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1 – 10 of 12Nicola Castellano, Roberto Del Gobbo and Lorenzo Leto
The concept of productivity is central to performance management and decision-making, although it is complex and multifaceted. This paper aims to describe a methodology based on…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of productivity is central to performance management and decision-making, although it is complex and multifaceted. This paper aims to describe a methodology based on the use of Big Data in a cluster analysis combined with a data envelopment analysis (DEA) that provides accurate and reliable productivity measures in a large network of retailers.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is described using a case study of a leading kitchen furniture producer. More specifically, Big Data is used in a two-step analysis prior to the DEA to automatically cluster a large number of retailers into groups that are homogeneous in terms of structural and environmental factors and assess a within-the-group level of productivity of the retailers.
Findings
The proposed methodology helps reduce the heterogeneity among the units analysed, which is a major concern in DEA applications. The data-driven factorial and clustering technique allows for maximum within-group homogeneity and between-group heterogeneity by reducing subjective bias and dimensionality, which is embedded with the use of Big Data.
Practical implications
The use of Big Data in clustering applied to productivity analysis can provide managers with data-driven information about the structural and socio-economic characteristics of retailers' catchment areas, which is important in establishing potential productivity performance and optimizing resource allocation. The improved productivity indexes enable the setting of targets that are coherent with retailers' potential, which increases motivation and commitment.
Originality/value
This article proposes an innovative technique to enhance the accuracy of productivity measures through the use of Big Data clustering and DEA. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no attempts have been made to benefit from the use of Big Data in the literature on retail store productivity.
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Sandra Flores-Ureba, Clara Simon de Blas, Joaquín Ignacio Sánchez Toledano and Miguel Ángel Sánchez de Lara
This paper aims to define the efficiency achieved by urban transport companies in Spain concerning the resources they use, considering the type of management used for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to define the efficiency achieved by urban transport companies in Spain concerning the resources they use, considering the type of management used for implementation, public-private, and size.
Design/methodology/approach
This study consisted of an analysis of the efficiency of 229 public-private urban transport operators during the period 2012–2021 using Data Envelopment Analysis, the Malmquist Index and inference estimators to determine productivity, efficiency change into Pure Technical Efficiency Change (PTECH), and scale efficiency change.
Findings
Based on the efficiency analysis, the authors concluded that of the 229 companies studied, more than 35 were inefficient in all analysed periods. Considering the sample used, direct management is considered significantly more efficient. It cannot be concluded that the size of these companies influences their efficiency, as the data show unequal development behaviours in the studied years.
Originality/value
This study provides arguments on whether there is a significant difference between the two types of management in the urban transport sector. It also includes firm size as a study variable, which has not been previously considered in other studies related to urban transport efficiency. Efficiency should be a crucial factor in determining funding allocation in this sector, as it encourages operators to optimize and improve their services.
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Rostand Arland Yebetchou Tchounkeu
This work aims to analyse the relationship between public health efficiency and well-being considering a panel of 102 Italian provinces from 2000 to 2016 and evaluates if there…
Abstract
Purpose
This work aims to analyse the relationship between public health efficiency and well-being considering a panel of 102 Italian provinces from 2000 to 2016 and evaluates if there are omitted variable biases and endogeneity biases and also evaluates if there are heterogeneous effects among provinces with different income levels.
Design/methodology/approach
We use a multi-input and output bootstrap data envelopment analysis to assess public health efficiency. Then, we measure well-being indices using the min-max linear scaling transformation technique. A two-stage least squares model is used to identify the causal effect of improving public health efficiency on well-being to account for time-invariant heterogeneity, omitted variable bias and endogeneity bias.
Findings
After controlling for important economic factors, the results show a significant effect of an accountable and efficient public health system on well-being. Those effects are concentrated in the North, the most economically, geographically and environmentally advantageous areas.
Research limitations/implications
The use of the sample mean, probably the oldest and most used method for aggregating the indicators, could be affected by variable compensation, with consequent misleading results in the process of constructing the well-being index. Another limitation is the use of lagged values of the main predictor as an instrument in the instrumental variables setting because it could lead to information loss. Finally, the availability of data over a long period of time.
