Pedro J. García-Teruel G31; G32 Abstract This Work Uses Panel Data For Firms Listed In The Spanish Stock Exchange Over The Period From 1995 To 2001 To Analyse The Effect Of Accounting Quality On Cash Holdings. The Results Show That Firms With Good Accruals Quality Hold Lower Cash Levels Than Firms With Poor Accruals Quality. This Finding Suggests That The Quality Of Accounting Information May Reduce The Negative Effects Of Information Asymmetries And Adverse Selection Costs, Allowing Firms To Reduce Their Level Of Corporate Cash Holdings. The Results Also Show That Cash Holdings Decrease When Firms Increase Their Use Of Bank Debt And In The Presence Of Cash Substitutes. In Contrast With This, Firms With Higher Cash Flow Hold Higher Levels Of Cash. [source] Ranking State Environmental Outputs: Evidence from Panel DataGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2000John A. List This paper uses state-level pollution data from 1986,1997 to construct two indices that rank U.S. states according to environmental outputs. A major finding is that marginal performers in other indices, such as Wyoming, garner top spots in these ranking systems. The paper also presents findings from fixed and random effects models of panel data that imply state income levels are positively associated with environmental outputs after a threshold level of income is obtained. [source] Social Capital and the Internet: Evidence from Swiss Panel DataKYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2003Axel Franzen Summary A lively debate has recently emerged about the consequences of the diffusion of the Internet. While many social scientists emphasize the beneficial economic consequences of the Internet some suspect that it has also disadvantages for users' social capital. So far the existing empirical evidence concerning the effect on social capital is mainly based on cross-sectional data and is still contradictory. This study is based on a longitudinal survey conducted in 1998 and 2001 among a random sample of Swiss citizens. It analyzes the determinants of the adoption of the Internet and the consequences for respondents' personal networks as well as the time they spent socializing with their network. The results show that the Internet was adopted sooner by individuals with high financial, human and social capital. Furthermore, the results suggest that Internet use is not associated with a reduction in respondents' networks or with the time they spent socializing with friends. Instead the findings suggest that the time users devote to the Internet is taken away from the time they spend on watching television. [source] Inequality for Wage Earners and Self-Employed: Evidence from Panel Data,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 4 2009Pedro Albarran Abstract In this paper we highlight the importance of analysing the evolution of income inequality separately for employees and self-employed workers. Using Spanish panel data on income and consumption for the period 1987,96, we find noticeable differences across these groups in the evolution of income inequality, and in the relative importance of the transitory and permanent components of income variance. The evolution of inequality is mainly explained by movements in the transitory component for the self-employed and by the permanent component for the employees. Our results suggest that different policies should be implemented for each group. [source] Testing for Error Correction in Panel Data,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 6 2007Joakim Westerlund Abstract This paper proposes new error correction-based cointegration tests for panel data. The limiting distributions of the tests are derived and critical values provided. Our simulation results suggest that the tests have good small-sample properties with small size distortions and high power relative to other popular residual-based panel cointegration tests. In our empirical application, we present evidence suggesting that international healthcare expenditures and GDP are cointegrated once the possibility of an invalid common factor restriction has been accounted for. [source] Testing for Multicointegration in Panel Data with Common Factors,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 2006Vanessa Berenguer-Rico Abstract This paper addresses the concept of multicointegration in a panel data framework and builds upon the panel data cointegration procedures developed in Pedroni [Econometric Theory (2004), Vol. 20, pp. 597,625]. When individuals are either cross-section independent, or cross-section dependence can be removed by cross-section demeaning, our approach can be applied to the wider framework of mixed I(2) and I(1) stochastic processes. The paper also deals with the issue of cross-section dependence using approximate common-factor models. Finite sample performance is investigated through Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we illustrate the use of the procedure investigating an inventories, sales and production relationship for a panel of US industries. [source] A Richer Understanding of Australia's Productivity Performance in the 1990s: Improved Estimates Based Upon Firm-Level Panel