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1 – 10 of over 4000Kwangwuk Kim, Dong-Hoon Son and Hwa-Joong Kim
In today’s multi-channel distribution environment, it is crucial for the competitiveness of retail stores and companies to improve efficiency of dedicated logistics centers (DLCs…
Abstract
In today’s multi-channel distribution environment, it is crucial for the competitiveness of retail stores and companies to improve efficiency of dedicated logistics centers (DLCs) servicing types of retail outlets such as large retail-stores, super supermarkets, and convenient stores. This paper derives efficiency improvement strategies for DLCs through efficiency analyses. To this end, this paper empirically analyzes the efficiency of DLCs by applying DEA (data envelopment analysis) approaches using real data from a Korean distribution company. In detail, this paper analyzes operations, finance, and service efficiencies of DLCs and performs a comparison analysis on the efficiency between DLCs. Finally, this paper discusses the analysis results considering the DLCs’ characteristics and derives managerial and operational implications.
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Ignacio Jiménez-Hernández, Gabriel Palazzo and Francisco Javier Sáez-Fernández
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a variety of factors that can explain the differences in commercial bank efficiency among 17 countries in Latin America (LatAm).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a variety of factors that can explain the differences in commercial bank efficiency among 17 countries in Latin America (LatAm).
Design/methodology/approach
In a first stage, data envelopment analysis (DEA) and conditional efficiency analysis techniques are used to assess the relative efficiency level of 409 banks for the 2014-2016 period. The conditional efficiency approach considers environmental variables (that are beyond the manager’s control), which could influence the shape and the level of the boundary of the attainable set. In the second stage, the resulting conditional efficiency scores are correlated with internal variables (those that are under the manager’s control), which might affect the distribution of the inefficiencies. For this purpose, an econometric approach developed by Simar and Wilson (2007) is used.
Findings
First stage scores reveal the heterogeneity of average efficiency within the region. Regarding the factors that may explain the differences in performance in the LatAm banking sector, the results allow us to state that certain internal variables such as bank size, the ratio of loans to total assets and the ratio of non-performing loans show the expected relationship to efficiency, in line with much of the previous literature.
Originality/value
This is the first time that conditional efficiency and Simar and Wilson (2007) approaches have been applied at the same time to analyse the LatAm banking industry.
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Marx suggested that it is infeasible and wrong to arrange the economic categories according to the order by which they have worked in history. Their order is determined by their…
Abstract
Purpose
Marx suggested that it is infeasible and wrong to arrange the economic categories according to the order by which they have worked in history. Their order is determined by their interrelationship in the modern bourgeois society, which is in contrast to their natural sequence or that which is in accordance with the course of history. Sometimes, a logical sequence is precisely opposite to the historical sequence. There are many efforts to be done in the study of China’s economic and social issues with Marxist logical and historical methods. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
When reading Das Kapital, we can clearly see the historical materialism methods. Another method of Marxist political economics is the scientific abstract method.
Findings
This is based on the new development idea to carry out scientific and technological innovation and change the focus of development from quantity to quality. With regard to the supply side structural reform as the main focus, people’s ever-growing demand for a better life can be satisfied and the higher level dynamic supply–demand balance can be kept.
Originality/value
In fact, measures to remedy unbalanced and inadequate development of the social principal contradiction have been plainly indicated in the report delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This is based on the new development idea to carry out scientific and technological innovation and change the focus of development from quantity to quality.
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Oluwadamilola Esan, Nnamdi I. Nwulu, Love Opeyemi David and Omoseni Adepoju
This study aims to investigate the impact of the 2013 privatization of Nigeria’s energy sector on the technical performance of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of the 2013 privatization of Nigeria’s energy sector on the technical performance of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and its workforce.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a questionnaire-based approach, and 196 participants were randomly selected. Analytical tools included standard deviation, Spearman rank correlation and regression analysis.
Findings
Before privatization, the energy sector, managed by the power holding company of Nigeria, suffered from inefficiencies in fault detection, response and billing. However, privatization improved resource utilization, replaced outdated transformers and increased operational efficiency. However, in spite of these improvements, BEDC faces challenges, including unstable voltage generation and inadequate staff welfare. This study also highlighted a lack of experience among the trained workforce in emerging electricity technologies such as the smart grid.
