Cost-efficient Measures Research Articles

Economic Analysis of Dryland Integrated Production System in Western Agroclimatic Zone of Tamil Nadu, India: A DEA Approach

Background: Efficiency of production system is calculated by the input spent to amount of output produced. The Agronomic efficiency has been found to be below 48% than the world efficiency standard of 40 kg ha-1. The average fertilizer usage of India is 133 kg ha-1, 232% higher than the global standard fertilizer of 40 kg ha-1. The certified seeds and agriculture machinery usage has been increased by 15% and 13% in India but the efficiency of farm stays behind. Methods: With this back ground the present study applied cost approach variable return to scale Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to evaluate the Indian farms resource using 200 rural farms of Tamil Nadu state. The data envelopment analysis models have the advantage of simultaneous measure of technical, allocative and cost efficiency of the individual farms. Result: The cost efficiency among the respondents ranged from 0 to 1 with a mean efficiency of 0.66. The study found that Decision-Making Units (DMU) have cost inefficiency, suggesting that most of the DMU operated very far away from the efficiency frontier. Allocative inefficiency (0.55) is worse than the technical inefficiency (0.80), implying that the lower economic efficiency is the result of high allocative inefficiency.

Update on glucose control during and after critical illness.

There is a complex bidirectional relationship between critical illness and disordered glucose metabolism. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the recent evidence focused on the relationship between critical illness and disordered glucose metabolism through the distinct phases of prior to, during, and after an acute illness that requires admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Recent data suggest that preexisting glucose metabolism affects the optimal blood glucose target during critical illness, with preliminary data suggesting that glucose targets should be 'personalized' based on preexisting glycemia. Because of the close association between critical illness and disordered glucose metabolism, there is a need to optimize glucose monitoring in the ICU with rapid, precise, and cost-efficient measurements at the bedside. Recent studies have evaluated the use of various methodologies, with a focus on the use of near-continuous glucose monitoring. For those patients with preexisting diabetes who survive ICU, nocturnal hypoglycemia may be an unrecognized and important issue when discharged to the ward. There is increasing evidence that patients with high blood glucose during their acute illness, so called 'stress hyperglycemia', are at increased risk of developing diabetes in the years following recovery from the inciting event. Critically ill patients with COVID-19 appear at greater risk. There have been important recent insights in the approach to glucose monitoring and glucose targets during critical illness, monitoring and administration of glucose-lowering drugs on discharge from the ICU, and longitudinal follow-up of patients with stress hyperglycemia.

Measurement of diffuse and plane of array irradiance by a combination of a pyranometer and an all-sky imager

Accurate, robust and cost-efficient measurements of diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI) and global tilted irradiance (GTI) are of great interest for solar energy applications. However, the available measurement techniques exhibit at least one of these shortcomings: restriction of GTI measurement to a single plane, intensive maintenance, high acquisition cost or increased deviations, especially at new measurement sites. To avoid these shortcomings, we suggest a comparably inexpensive and robust setup of a thermopile pyranometer and an all-sky imager (ASI) for measurement of DHI and GTI. The pyranometer measures global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and our method consecutively estimates diffuse sky radiance, DHI, direct normal irradiance (DNI) and GTI, by merging information from the combined setup. The system is developed and validated at two sites in Spain and Germany. Measurement of GTI is benchmarked for seven planes over GTI derived by transposition based on DHI and DNI from a tracker setup with a pyrheliometer and shaded thermopile pyranometer. Our results indicate that the measurement system can be applied at both sites. The proposed method avoids time-consuming radiometric calibrations of the camera by the combination of both sensors and a self-calibration. The measurement system is promising in particular for measurement of GTI. For 10-min average GTI, our approach yields an rRMSD of 1.6...4.8% for planes with tilts in the range of 20∘...61∘. Thus, at both sites and for all planes, it outperforms the tracker-based transposition yielding 2.3...6.5%. DHI is measured significantly more accurately than reported in previous works using an ASI alone.

