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Article
Publication date: 24 June 2013

Ma-Lin Song, Youyi Guan and Feng Song

This paper aims to estimate the values of environmental efficiency of each province in China. Subsequently, it analyzes the changes of total factor productivity (TFP) before and

1083

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to estimate the values of environmental efficiency of each province in China. Subsequently, it analyzes the changes of total factor productivity (TFP) before and after taking the environmental factors into account. Finally, the paper measures the effect of the components of environmental TFP on the convergence of economic growth.

Design/methodology/approach

The environmental control variables are taken as output variables and combined with a traditional data envelopment analysis model to build an environmental TFP Index. The growth of environmental TFP is compared among regions and the differences are analyzed. Furthermore, the decomposed components (advances in environmental technology and environmental technical efficiency) are used for regression analysis with labor productivity.

Findings

The environmental efficiency of most provinces in China has improved although some regions' efficiency remains low in Northeastern China. The value of environmental TFP is higher and more fluctuant during the period of 1997-2009 than that of traditional TFP. Technical efficiency has a convergence effect on economic growth of regions/provinces, but, after adding environmental factors, it turns into a divergence effect.

Research limitations/implications

Because of data limitations, this paper does not consider the impacts of human capital and other factors on in the convergence analysis on economic. Neither does it consider the use of panel data to analyze the convergence of economic growth and validate the conclusions. These are potential further research directions.

Practical implications

The study confirms that improvements in environmental technologies play a dominant role in enhancing China's environmental TFP. Furthermore, it demonstrates that China's economic growth largely depends on technological progress. This finding, that China's economic growth depends on advances in environmental technology, implies that China should strive to improve its capacity for technological innovation.

Originality/value

The paper measures the value of environmental efficiency in the China's provinces and analyzes the relationship between pollution and economic development in each province. Panel data are used to compare the difference among environmental TFP, environmental factors and traditional TFP. The convergence of economic growth is analyzed in respect of environmental control variables.

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2011

Supannika Wattana and Deepak Sharma

In the early 1990s, the Thai government initiated a process of reform of the electricity industry with the argument that such reform would improve the performance of the industry…

Abstract

Purpose

In the early 1990s, the Thai government initiated a process of reform of the electricity industry with the argument that such reform would improve the performance of the industry and contribute to enhancing the overall economic prosperity. The purpose of this paper is to examine the veracity of this argument by analysing both the technical and environmental performance of the Thai electricity industry.

Design/methodology/approach

A data envelopment analysis‐based methodology is employed in this study to measure the productivity of the Thai electricity industry, for the period 1980‐2006. This method enables the decomposition of productivity changes into technical and efficiency changes, and hence enables one to determine if changes in productivity are due to electricity reform (efficiency gains) or due to autonomous technological improvements.

Findings

The study reveals that the increase in the productivity of the Thai electricity industry over the period 1980‐2006 was mainly driven by technological improvements and that industry reform has had insignificant impact on productivity. Further, the impacts of electricity reform on the environment appear to be relatively modest – this too was driven by government regulation that supports the use of less environmentally detrimental fuels for electricity generation by the private producers, rather than electricity reform.

Originality/value

The analysis in this paper contributes to the literature on productivity and efficiency, by applying the DEA method to a time series data for a single industry. Additionally, the analysis of environmental performance of the Thai electricity industry – to the best of knowledge of the authors – is the first of its kind for the Thai electricity industry.

Details

International Journal of Energy Sector Management, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6220

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2010

José M. Prado‐Lorenzo and Isabel M. García‐Sánchez

This paper aims to focus on assessing the effect which factors that cannot be controlled by the public administrator on the efficiency of municipalities on rendering sewerage…

1143

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on assessing the effect which factors that cannot be controlled by the public administrator on the efficiency of municipalities on rendering sewerage services.

Design/methodology/approach

The analyses performed to date focus mainly on technical efficiency due to the low importance of public outputs value. For it, a four‐stage process was followed in order to observe the overall effect produced by operation size and environmental conditions on efficiency index estimated by data envelopment analysis.

Findings

The results obtained show that operation size and environmental conditions have a significant impact on efficiency indices and on reducing the variability between indices; however, the type of management proprietorship, public vs private, does not impact the degree of efficiency.

Practical implications

As regards decisions stemming from intermunicipal comparison, it can be seen that a drastic decrease occurs in input reduction and output increase percentages geared towards making the municipality under observation efficient in relation to those initially detected, without taking into consideration factors which cannot be controlled by the administrator.

