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The purpose of this study is twofold. First, the author posits and finds a significant positive relation between environmental performance (i.e., environmental efficiency) and firm performance (i.e., firm efficiency) by using a large panel sample from 1987 to 2015. The results are consistent with the notion in prior research (e.g., Porter, 1991; Porter & van der Linde, 1995) that pollution indicates a form of resource inefficiency and reducing pollution can increase firm performance. Second, managerial ability has recently received tremendous research attention. The author investigates the impact of managerial ability on the relation between environmental efficiency and firm efficiency and finds that the results are mainly driven by firms with low managerial ability.

This study analyses the effects of firm efficiency on firm performance and how controlling shareholders moderate the link between the two variables.

This study employs data envelopment analysis to estimate firm efficiency and the panel regression method to assess the hypothesised relationships among 1,295 firm-year observations of publicly listed firms in Malaysia from 2015 to 2019.

The results indicate that firm efficiency (technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency) has mixed relationships with firm performance (return on assets, market-to-book ratio and operating cash flows), all of which are being moderated by controlling shareholdings.

This study highlights the importance of assessing firm efficiency as the key success factor for improving firm performance. Industrial managers should manage efficiently their resources or operating costs in achieving their corporate financial goals. Moreover, this study notes the presence of controlling shareholders, who can be either self-interested or company goal aligned.

This study suggests becoming efficient in transforming inputs into outputs is a prerequisite before investigating accrual-based and cash-based firm performance measures, and the presence of controlling shareholders matters in these regards.

REM models infer abnormal levels of cashflow from operations (AbCFO), selling, general and admin (AbSGA) and production expenses (AbProd) are opportunistic, based on the supposition that engaging in real activities to meet current earnings targets (t) will negatively influence future performance (t+1). However, from a firm productivity perspective, cost reduction (via AbCFO, AbProd and AbSGA) is interpreted as an efficiency enhancing business strategy. This study therefore differentiates between (1) firms with ineffective management that have engaged in AbCFO, AbProd and AbSGA to achieve an optimal resource-cost mix to generate sales (REMF) and (2) firms with effective management that have not (OEF).

Using a sample of Korean listed firms over the 2000–2016 sample period, the study utilizes data envelopment analysis to capture the capability of management to generate sales from resources that are directly under their control. The study then compares the incremental effect that managerial decision making can have on real earnings management (REM) and future firm performance (period t+1 to t+5).

The study makes two important contributions. First, consistent with the efficiency/productivity literature, but contrary to seminal REM studies, empirical results shows that AbCFO, AbProd and AbSGA improve firm performance in period t and t+1 (to t+5), demonstrating “REM” is not opportunistic by default. Second, OEF have higher financial performance compared to REMF, in periods t and t+1.

The study therefore invokes resource-based theory and data envelopment analysis to integrate managerial effectiveness (human capital) into REM modelling. The study therefore extends the basic REM residual model.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the firm efficiency or technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) in the selected developed and developing Asia-Pacific countries.

The sample consists of a sum of 700 firms in selected developed and developing Asia-Pacific countries over the period from 2009 to 2015. The non-parametric data envelopment analysis under the production approach is used to investigate firm efficiency.

On average, this paper discovers that the firms in selected Asia-Pacific countries are moderately efficient. Scale inefficiency (SIE) is found to be the dominant source of firms’ technical inefficiency. The analysis of return to scale shows that the large firms tend to operate at decreasing return to scale level, while the small firms tend to operate at increasing return to scale level.

The findings from this paper provide significant insights to the policy makers and firm managers in promoting the efficient firms of Asia-Pacific countries.

The present paper conducts a critical analysis on return to scale in the firms sector of Asia-Pacific context, which is ignored by the past studies on firm efficiency since the analysis of return to scale is mostly emphasized on banking sector. The precise nature of SIE is important for a firm to be efficient in achieving the firm’s primary goals of profit maximization and sustaining market competitiveness.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between changes in water efficiency, profit and risk for firms in the global Consumer Packaged Goods industry. This study also aims to consider the moderating effect of operational efficiency on those relationships.

Using a sample of 155 firms with annual corporate social performance and financial performance data from Bloomberg for the years 2010–2019, this study employs first-differencing panel regression models to obtain our results.

This study finds strong evidence that operational efficiency moderates the relationships between water efficiency, profit and risk. For operationally efficient firms, increasing water efficiency increases profit and reduces risk. But for firms that are not operationally efficient, this study finds the opposite effects. These findings suggest a threshold level of operational efficiency that firms should achieve before they can reap financial benefits from increases in water efficiency.

Despite the increasing importance of water efficiency as a measure of corporate social performance, its effects on financial performance are not well studied. The relationship between operational efficiency and water efficiency has also not been examined. This work provides empirical evidence to better understand these important relationships. The major implication for managers is that operational efficiency is a foundational capability that should be developed before focusing on efforts to improve water efficiency. For operationally efficient firms, improvements in water efficiency can be an important mechanism to increase profitability and reduce risk.

This study develops an integrated approach combining data envelopment analysis (DEA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) for estimating the working capital management (WCM) efficiency and evaluating the effects of diverse exogenous variables on the WCM efficiency and firms' performance.