Survey of practice preferences in deep brain stimulation surgery in the United States

ObjectiveDeep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment modality for various movement disorders. There is sparse data reporting long-term efficacy and cost-effectiveness in DBS. The rapidly evolving techniques, devices and technology leads to highly variable practice patterns within the specialty. The purpose of this study is to survey the current variability in national practice patterns in DBS. MethodsWe conducted an online survey to investigate various practice preferences related to the perioperative management of DBS. Variables included practice types, hardware used, timing of surgery, and postoperative management. The survey was distributed electronically to all American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)-registered board-certified neurosurgeons in North America with sub-specialty training in functional and stereotactic neurosurgery. ResultsWe received 40 responses from 114 surveys sent via email (35.1% response rate). There was notable heterogeneity in practice preferences specific to type of anesthesia utilized with the majority of respondents using conscious sedation (62.6%) or local anesthesia (22.5%). Less than half of respondents (47.5%) used intra-operative O-arm or computed tomography (CT) to confirm electrode positioning with fewer using intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging (15%). The greatest concordance amongst respondents pertained to placement of bilateral electrodes during the same case (72.5%), performing internal pulse generator placement on a later date (80%) and obtaining a post-operative CT (77.5%). There were additional practice differences in microelectrode recording, device specific characteristics and post-operative care. ConclusionPractice patterns in DBS vary widely and will grow more varied as new technology and devices become available. This may lead to overall increased cost and difficulty incorporating individualized technologies for patients, especially in light of hospitals’ financial structures. This study identified significant variability in anesthesia techniques, intraoperative imaging, microelectode recording, device selection and post-operative care. Understanding sources of variability in DBS may enable implementation of cost-efficient measures without compromising patient safety and outcomes.

Mangrove deforestation and CO2 emissions in Indonesia

Mangroves are unique intertidal ecosystems that are experiencing high rates of deforestation throughout the world. Indonesia that has the highest mangrove cover in the world has lost its mangroves significantly in 1980s with the expansion of aquaculture development due to the increased shrimp price during the Asian economic crisis. Mangrove loss emits a significant amount of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere that contributes to the global warming. This study aims to estimate the extent of mangrove deforestation in Indonesia and the potential greenhouse gas emissions generated from mangrove deforestation in the last decade. We analyzed the land cover maps produced by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry from 2009 to 2019 to calculate mangrove deforested areas as activity data. The average emission factor from mangrove deforestation is 136.9 MgCO2e ha-1yr-1, based on a meta-analysis from mangrove studies in Indonesia. Our result shows the total mangrove loss in the period of 2009 – 2019 covers an estimated area of 182,091 ha. The spatial analysis suggests that the main drivers of mangrove deforestation were derived from conversion of mangroves to low vegetated areas, aquaculture and agriculture practices. Mangrove deforestation potentially generates a significant amount of 182.6 MtonCO2e to the atmosphere within 10 years. If mangrove loss continues, a significant amount of greenhouse gases will be accumulated in the atmosphere and negatively affect their unique biodiversity. Halting mangrove deforestation and conserving the remaining mangrove forests is the most cost effective and efficient measure to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate climate change.

How Total Performance Scores of Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program Hospitals Change Over Time.

The Medicare Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program established performance-based financial incentives for hospitals. We hypothesized that total performance scores (TPS) would vary by hospital type. Value-Based Purchasing reports were collected from 2015 to 2017 and merged with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Impact File data. A total of 3,005 hospitals were grouped into physician-owned surgical hospitals (POSH), accountable care organizations (ACO), Kaiser, Vizient, and General hospitals. Longitudinal linear mixed-effects models compared temporal differences of TPS and secondary composite outcome, process, patient satisfaction, safety, and cost efficiency measures between hospital types. Total performance scores decreased across all hospital types (p < .001). Physician-owned surgical hospitals had the highest TPS (59.9), followed by Kaiser (49.2), ACO (36.7), General (34.8), and Vizient (30.7) (p < .001). Hospital types differed significantly in size, geography, mean case-mix index, Medicare patient discharges, percent Medicare days to inpatient days, Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, and uncompensated care per claim. Scores improved in 84% of POSH and 14.6% of Kaiser hospitals using score reallocations. In comparison with General hospitals, the TPS was higher for POSH and Kaiser and lower for Vizient in part due to weighting reallocation and individual domain scores. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services scoring system changes have not addressed the methodological biases favoring certain hospital types.

