Cherchye et al. (2013b) introduced a DEA methodology that is specially tailored for multi-output efficiency measurement. The methodology accounts for jointly used inputs and incorporates information on how inputs are allocated to outputs. In this paper, we present extensions that render the methodology useful to deal with undesirable (or “bad”) outputs in addition to desirable (or “good”) outpu...

This paper contributes to the literatures about Chinese commercial banks technical efficiency. In order to eliminate the deviation of efficiency scores caused by an undesirable output that is represented by banks’ non-performing loans, the estimation is based on an enhanced parametric hyperbolic distance function which considers not only desirable outputs but also undesirable outputs. Furthermo...

Chirality is a fundamental property of biological systems and reflects the underlying asymmetry of matter. Interactions of drugs with receptors, enzymes or binding sites have long been known to be stereoselective, and it is increasingly recognized that both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic events contribute to the overall clinically observed stereoselectivity. The pharmacological activity ma...

Flexibility is generally agreed to be a desirable feature of a Simple Temporal Network (STN). However, exactly what flexibility attempts to measure has varied, making it difficult to objectively evaluate flexibility metrics. Further, past metrics tend to lose information or exhibit other undesirable properties when aggregating the flexibility measures of individual events across an entire STN. ...

Over the last decade, ecosystem management has been tending toward understanding ecosystems as having multiple stable states. Often such states are characterised as socially desirable and undesirable, with for instance high/low fish stocks or oligotrophic/eutrophic lake states. Their significance is that small stochastic forces may force the system over a threshold toward an alternative, potent...

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) creates many opportunities for collaboration between analyst and decision-maker. There are, however, situations in which all of the decision-making units (DMUs) fall under the umbrella of a centralized decision maker that oversees them. Many organizations such as bank branches, chain stores, … can do this. This centralized decision maker unit expect that resource...

The use of moulds as a seasoning for sausage can have both desirable and undesirable consequences. The desirable consequences are the creation of a successful product that appeals to consumers. The undesirable consequences are due to the growth of undesirable moulds that produce highly toxic secondary metabolites referred to as mycotoxins. The aim of the paper was to investigate the presence of...

This paper offers a new approach to understanding, improving and designing soundscapes. “Soundscape” means all the sounds that can be heard in a specific location. Soundscapes can be understood only through peoples’ perceptions, and this paper proposes using those perceptions to link soundscape improvement and design with traditional noise control methods. Decades of experience have yielded in-...