Originality/value

This paper is pioneering in knowing the intensity of the effect of certain factors on the benchmarking process.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 59 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 May 2016

Chunyan Yu

This chapter provides a survey of alternative methodologies for measuring and comparing productivity and efficiency of airlines, and reviews representative empirical studies. The…

Abstract

This chapter provides a survey of alternative methodologies for measuring and comparing productivity and efficiency of airlines, and reviews representative empirical studies. The survey shows the apparent shift from index procedures and traditional OLS estimation of production and cost functions to stochastic frontier methods and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods over the past three decades. Most of the airline productivity and efficiency studies over the last decade adopt some variant of DEA methods. Researchers in the 1980s and 1990s were mostly interested in the effects of deregulation and liberalization on airline productivity and efficiency as well as the effects of ownership and governance structure. Since the 2000s, however, studies tend to focus on how business models and management strategies affect the performance of airlines. Environmental efficiency now becomes an important area of airline productivity and efficiency studies, focusing on CO2 emission as a negative or undesirable output. Despite the fact that quality of service is an important aspect of airline business, limited attempts have been made to incorporate quality of service in productivity and efficiency analysis.

Article
Publication date: 25 June 2019

Sushama Murty and Resham Nagpal

The purpose of this paper is to measure technical efficiency of Indian thermal power sector employing the recent by-production approach.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure technical efficiency of Indian thermal power sector employing the recent by-production approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The by-production approach is used in conjunction with data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of India to compute the output-based Färe, Grosskopf, Lovell (FGL) efficiency index and its decomposition into productive and environmental efficiency indexes for the ITPPs

Findings

The authors show that given the aggregated nature of data on coal reported by CEA, CEA’s computation of CO2 emissions through a deterministic linear formula that does not distinguish between different coal types and the tiny share of oil in coal-based power plants, the computed output-based environmental efficiency indexes are no longer informative. Meaningful measurement of environmental efficiency using CEA data is possible only along the dimension of the coal input. Productive efficiency is positively associated with the engineering concept of thermodynamic/energy efficiency and is also high for power plants with high operating availabilities reflecting better management and O&M practices. Both these factors are high for private and centrally owned as opposed to state-owned power-generating companies. The example of Sipat demonstrates the importance of (ultra)supercritical technologies in increasing productive and thermodynamic efficiencies of the ITPPs, while also reducing CO2 emitted per unit of the net electricity generated.

Originality/value

This paper uses the by-production approach for the first time to measure technical efficiency of ITPPs and highlights how the nature of the Indian data impacts on efficiency measurement.

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2022

Mohd Azrai Azman, Zulkiflee Abdul-Samad, Boon L. Lee, Martin Skitmore, Darmicka Rajendra and Nor Nazihah Chuweni

Total factor productivity (TFP) change is an important driver of long-run economic growth in the construction sector. However, examining TFP alone is insufficient to identify the…

Abstract

Purpose

Total factor productivity (TFP) change is an important driver of long-run economic growth in the construction sector. However, examining TFP alone is insufficient to identify the cause of TFP changes. Therefore, this paper employs the infrequently used Geometric Young Index (GYI) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to measure and decompose the TFP Index (TFPI) at the firm-level from 2009 to 2018 based on Malaysian construction firms' data.

Design/methodology/approach

To improve the TFPI estimation, normally unobserved environmental variables were included in the GYI-TFPI model. These are the physical operation of the firm (inland versus marine operation) and regional locality (West Malaysia versus East Malaysia). Consequently, the complete components of TFPI (i.e. technological, environmental, managerial, and statistical noise) can be accurately decomposed.

Findings

The results reveal that TFP change is affected by technological stagnation and improvements in technical efficiency but a decline in scale-mix efficiency. Moreover, the effect of environmental efficiency on TFP is most profound. In this case, being a marine construction firm and operating in East Malaysia can reduce TFPI by up to 38%. The result, therefore, indicates the need for progressive policies to improve long-term productivity.

Practical implications

Monitoring and evaluating productivity change allows an informed decision to be made by managers/policy makers to improve firms' competitiveness. Incentives and policies to improve innovation, competition, training, removing unnecessary taxes and regulation on outputs (inputs) could enhance the technological, technical and scale-mix of resources. Furthermore, improving public infrastructure, particularly in East Malaysia could improve regionality locality in relation to the environmental index.

Originality/value

This study contributes to knowledge by demonstrating how TFP components can be completely modelled using an aggregator index with good axiomatic properties and SFA. In addition, this paper is the first to apply and include the GYI and environmental variables in modelling construction productivity, which is of crucial importance in formulating appropriate policies.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2001

K.G.B. Bakewell

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18;…

18596

Abstract

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2001

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management…

14773

Abstract

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Details

Facilities, vol. 19 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2001

K.G.B. Bakewell

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18;…

14378

Abstract

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Details

Property Management, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2001

K.G.B. Bakewell

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18;…

14155

Abstract

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Details

Journal of Property Investment & Finance, vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-578X

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