Analysis of challenges, costs, and governance alternative for peatland restoration in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Restoration of degraded tropical peatland is considered to be one of the most cost-efficient measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving biodiversity. Although benefits of restoration are often expected to substantially exceed the costs, most restoration projects are being carried out without clear cost analyses. This study provides empirical assessments of challenges and costs of the four peatland restoration projects managed by different proponents in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia based on key informant interviews, a follow-up survey and document analyses. We also reviewed existing policy contexts that can address some of the challenges to propose a governance alternative to sustain peatland restoration efforts. We found that many ecological challenges of peatland restoration projects were created by drainage canals leaving the peat to be dry and fire prone. Peatland degradation has been exacerbated by human activities and human-caused fires, and restoration efforts have faced many challenges due to lack of secure funding and complexity of governing the project implementation. The key informants we interviewed easily recognized direct costs for implementing restoration activities, but often left out indirect costs of addressing social challenges, such as expenses to engage local communities, in their assessments of the costs. Although our accounting is far from exhaustive, we found that indirect costs can add up to half of the total cost of peatland restoration projects. Current funding mechanisms for these projects mostly rely on international donors and private sectors, which make the long-term sustainability of the projects questionable. We argue that hybrid governance for a green business model, such as restoration and ecosystem services enterprises, with active participation from the public sector should be mainstreamed. The accounting framework developed in this study can be applied in other projects and should be further revised to systematically assess cost-effectiveness of restoration interventions.

Relationship Between Cost Efficiency and Stock Price: Evidence from Bangladeshi Commercial Banks

This paper employs Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure cost efficiency score of 30 listed private commercial banks in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and finds its influence on stock prices. Results suggest that, there is a significant impact of changes in share prices on the cost efficiency score. This suggests, those banks are most cost efficient, they are able to generate more return for their stockholder than those of inefficient banks.

Education and training as key drivers for improving the quality of fluid balance charts: findings from a quality improvement project

Reviewing fluid balance charts is a simple and effective method of assessing and monitoring the hydration status of patients. Several articles report that these charts are often either inaccurately or...

Does capacity utilisation influence financial performance? A study of Indian public bus transport companies

PurposeThe objective of the paper is to get a better understanding of capacity utilisation (CU) in Indian public bus companies. More specifically, this paper would be measuring CU and identifying the drivers of the same. Finally, the influence of CU on the financial performance of Indian bus companies is examined.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the CU in Indian public bus companies. Truncated regression was used to identify the drivers of CU. Subsequently, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to analyse the influence of CU on Indian bus companies' financial performance. The period of study was from 2013 to 17.FindingsThe significant drivers of CU were fleet age, passenger lead and fleet utilisation. Additionally, it was found that CU had a significant positive influence on the financial performance of Indian public bus companies and a unit increase in unused capacity has led to an increase of 7% in the operating ratio of the bus companies.Practical implicationsGetting insights into CU, apart from technical efficiency, is of immense use to both public transport researchers and practitioners. Managers of public bus companies should be mindful of CU as it has a significant bearing on their financial performance.Originality/valueThis is the first study in public transport, which establishes the linkage between CU and financial performance. Besides, a modified measure of cost-efficiency has also been conceptualised in this study.

Screening tools to expedite assessment of frailty in people receiving haemodialysis: a diagnostic accuracy study