Practical implications
The findings could help policymakers adopt measures to strengthen the public health system, encourage private providers and inspire countries worldwide.
Social implications
These results draw the attention of local authorities, who play an important role in designing and implementing policies to stimulate local public health efficiency, which puts individuals in the conditions of achieving overall well-being in their communities.
Originality/value
For the first time in Italy, a panel of well-being indices was constructed by developing new methodologies based on microeconomic theory. Furthermore, for the first time, the assessment of the relationship between public health efficiency and well-being is carried out using a panel of 102 Italian provinces.
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Yanliang Niu, Jin Liu, Xining Yang and Chuan Wang
The spatiotemporal compression effect of China–Europe Railway Express (CR-Express) can reduce the flow costs of resources between China’s node cities. Additionally, it can break…
Abstract
Purpose
The spatiotemporal compression effect of China–Europe Railway Express (CR-Express) can reduce the flow costs of resources between China’s node cities. Additionally, it can break through the limitations of low-added-value marine products, significantly impacting the logistics industry efficiency. However, there are few literature verifying and analyzing its heterogeneity. This study explores the impact of CR-Express on the efficiency of logistics industry in node cities and analyzes the heterogeneity.
Design/methodology/approach
First, this study uses panel data to measure the efficiency of node city logistics industry. Secondly, this study discusses the impact of the opening of CR-Express on the efficiency of logistics industry in node cities based on the multi-period differential model. Finally, according to the node city difference, the sample city experimental group is grouped for heterogeneity analysis.
Findings
The results show that CR-Express can promote the urban logistics industry efficiency, with an average effect of 4.55%. According to the urban characteristics classification, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the efficiency improvement effect of logistics industry in inland cities is more obvious. The improvement effect of node cities and central cities in central and western China is stronger, especially in the sample of megacities and type I big cities. Compared with non-value chain industrial products, the CR-Express has significant promotion effects on the logistics efficiency of the cities where main goods are value chain products.
Originality/value
Under the background of double cycle development, this paper can provide a scientific basis for the investment benefit evaluation of CR-Express construction and the follow-up route planning.
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Cristian Barra and Pasquale Marcello Falcone
The paper aims at addressing the following research questions: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency? And which pillars of institutional quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims at addressing the following research questions: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency? And which pillars of institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?
Design/methodology/approach
By specifying a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method where GHG emissions are considered as the bad output and the GDP is referred as the desirable one, the work computes the environmental efficiency into the appraisal of a production function for the European countries over three decades.
Findings
According to the countries' performance, the findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries. In this environmental context, the role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries.
Originality/value
This article attempts to analyze the role of different dimensions of institutional quality in different European countries' performance – in terms of mitigating GHGs (undesirable output) – while trying to raise their economic performance through their GDP (desirable output).
Highlights
The paper aims at addressing the following research question: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?
We adopt a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method, considering 40 European economies over a 30-year time interval.
The findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries.
The role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries, while the performance decreases for the low middle-income countries.
The paper aims at addressing the following research question: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?
We adopt a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method, considering 40 European economies over a 30-year time interval.
The findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries.
The role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries, while the performance decreases for the low middle-income countries.
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Navitha Singh Sewpersadh and Tamanna Dalwai
The interplay between individual and collective creativity and its translation into innovation is a critical yet complex challenge in the ever-evolving innovation landscape. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The interplay between individual and collective creativity and its translation into innovation is a critical yet complex challenge in the ever-evolving innovation landscape. This study delves into the intricate relationship between managerial ability, intellectual property rights (IPRs) and research and development (R&D) investments contextualized within the dynamics of leverage, firm life stages and tangibility for pharmaceutical firms in the Asia-Pacific region. By exploring how micro-level factors influence macro-level innovation processes, this study aims to contribute to the broader understanding of creativity and innovation, a theme at the heart of addressing contemporary global challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
Econometric methodologies were used to analyse a data set comprising 2,660 firm-year observations spanning the decade from 2011 to 2020.