Research limitations/implications
This study’s focus on BEDC may limit its generalizability to other energy companies. It does not delve into energy sector privatization’s broader economic and policy implications.
Practical implications
The positive outcomes of privatization, such as improved resource utilization and infrastructure investment, emphasize the potential benefits of private ownership and management. However, voltage generation stability and staff welfare challenges call for targeted interventions. Recommendations include investing in voltage generation enhancement, smart grid infrastructure and implementing measures to enhance employee well-being through benefit plans.
Social implications
Energy sector enhancements hold positive social implications, uplifting living standards and bolstering electricity access for households and businesses.
Originality/value
This study contributes unique insights into privatization’s effects on BEDC, offering perspectives on preprivatization challenges and advancements. Practical recommendations aid BEDC and policymakers in boosting electricity distribution firms’ performance within the privatization context.
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Tra Thanh Ngo, Minh Quang Le and Thanh Phu Ngo
The purpose of this paper is to incorporate risk in technical efficiency of ASEAN banks in a panel data framework for the period 2000 to 2015.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to incorporate risk in technical efficiency of ASEAN banks in a panel data framework for the period 2000 to 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
The directional distance function and semi-parametric framework are employed to estimate efficiency scores for two scenarios, one with only good outputs and the other with a combination of good and bad outputs.
Findings
The findings show there is no evidence of technological progress for banks in ASEAN and concerns about the outperformance of Vietnam’s banks. In addition, performance of Vietnam’s banks tends to be distorted by low level of loan loss reserves.
Practical implications
To reflect the true performance and shorten the period of removing bad assets, the State Bank of Vietnam can request banks in Vietnam to book more loan loss reserves.
Originality/value
By examining such a new approach, this study makes an early attempt to incorporate credit risk into the banking efficiency in ASEAN region.
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This paper investigates why bancassurance coexists with alternative insurance distribution channels in the long run, considering the bank channel is known to involve lower costs…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates why bancassurance coexists with alternative insurance distribution channels in the long run, considering the bank channel is known to involve lower costs than traditional distribution systems. It tests the product-quality hypothesis that maintains that the higher costs of some distribution systems represent expenses associated with producing higher product quality, greater service intensity and/or skills to solve principal-agent conflicts.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis is conducted on firms operating in the life segment of the Spanish insurance industry over an eight-year sample period. First, the author estimates cost efficiency and profit inefficiency using data envelopment analysis. Cost efficiency enables one to evaluate if the use of the banking channel increases cost efficiency. Profit inefficiency is addressed to identify the existence/absence of product-quality differences. The performance implications of using bancassurance are analyzed by applying Heckman's two-stage random-effects regression model.
Findings
The results support the product-quality arguments. The use of banking channel was found to increase cost efficiency. However, the distribution channel/s utilized did not affect profit inefficiency.
Practical implications
A regulatory environment that supports the development of bancassurance enables this and alternative distribution channels to be sorted into market niches, where each system enjoys comparative advantages in order to minimize insurer costs and maximize insurer revenues. There is no single optimal insurance distribution system.
Originality/value
This is the first study to investigate why bancassurance coexists with alternative insurance distribution channels.
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Diego Rodrigues Boente and Paulo Roberto B. Lustosa
After assessing papers on efficiency, most of the studies available are focused on the analysis of efficiency measures, without providing a deep discussion of the factors that…
Abstract
Purpose
After assessing papers on efficiency, most of the studies available are focused on the analysis of efficiency measures, without providing a deep discussion of the factors that determine efficiency. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of Brazilian electricity distribution companies based on a structural model that enables the identification of a network of relationships among representative variables that contribute to efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was applied in a sample of 62 electricity distribution companies operating in Brazil, forming a balanced panel from 2010 to 2014. Then, the authors verified the model compliance according to the empirical evidence of the entities analyzed. This verification included a survey of the variables, which was supported by theoretical references related to the phenomenon studied. The data collected were statistically treated, and benchmarking models and multivariate techniques were used. Once the adjustments were made, the re-specified model was estimated using the maximum likelihood method.