BackgroundFrailty is associated with multiple adverse outcomes in stage-5 chronic kidney disease (CKD-5) and upwards of one third of people receiving haemodialysis (HD) are frail. While many frailty screening methods are available in both uremic and non-uremic populations, their implementation in clinical settings is often challenged by time and resource constraints. In this study, we explored the diagnostic accuracy of time-efficient screening tools in people receiving HD.MethodsA convenience sample of 76 people receiving HD [mean age = 61.1 years (SD = 14), 53.9% male] from three Renal Units were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Frailty was diagnosed by means of the Fried phenotype. Physical performance-based screening tools encompassed handgrip strength, 15-ft gait speed, timed up and go (TUG), and five-repetition sit to stand (STS-5) tests. In addition, participants completed the SF-36 Health Survey, the short-form international physical activity questionnaire and the Tinetti falls efficacy scale (FES) as further frailty-related measures. Outcome measures included the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV). The diagnostic performance of screening tools in assessing fall-risk was also investigated.ResultsOverall, 36.8% of participants were classified as frail. All the examined instruments could significantly discriminate frailty status in the study population. Gait speed [AUC = 0.89 (95%CI: 0.81–0.98), sensitivity = 75%, specificity = 93%] and TUG [AUC = 0.90 (95%CI: 0.80–0.99), sensitivity = 89%, specificity = 85%] exhibited the highest diagnostic accuracy. There was a significant difference in gait speed AUC (20%, p = 0.013) between participants aged 65 years or older (n = 36) and those under 65 years of age (n = 40), with better discriminating performance in the younger sub-group. The Tinetti FES was the only instrument showing good diagnostic accuracy (AUCs≥0.80) for both frailty (sensitivity = 82%, specificity = 79%) and fall-risk (sensitivity = 82%, specificity = 71%) screening.ConclusionsThis cross-sectional study revealed that time- and cost-efficient walking performance measures can accurately be used for frailty-screening purposes in people receiving HD. While self-selected gait speed had an excellent performance in people under 65 years of age, TUG may be a more suitable screening method for elderly patients (≥65 years). The Tinetti FES may be a clinically useful test when physical testing is not achievable.

Effect of Branch Expansion on Cost Efficiency of Ethiopian Commercial BANKS. (Stochastic Cost frontier Approach)

Banks are a vital parts of a nation’s economy that catalyzed Economic growth through facilitate spending and investment in the economy.Bank institutionis one and the top from the major financial institutions in Ethiopia.The number of all branches of the industry including public banks increased from year to year aggressively.Thus, the overall objective of this study was to investigate effect of branch expansion on cot efficiency Ethiopian commercial banks.Accordingly, from the population, Commercial banks operating in the country a total of 18, among these, 2 public and 16 private commercial banks (a total of 14 commercial banks) were included in the study period 2010/11-2018/19 based on non-probability, purposefully sampling method. The research used theprice of labor, prices of capital,Number of branches, annual inflation rate, real GDP growth, Total loan output, management performances, market share, capital adequacy ratio,liquidity risk, prices of deposit and total securities variables to measure cost efficiency. To this end, the study used secondary data from the NBE, balance sheets and income statements of individual commercial banks obtained from the period from to 2010/11 to 2018/9. Then nine years’ panel data of bank levelvariables has been collected and analyzed using stochastic cost frontier regression analysis. As a resultthe researcher concluded that stochastic frontier model as appropriate to represent inefficient operation among the commercial banks of Ethiopia .The Ethiopian commercial banks expanded their branches throughout the country’s territory; most of the bank branches were opened.Despite the various challenges, banks preferred to go ahead with its plan to open more branches to reach customers. However their cost efficiency had been decreased as of aggressively opened branches in the study years.Accordingly the analysis result Zemen bank was the most cost efficiency and become the best practiced bank and CBE the most inefficiency bank and in reverses also characterizes in branch expansion profile.The researcher recommended thatEthiopianbanking institutions should continue to innovate so as to reduce their cost inefficiencies. Moreover, NBE and government stand towards policy that forbids foreign banks entry, the Reserve required ratio amount, and competition environment and policy in opening branches must revised. Keywords: Branch expansion, cost efficiency, Ethiopian commercial banks DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-9-04 Publication date: May 31 st 2021

An Investigative Study on Energy and Cost-Efficiency Measures in Commmercial Buildings: Case Study of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