Data,THE ECONOMIC RECORD, Issue 265 2008ROBERT BREUNIG Australian industry is characterised by differences across firms, entry of new firms and exit of unsuccessful firms. These facts highlight the inappropriateness of measuring productivity using aggregate production functions based upon representative firms. In this study, we model heterogeneous firms which change over time. We model the interrelationship between productivity shocks, input choices and decisions to cease production. Firm-level data provides production function estimates for 25 two-digit Australian industries. A new aggregation method for industry-level data allows us to separate productivity changes from output composition changes. Our study sheds new light on the Australian productivity performance. [source] A Non-homothetic Globally Concave Flexible Cost Function and its Application to Panel DataTHE JAPANESE ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2001Shinichiro Nakamura A new non-homothetic globally concave flexible cost function is introduced and applied to a panel of firms in the Japanese paper and pulp industry. This cost function is a mixture of the generalized McFadden form and the generalized Ozaki form due to Nakamura (1990). A generalized index of technical change is used in place of the standard quadratic form of time-trend. The estimated cost function satisfied global concavity, and the symmetry condition of the Slutsky matrix was not rejected. Homotheticity was strongly rejected. JEL Classification Numbers: C33, D24. [source] Uncertainty and Investment: Some Evidence from the Panel Data of Japanese Manufacturing FirmsTHE JAPANESE ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2000Kazuo Ogawa We analyse empirically the effect of uncertainty on fixed investment based on a panel data set of Japanese manufacturing firms. The uncertainty measure, represented by the conditional standard deviation of the sales growth rate, is constructed by employing three different statistical models. We also decompose the demand uncertainty into aggregate, industry-wide, and firm-specific forms of uncertainty. We find that uncertainty, in particular aggregate and industry-wide uncertainty, exerts a significantly negative effect on investment irrespective of the statistical methods chosen. We also find that this negative relationship between investment and uncertainty is closely related to the degree of irreversibility of capital. JEL Classification Number: D92. [source] Updating Poverty Maps without Panel Data: Evidence from Vietnam,ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009Nguyen Viet Cuong I31; I32; O15 A household survey and a census can be combined to estimate a poverty map for small areas. Ideally, the survey and the census should be conducted in the same year. In several empirical applications, however, survey and census years can be different, which might make poverty estimates biased. Using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2002 and the 1999 Population and Housing Census, the present paper produces a 2002 poverty map for Vietnam and describes the biases when the survey and census years are not coincident. It is found that poverty estimates from the poverty mapping method taking into account the time difference between the survey and the census are quite close to survey-based estimates, at least at the regional level. [source] An Urban Approach to Firm Entry: The Effect of Urban SizeGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2005JOSEP-MARIA ARAUZO-CAROD ABSTRACT This article explores the determinants of firm entry in Spanish municipalities. The authors consider that size is an important determinant of a city's capacity to attract new manufacturing firms. Panel data were used to estimate the determinants of entry according to urban size in Spain (from 1994 to 1702). This article contributes to the literature on market entry because most previous contributions have focused on regional factors rather than urban ones. The results show that local characteristics affect the formation of new firms. However, more local data are needed to obtain more specific results. [source] Does fertilizer use respond to rainfall variability?AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2010Panel data evidence from Ethiopia Fertilizer use; Rainfall; Highlands of Ethiopia; Panel data Abstract In this article, we use farmers' actual experiences with changes in rainfall levels and their responses to these changes to assess whether patterns of fertilizer use are responsive to changes in rainfall patterns. Using panel data from the Central Highlands of Ethiopia matched with corresponding village-level rainfall data, the results show that the intensity of current year's fertilizer use is positively associated with higher rainfall levels experienced in the previous year. Rainfall variability, on the other hand, impacts fertilizer use decisions negatively, implying that variability raises the risks and uncertainty associated with fertilizer use. Abundant rainfall in the previous year could depict relaxed liquidity constraints and increased affordability of fertilizer, which makes rainfall availability critical in severely