Findings
The empirical model reached good adjustment rates. The analysis concluded that the constructs information system, structural system, management system and sociocultural system affect efficiency.
Originality/value
This study adds to several other papers, and this is one of its main contributions. Relationships among the constructs have been systematized according to literature in the form of a structural model, which will enable future researchers to have a reference frame of relevant studies and a research foundation in this area of knowledge. A third contribution is the model tested in a sample of Brazilian electricity distribution companies, whose results can be compared to other utility sectors (e.g. telecommunications) or to other countries' electrical sectors, thus providing an empirical basis for the proposed hypotheses. Finally, this study also offers a contribution to the Brazilian Electrical Energy Agency (Aneel, in Portuguese), a regulatory agency, providing mechanisms to guide tariff adjustments, seeking a balance between costs and the need for investments allied to tariff affordability.
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Bangxi Li, Chong Liu, Feng Zhao and Yanghua Huang
In the current literature, there is little systematic research on the relationship among adjustment of the income distribution, change in economic structure and improvement of…
Abstract
Purpose
In the current literature, there is little systematic research on the relationship among adjustment of the income distribution, change in economic structure and improvement of macroeconomic efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper expands Marx's reproduction schema into the “Marx–Sraffa” three-department structure table comprising fixed capital, general means of production and means of consumption and employs China's input–output table from 1987 to 2015 to portray the relationship between income distribution and macroeconomic efficiency under investment-driven growth.
Findings
This paper calculates the wage–profit curve of China's economy and evaluates the space of macroeconomic efficiency improvement in China based on the deviation between actual and potential income distribution structure.
Originality/value
The results show that there is a downward trend of the profit rate, which meets Marx's theoretical prediction, and the decline in the profit rate is mainly attributed to an increase in the organic composition of capital arising from the rapid growth of fixed capital investment under extended growth. The analysis of macroeconomic efficiency shows that the space for improving macroeconomic efficiency is extremely limited under traditional growth pattern and that China must transform its economic development pattern and foster new economic growth drivers.
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Thi Quynh Mai Pham, Gyei Kark Park and Kyoung-Hoon Choi
The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated model to measure the operational efficiency of the top 40 container ports in the world for a five-year continuous period…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated model to measure the operational efficiency of the top 40 container ports in the world for a five-year continuous period using a two-stage uncertainty data envelopment analysis (UDEA) combined with fuzzy C-means clustering method (FCM).
Design/methodology/approach
UDEA model is adopted for measuring the efficiency of container ports to overcome the limitation of the basic model, which is unable to handle uncertain data that are easy to meet in practice. FCM algorithm is implemented to find similar distribution efficiency scores of two stages and the cluster similar efficiency scores of container ports into various groups.
Findings
The combination of the two-stage UDEA model and the FCM algorithm provided a more comprehensive view when evaluating the performance of container ports. The UDEA results show that most of the container ports have reduced their profitability level in the second stage and most of the efficient container ports have turned into inefficient ones because of their small scale.
Originality/value
This paper proposes using the two-stage UDEA model to evaluate port efficiency based on two main aspects of productivity and profitability. Moreover, it combines DEA and FCM algorithms to offer a more comprehensive view when measuring the performance of container ports.
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Alina Steblyanskaya, Mingye Ai, Artem Denisov, Olga Efimova and Maksim Rybachuk
Understanding China's carbon dioxide (
Abstract
Purpose
Understanding China's carbon dioxide (
Design/methodology/approach
In this study using the input and output (IO) table's data for the selected years, the authors found the volume of
Findings
Results show that in the industries with a huge volume of
Originality/value
“Transport, storage, and postal services” and “Smelting and processing of metals” industries in China has the second place concerning emissions, but over the past period, emissions have been sufficiently reduced. “Construction” industry produces a lot of emissions, but this industry does not carry products characterized by large emissions from other industries. Authors can observe that Jiangsu produces a lot of
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