The quality and amount of energy expended are of paramount importance in the pursuit of economic recovery and diversification for both electricity consumers and authorities within the energy sector. This study concentrated on establishing energy and cost efficiencies within commercial buildings. All the incandescent bulbs within the eight departments considered were replaced by fluorescent lamps. Fluke 381 meter was employed in measuring power and energy consumed in KVA and Kilowatt-hour respectively for 30 days with mean daily use of 8 hours. The wattage of incandescent bulbs are 40 W, 60 W,75 W, 100 W, 120 W, 150 W and 200 W while the equivalent fluorescent bulbs are 10 W, 14 W, 20 W, 25 W, 30 W, 45 W and 60 W respectively. The number of incandescent bulbs replaced in various departments are given as follows: Psychiatry, 4000; Pharmacy, 2775; Pediatrics, 900; Anesthesia, 720; Physiotherapy, 684; Family medicine, 752; Surgery, 320; Emergency, 354. Analysis from each department shows that Psychiatry recorded the highest savings in terms of energy and money. It was also deduced that after the mean life span of a bulb expires, a total of 701 and 103 bulbs would be bought for incandescent and energy saving respectively in ten years, which shows 598 incandescent bulbs would be saved if replaced by energy saving.

Do Animal Welfare Schemes Promote Better Animal Health? An Empirical Investigation of German Pork Production

Animal welfare programs support lower production intensity and environmental enrichment to create additional value for animals and consumers, by facilitating farms to resolve the conflict between animal welfare and efficient farming. Yet, the success of such enrichments in improving animal welfare and thus the productive performance depends on farmers’ production process management. Complexity of animal welfare, and its unclear role for the hog finishing process’ performance, challenges the evaluation of animal welfare programs. Using unique farm-level data comprising cost accounting and production economic data, participation status in the German program “Initiative Tierwohl” and animal health scores collected at the abattoir, we investigate the relationship between farm performance, animal health and program participation. This study relies on relative farm performance measures of technical and cost efficiency, obtained by nonparametric data envelopment analysis. Statistical correlation analysis and distribution difference testing was supported by locally estimated scatterplot smoothing. The findings indicate the possibility for high farm performance with low prevalence rates of internal organ alterations, also for non-participants. Program participants, however, achieved better relative farm performance and higher levels of respiratory health scores. Based on the indications from abattoir data, no statistically significant relationship between animal health and farm performance, and no moderating role of the program could be found for the sampled farms. We conclude that low threshold programs, such as the “Initiative Tierwohl”, might provide an incentive for adjusting the environment and can thus contribute to increasing sustainability in pork production.

Robustness of Farrell cost efficiency measurement under data perturbations: Evidence from a US manufacturing application

Measuring economic and cost efficiency receives ever-increasing attention of the executives and managers of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to minimise total production costs. The conventional Farrell cost efficiency (CE) as a key determinant requires the precise information on inputs, outputs and input prices, while in praxis uncertainty is inherent and inevitable in data and its negligence conceivably results in a dire approximation for CE measures. This paper is concerned with Farrell CE in situations of both endogenous and exogenous uncertainty. The source of uncertainty allows us to define two different scenarios; (i) in situations of endogenous uncertainty in input and output data where the uncertainty is affected by the decision maker's decisions, and (ii) in situations of uncertain prices for inputs where the uncertainty is exogenously given. In the first scenario, the theory of robust optimisation is adopted to develop the robust data envelopment analysis (DEA) models with the aim of grappling uncertainties in input and output data when measuring technical and cost efficiencies. The second scenario aims to accommodate uncertainties on price information by developing a pair of robust DEA models based upon robust optimisation estimating the upper and lower bounds for CE measures. This unprecedented study helps us to provide a generalised framework for economic efficiency with uncertainties in which conventional properties of Farrell measures are fulfilled. In addition to comparing the developed approach in this paper with other existing approaches through a simple numerical example, the usefulness and applicability of the suggested framework are minutely studied in an empirical application in the context of allocation problems.

Cross-regional analysis of banking efficiency drivers

ABSTRACT The banking industry plays a crucial role in any economy by providing diverse services aimed at enhancing economic growth. In recent decades, this sector has been transformed due to financial liberalization and new regulatory rules. Therefore, measuring the efficiency of banking institutions is critically important to identify the evolution of efficiency drivers for banks. Based on a sample of 90 individual banks from four different world regions (Europe, US, China, and India), this paper conducts data envelopment, stochastic frontier and anova analyses to measure cost efficiency over a 15-year period (2002–2016). While the overall liberalization of financial markets seems to induce a convergence among efficiency strategies privileging cost minimization to improve efficiency, the existence of state intervention in China and India nuances our results. State owned banks base their efficiency more on maximization of their potential revenue than on controlling costs. On the contrary, their private peers are more similar to Western peers.