credit-constrained environments. In light of similar existing literature, the major contribution of the study is that it uses panel data to explicitly examine farmers' responses to actual weather changes and variability. [source] Agricultural exports and economic growth in less developed countriesAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2005P. J. Dawson Agricultural exports; Economic growth; LDCs; Panel data Abstract This article examines the contribution of agricultural exports to economic growth in less developed countries (LDCs). A sources-of-growth equation is developed from a dual economy model where agricultural and nonagricultural sectors are both divided into export and nonexport subsectors. This is then estimated using panel data for 62 LDCs for 1974,1995. Results provide evidence that there are significant structural differences in economic growth between low, lower-middle, and upper-income LDCs. Investment in the agricultural export subsector has a statistically identical impact on economic growth as investment in the nonagricultural export subsector. The marginal productivities in nonexport subsectors are over 30% lower than those in respective export subsectors. From a policy perspective, the results suggest that export-promotion policies should be balanced. [source] Legacy Volunteering: A Test of Two Theories of Intergenerational TransmissionJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 2 2004Sarah Mustillo Sociological theory suggests two reasons that volunteering runs in families. The first is that parents act as role models. The second is that parents who volunteer pass on the socioeconomic resources needed to do volunteer work. Panel data from two generations of women (N = 1,848) are analyzed to see how much influence family socioeconomic status and mother's volunteering have on daughter's volunteer careers. More highly educated women and women whose mothers volunteered donate more hours initially, but only family socioeconomic status increases volunteering over the life course. [source] Dynamics of Interpersonal Political Environment and Party Identification: Longitudinal Studies of Voting in Japan and New ZealandPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Ken'ichi Ikeda The dynamical systems theory of groups claims that interpersonal political environment and party identification are dynamically interrelated to provide heuristics under uncertainty. Panel data over the course of a year examined the longitudinal dynamics between social networks, social identifications, and voting behavior among a national sample of registered voters in Japan and a regional sample in Wellington, New Zealand. Respondents with more stable party identification had greater stability in the political preferences of their interpersonal network in both countries; moreover, stability in party identification was predicted by interpersonal political environment and older age in both countries. Stability of party identification predicted voting consistency in both countries, whereas stability of interpersonal political environment made an independent contribution to voting consistency in Japan only. There were cultural differences in levels of interpersonal political environment stability, but the amount of political discussion and ideological stability did not make independent contributions to any of the three main variables. Results provided support for the dynamical systems theory of groups. [source] Equity Volatility and Corporate Bond YieldsTHE JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Issue 6 2003John Y. Campbell This paper explores the effect of equity volatility on corporate bond yields. Panel data for the late 1990s show that idiosyncratic firm-level volatility can explain as much cross-sectional variation in yields as can credit ratings. This finding, together with the upward trend in idiosyncratic equity volatility documented by Campbell, Lettau, Malkiel, and Xu (2001), helps to explain recent increases in corporate bond yields. [source] Ownership Concentration and Corporate Performance on the Budapest Stock Exchange: do too many cooks spoil the goulash?CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2005John S. Earle We examine the impact of ownership concentration on firm performance using panel data for firms listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange, where ownership tends to be highly concentrated and frequently involves multiple blocks. Fixed-effects estimates imply that the size of the largest block increases profitability and efficiency strongly and monotonically, but the effects of total blockholdings are much smaller and statistically insignificant. Controlling for the size of the largest block, point estimates of the marginal effects of additional blocks are negative. The results suggest that the marginal costs of concentration may outweigh the benefits when the increased concentration involves "too many cooks". [source] PROACTIVE POLICING AND ROBBERY RATES ACROSS U.S. CITIES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2010CHARIS E. KUBRIN In recent years, criminologists, as well as journalists, have devoted considerable attention to the