Findings
A key finding was that companies with lower managerial prowess strategically leverage R&D intensity to signal their value to the market and accrue reputational currency. The research unearths a significant positive relationship between managerial ability, IPRs and R&D investment. In environments characterized by strong managerial acumen and robust IPR safeguards, firms exhibit a heightened propensity to allocate resources to R&D endeavours. This underscores the role of intellectual leadership and legal protections in shaping R&D strategies within the pharmaceutical domain. Incorporating firm life stages as a moderating factor reveals that firm maturity fundamentally influences the interplay between managerial ability, IPRs and R&D expenditure.
Originality/value
These findings’ implications resonate profoundly within policy-making circles and pharmaceutical firms’ day-to-day operational strategies, underscoring the pivotal role of intellectual capital and legal safeguards in shaping the future of innovation in the Asia-Pacific pharmaceutical sector.
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The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been increasingly investing in their economic and social development in recent years, yet the effectiveness of their spending…
Abstract
Purpose
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been increasingly investing in their economic and social development in recent years, yet the effectiveness of their spending remains unknown although they have been taking reforms to advance their spending efficiency practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies a quantitative approach to analyze panel data using a multiple regression model based on the World Economic Forum (WEF) reports of the global competitiveness index (GCI) from 2009 until 2018.
Findings
The results show that policies' strength has a positive and significant influence, while national infrastructure and workforce empowerment have a negative and significant influence over the extent of spending efficiency implementation in the GCC countries.
Research limitations/implications
GCI disclosure assessment criteria changed in 2019 and then stopped in 2020 due to COVID-19. A different version of GCI was published in 2020, which focuses on recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and no other issues have been published since then. This represented a barrier to recent data collection.
Practical implications
Practical contribution is the value added by this study to a minimal literature on spending efficiency in the GCC countries. This study’s theoretical contribution to knowledge is the integration of the new institutional sociology (NIS) perspective of institutional theory and the resource slack theory to investigate a set of factors rarely explored in relation to their impact on governmental spending efficiency.
Social implications
This study provides the following recommendations for policymakers: The GCC government should direct government training bodies and universities (in business majors) to include mandatory spending efficiency subjects to enhance current knowledge. Also, the governmental-related bodies of spending efficiency should make agreements with universities and research centers to improve the diverse R&D aspects of government spending efficiency. Another important recommendation is to enforce the adoption of the GRC concept regarding spending efficiency practices for governmental employees to guide them towards implementing spending efficiency practices.
Originality/value
This study's theoretical contribution to knowledge is the integration of the new institutional sociology (NIS) perspective of institutional theory and the resource slack theory to investigate a set of factors rarely explored in relation to their impact on governmental spending efficiency. Also, the practical contribution is the value added by this study to a minimal literature on spending efficiency in the GCC countries. The research has established empirical evidence to support the findings above.
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Marcello Cosa, Eugénia Pedro and Boris Urban
Intellectual capital (IC) plays a crucial role in today’s volatile business landscape, yet its measurement remains complex. To better navigate these challenges, the authors…
Abstract
Purpose
Intellectual capital (IC) plays a crucial role in today’s volatile business landscape, yet its measurement remains complex. To better navigate these challenges, the authors propose the Integrated Intellectual Capital Measurement (IICM) model, an innovative, robust and comprehensive framework designed to capture IC amid business uncertainty. This study focuses on IC measurement models, typically reliant on secondary data, thus distinguishing it from conventional IC studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis across Web of Science, Scopus and EBSCO Business Source Ultimate in February 2023. This yielded 2,709 IC measurement studies, from which the authors selected 27 quantitative papers published from 1985 to 2023.
Findings
The analysis revealed no single, universally accepted approach for measuring IC, with company attributes such as size, industry and location significantly influencing IC measurement methods. A key finding is human capital’s critical yet underrepresented role in firm competitiveness, which the IICM model aims to elevate.
Originality/value
This is the first SLR focused on IC measurement amid business uncertainty, providing insights for better management and navigating turbulence. The authors envisage future research exploring the interplay between IC components, technology, innovation and network-building strategies for business resilience. Additionally, there is a need to understand better the IC’s impact on specific industries (automotive, transportation and hospitality), Social Development Goals and digital transformation performance.
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