In this paper the time series properties of the outcomes of two different specifications of a nonparametric productivity analysis are compared using data for threeand four-digit U.S. manufacturing industries over the period 1958-96. The first model is standard and does not account for variations of capacity utilization of the production factors whereas the second model does. Correcting for util...

This study explores the reduction potential of greenhouse gases for major pollution emitting countries of the world using nonparametric productivity measurement methods and directional distance functions. In contrast to the existing literature we apply optimization methods to endogenously determine optimal directions for the efficiency analysis. These directions represent the compromise of outp...

By building on theoretical work by Mills and Schumann (1985) and Ungern-Sternberg (1990) this paper provides evidence on the determinants of two dimensions of flexibility, the flexibility in adjusting aggregate output over time ("tactical flexibility") as well as the ability to switch quickly between products ("operational flexibility"). Econometric analysis of a sample of 40.000 farms in Upper...

This paper constructs and analyses a long run time series for regional inequality in China from the Communist Revolution to the present. There have been three peaks of inequality in the last fifty years, coinciding with the Great Famine of the late 1950s, the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and 1970s, and finally the period of openness and global integration in the late 1990s. Econometric...

Standard Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is characterized by uniform proportional input reduction or output augmentation in calculating improvement projections. This paper develops a new Euclidean Distance Minimization model in the context of DEA in order to derive a more appropriate efficiency-improving projection model by means of a weighted projection function. The model is extended to the s...

Using a panel data set of 361 German corporations for the period 1991 to 1996 we test the hypothesis that firms with more efficient governance structures have higher profitabilities. To determine efficiency we compare firms with respect to ownership concentration, the identity of owners, capital structure, investment and firm growth by a multi-input/multi-output Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)....

This study explores the reduction potential of greenhouse gases for major pollution emitting countries of the world using nonparametric productivity measurement methods and directional distance functions. In contrast to the existing literature we apply optimization methods to endogenously determine optimal directions for the efficiency analysis. These directions represent the compromise of outp...

A free entry model with linear costs is considered where firms first choose their entry time and then compete in the market according to the resulting timing decisions. Multiple equilibria arise allowing for infinitely many industry output configurations encompassing one limit-output dominant firm and the Cournot equilibrium with free entry as extreme cases. Sequential entry is never observed. ...

The design and implementation of environmental policy often involves more than one pollutant, and must consider pollution as a byproduct of the production of marketable output. In this paper, we test the implicit assumption in the empirical literature that (1) production of marketable output, pollution, and abatement are separable, and (2) different pollutants can be abated separately. Using un...

The optimal weights on indicators in models with partial information about the state of the economy and forward-looking variables are derived and interpreted, both for equilibria under discretion and under commitment. An example of optimal monetary policy with a partially observable potential output and a forward-looking indicator is examined. The optimal response to the optimal estimate of pot...