potential deterrent effect of what is sometimes referred to as "proactive" policing. This policing style entails the vigorous enforcement of laws against relatively minor offenses to prevent more serious crime. The current study examines the effect of proactive policing on robbery rates for a sample of large U.S. cities using an innovative measure developed by Sampson and Cohen (1988). We replicate their cross-sectional analyses using data from 2000 to 2003, which is a period that proactive policing is likely to have become more common than that of the original study,the early 1980s. We also extend their analyses by estimating a more comprehensive regression model that incorporates additional theoretically relevant predictors. Finally, we advance previous research in this area by using panel data, The cross-sectional analyses replicate prior findings of a negative relationship between proactive policing and robbery rates. In addition, our dynamic models suggest that proactive policing is endogenous to changes in robbery rates. When this feedback between robbery and proactive policing is eliminated, we find more evidence to support our finding that proactive policing reduces robbery rates. [source] EXPLAINING THE EDUCATIONAL DEFICITS OF DELINQUENT YOUTHS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2008SONJA E. SIENNICK Why do delinquent youths complete less education than do their conventional peers? Theory and research in criminology and in the sociology of education suggest that two aspects of youths' commitment to education, their future goals and their behavioral investments in those goals, may explain the delinquency-education relationship, but only when considered jointly. Using panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find that educational expectations and school effort together explain delinquents' lower rates of college attendance and graduation, but of these two factors, effort provides the more powerful explanation. We also find that transcript grades explain more of the delinquency-education relationship than do self-reported grades, which indicates that delinquent youths may not know exactly how they are performing in school. Our findings suggest that the aspirational and behavioral components of commitment to education are only loosely coupled, and that delinquent youths may not understand how their behavior can jeopardize their goals. [source] THE EFFECT OF COUNTY-LEVEL PRISON POPULATION GROWTH ON CRIME RATES,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 2 2006TOMISLAV V. KOVANDZIC Research Summary: Prior macro-level studies examining the impact of prison population growth on crime rates have produced widely varying results. Studies using national-level time series data find large impacts of prison growth on crime, whereas those using state panel data find more modest ones. Critics of the former studies maintain that the estimates are implausibly large, arguing that the effects are instead due to analysts' inability to control for potential confounding factors. Conversely, critics of the latter studies argue that they underestimate the total impacts of imprisonment by failing to account for potential free-riding effects. This study uses panel data for 58 Florida counties for 1980 to 2000 to reexamine the link between prison population growth and crime. Unlike previous studies, we find no evidence that increases in prison population growth covary with decreases in crime rates. Policy Implications: Our findings suggest that Florida policymakers carefully weigh the costs and benefits of their continued reliance on mass incarceration against the potential costs and benefits of alternatives. If the costs of mass incarceration do not return appreciable benefits, i.e., a reduction in crime, it is time to reconsider our approach to crime and punishment. Other research offers evidence of crime prevention programs operating inside the criminal justice system and in communities that hold promise for reducing crime; our findings indicate that policymakers carefully consider these options as a way to achieve their goals. [source] RIGHT-TO-CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS AND VIOLENT CRIME: CRIME CONTROL THROUGH GUN DECONTROL?,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 3 2003TOMISLAV V. KOVANDZIC Research Summary: "Right-to-Carry" (RTC) concealed-handgun laws mandate that authorities issue concealed handgun permits to qualified applicants. The supposition by those supporting the laws is that allowing private citizens to carry concealed handguns in public can reduce violent crime by deterring prospective criminals afraid of encountering armed civilians. Critics of the laws argue that violent altercations are more likely to turn deadly when more people carry guns. Whether the laws cause violent crime to increase or to decrease has become an important public policy question, as most states have now adopted such legislation. The present study evaluates Florida's 1987 RTC law, which prior research suggests plays a key role in the RTC debate. Specifically, we use panel data for 58 Florida counties from 1980 to 2000 to examine the effects on violent crime from increases in