DEA is applied for deriving WCM efficiency for 212 Indian manufacturing firms over a period from 2008 to 2019. Also, the effect of human capital (HC), structural capital (SC), cost of external financing (CEF), interest coverage (IC), leverage (LEV), net fixed asset ratio (NFA), asset turnover ratio (ATR) and productivity (PRD) on the WCM efficiency and firms' performance is examined using SEM.

The average mean efficiency scores ranging from 0.623 to 0.654 highlight the firms operating at around 60% of WCM efficiency only, which is a major concern for Indian manufacturing firms. Further, IC, LEV, NFA, ATR revealed direct effect on the WCM efficiency as well as indirect effect on firms' performance, whereas CEF had only a direct effect on WCM efficiency. HC, SC and PRD had no effects on WCM efficiency and firms' performance.

The findings offer vital insights in guiding policy decisions for Indian manufacturing firms.

This study is the first to identify the endogenous nature of the relationship of HC, SC, CEF, IC altogether with firms' performance, compounded by the WCM efficiency, by applying a comprehensive methodology of DEA and SEM and provides an efficiency performance model for better decision-making.

This paper aims to assess two distinct aspects of performance in terms of technical (sales) efficiency and efficiency in market value generation of a sample of Greek metallurgical firms listed on the Athens Exchange by using data envelopment analysis (DEA).

Both aspects of performance are measured by employing the DEA BCC model, combined with bootstrap and generalized proportional distance function (GPDF). Statistical analysis is performed to investigate whether there is a positive link between the two examined performance dimensions.

Inefficiency is uncovered in both performance dimensions, but there is a lower level of performance in market value generation than in technical efficiency. Correlation analysis results do not point out positive links between performance measures for the sample firms.

The derived performance measures allow firm managers to set their own priorities and to seek out improvements along the two dimensions of performance; moreover, they may contribute to the reduction of information asymmetry among investors.

This paper is one of a few that investigate the link between DEA-based sales performance and performance in market value generation. It contributes methodologically through the adoption of fundamental analysis principles in estimating efficiency in the two performance dimensions and the development of a DEA efficiency model in the presence of negative data.

This study aims to examine the relationship between the internal control manager attributes and the firms’ operational efficiency. The internal control manager designs and maintains the firms’ policies and procedures to certify the effectiveness of its internal control system.

The study is an empirical research based on a sample of public companies listed on the Korean Stock Exchange from year 2011 to 2015. The authors derive measures of operational efficiency using the data envelopment analysis tool.

This study shows that the operational efficiency increases with internal control managers’ task-related knowledge and diverse firm knowledge, consistent with human capital theory. Also, the results reveal that internal control managers, equity ownership has a curvilinear relationship with the operational efficiency, indicating that excessive managerial ownership can deteriorate the firm value.

While many studies have examined the association between the internal control system and financial reporting quality, this paper is differentiated from prior studies by focussing on the internal control managers’ personal attributes. This is important, as the internal control system is essentially built by internal control managers who are in charge. This study contributes to accounting literature by shedding light on the role of internal control managers in enhancing the firms’ operational efficiency.

This paper examines the financial ratios that may have a significant effect on the efficiency in Malaysian listed companies. Nine financial ratios measure seven variables which are firm visibility, tangibility, working capital, leverage, liquidity, productivity and profitability.

Data are collected from 108 public listed companies in Malaysia. The data extracted from companies' annual reports for three years 2012–2014. STATA software analysis is used to examine these relationships.

The results show each of tangibility and liquidity have negative relationships with efficiency ratio. In against of that, profitability, working capital and productively positively link to efficiency. Leverage which is measured by two ratios – Debt ratio and Debt equity ratio – shows mix results. Debt ratio shows a positive but not significant relationship with efficiency ratio and Debt equity ratio shows a negative significant relationship with efficiency ratio.

The results benefit companies, investors, economists and governments regulators in Malaysia-to understand the efficiency determinants, so help to make the right decision to enhance the efficiency level in companies which leads to enhance the amount of investments which in turn, enhance the country's economy in general.

This study differs than previous studies number of aspects: first the study covers a three years' period between 2012 and 2014, this period presents the movement of Malaysian current into depreciation with more than 45 percent of its value. Second, in the Malaysia context, this study examines new variables such as firm visibility, tangibility, and productivity. Third, the results of this study will help managers, shareholders, investors, regulators and other parties to make right decisions that will enhance the level of firm efficiency which enhances the investments and the economy of Malaysia.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how scale and scope of operations, firm age, and the choice to join a franchise formula influences brokerage firms' efficiency.

Four‐year data of 1,282 Dutch real estate brokerage firms is used to compute a relative efficiency measure for all firms. Consecutively, variation in this efficiency measure is explained from the firm and market characteristics.

The results show that scale and scope have a non‐linear, U‐shaped, relationship with efficiency. A reversed U‐shaped relationship is found between age and efficiency. Finally, being a member of a franchise does not necessarily lead to improved efficiency, but it depends on the franchise formula terms used.

Based on these results, managers of real estate brokerage firms are able to reconsider their own organizational design choices.

Compared to prior studies, this study uses data from multiple years. Further, the analysis also incorporates non‐linear effects of scale, scope and age on efficiency. Finally, prior research has only compared efficiency of franchise versus independent firms. This study shows that benefits of a franchise depend on the contract terms.