the number of people with concealed-carry permits, rather than before-after dummy and time-trend variables used in prior research. We also address many of the methodological problems encountered in earlier RTC studies. We present numerous model specifications, and we find little evidence that increases in the number of citizens with concealed-handgun permits reduce or increase rates of violent crime. Policy Implications: The main policy implication of this research is that there appears to be little gained in the way of crime prevention by converting restrictive gun carrying laws to "shall-issue" laws, although the laws might still prove beneficial by (1) eliminating arbitrary decisions on gun permit applications, (2) encouraging gun safety, (3) making permit holders feel safer when out in public, (4) providing permit holders with a more effective means of self-defense, and (5) reducing the costs to police departments of enforcing laws prohibiting unlicensed gun carrying. [source] FUNDING COMMUNITY POLICING TO REDUCE CRIME: HAVE COPS GRANTS MADE A DIFFERENCE?,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2002JIHONG "SOLOMON" ZHAO Research Summary: This research examines how funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), has affected violent and property crime rates in the United States from 1995 to 1999. Drawing on six years of panel data, we examine the effects of three types of awards made by COPS to 6,100 law enforcement agencies serving more than 145 million citizens. We estimate their impact on crime reduction over time in jurisdictions receiving funding and controlling for baseline levels of crime, socioeconomic characteristics, city size, and population diversity and mobility. Our analyses suggest that COPS hiring and innovative grant programs have resulted in significant reductions in local crime rates in cities with populations greater than 10,000 for both violent and nonviolent offenses. Multivariate analysis shows that in cities with populations greater than 10,000, an increase in one dollar of hiring grant funding per resident contributed to a corresponding decline of 5.26 violent crimes and 21.63 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Similarly, an increase in one dollar of innovative grant funding per resident has contributed to a decline of 12.93 violent crimes and 45.53 property crimes per 100,000 persons. In addition, the findings suggest that COPS grants have had no significant negative effect on violent and property crime rates in cities with less than 10,000 population. Policy Implications: The findings of this study imply that COPS program funding to medium- and large-size cities has been an effective force in reducing both violent and property crime. Federal government grants made directly to law enforcement agencies to hire additional officers and promote innovations may be an effective way to reduce crime on a national scale. [source] Trade Liberalization and the Fiscal Squeeze: Implications for Public InvestmentDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2003Barsha Khattry This article examines the impact of trade liberalization on the level and structure of government expenditures across countries, with particular emphasis on low income countries. It develops the argument that the policies employed during trade liberalization have resulted in a fiscal squeeze as a result of declining tax revenues and rising interest expenditures. To surmount this fiscal hurdle, expenditures on physical capital, which have negligible political ramifications, have been reduced. Other more politically sensitive expenditures, such as spending on social capital, have been financed by incurring additional debt. However, additional debt has exerted upward pressure on interest payments, further exacerbating the fiscal situation. The statistical analysis carried out to examine the evidence uses panel data for eighty developing and industrialized countries over the period 1970,98 and employs a fixed,effects regression framework to account for country,specific characteristics. The results indicate that trade liberalization has indeed resulted in declining revenues and higher interest expenditures and that these factors have contributed to the observed decline in infrastructure spending. [source] Inter-State Disparities in Health Outcomes in Rural India: An Analysis Using a Stochastic Production Frontier ApproachDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2005Vinish Kathuria In an era of reforms in the health sector and with the role of government in health provision diminishing, emphasis is shifting to making the sector efficient. This article analyses the performance of the rural public health systems of 16 major States in India, using stochastic production frontier techniques and panel data for the period 1986-97. The results show that States differ not only in capacity-building in terms of health infrastructure created, but also in efficiency in using these inputs. There is scope for health systems to re-orient their strategies in order to provide the best health in the most efficient way or at the lowest possible cost. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||