The impact of energy costs on industrial performance: identifying price and quantity effects in the aluminum industry using a data envelopment analysis approach

We build a frontier function model with technical and cost efficiency measures to assess the impact of energy costs on competitiveness in the aluminum industry, a heavy energy consumer, by identifying what may be attributed to price and quantity effects. First, we estimate a data envelopment analysis model and measure the efficiency scores using the Farrell and Tone approaches. Then, we explain efficiency scores with a set of environmental factors using a truncated regression model, applying the double-bootstrap method proposed by Simar and Wilson in 2007. By considering the Tone efficiency scores, we highlight the fact that efficiencies are differentiated depending on geographic region and production technologies. This could explain the loss of competitiveness observed in certain industrial units in recent years. We also highlight other factors that impact cost efficiency, such as global market share, multinational status and the exchange rate with respect to the dollar. These factors have a significant, positive effect on relative efficiency in terms of aluminum smelter costs. Our results provide a better understanding of the reasons for the changes in this industry, which has been marked by major technological and economic shifts, and allow us to assess the role of energy in these changes.

Cost-efficient measures in the oil refinery and petrochemical sectors for the reduction of CO2 emissions under the Paris Agreement and air pollution under the MARPOL Convention

Petroleum products are produced as co-products of crude oil, and several kinds of petrochemical products are produced through petroleum-related products, where huge and complex supply chains exist. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) developed plans for reductions in air pollution in the international bunker under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Convention, as well as requests for CO2 emission reductions under the Paris Agreement. In addition, automobiles are expected to reduce energy consumption and switch fuel sources from oil to electricity or hydrogen, for example. From the energy supply perspective, technological developments in hydrogen, biorefinery, and Carbon dioxide Capture and Utilization (CCU) are in progress, as well as the increasing trend for shale gas. This study consistently analyzes measures in the oil refinery and petrochemical sectors by using a global energy systems model considering these complex conditions. The SOx and NOx emission regulations by the IMO will have a large impact, and the additional global costs are estimated to be about 7–9 billion and 13-14 billion US$2000/year in the years 2030 and 2050, respectively. However, the long-term CO2 emission reduction constraints under the Paris Agreement will have much larger impacts on the oil refinery and petrochemical sectors, particularly after the middle of the 21st Century, and the impacts of SOx and NOx regulations will be relatively small. In order to meet the SOx and NOx regulations by the IMO, the countermeasures both of using high sulfur fuel oil with installing scrubbers etc. and switching to low sulfur fuel oil are cost-efficient. In the long term, liquified natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen, which also contribute to CO2 emission reductions, can be cost-efficient too.

Valuating environmental impacts from ship emissions – The marine perspective

Shipping is an activity responsible for a range of different pressures affecting the marine environment, air quality and human welfare. The methodology on how ship emissions impact air quality and human health are comparatively well established and used in cost-benefit analysis of policy proposals. However, the knowledge base is not the same for impacts on the marine environment and a coherent environmental and socio-economic impact assessment of shipping has not yet been made. This risk policies to be biased towards air pollution whilst trading off impacts on the marine environment. The aim of the current study was to develop a comprehensive framework on how different pressures from shipping degrade marine ecosystems, air quality and human welfare. A secondary aim was to quantify the societal damage costs of shipping due to the degradation of human welfare in a Baltic Sea case study. By adding knowledge from marine ecotoxicology and life-cycle analysis to the existing knowledge from climate, air pollution and environmental economics we were able to establish a more comprehensive conceptual framework that allows for valuation of environmental impacts from shipping, but it still omits economic values for biological pollution, littering and underwater noise. The results for the Baltic Sea case showed the total annual damage costs of Baltic Sea shipping to be 2.9 billion €2010 (95% CI 2.0–3.9 billion €2010). The damage costs due to impacts on marine eutrophication (768 million €2010) and marine ecotoxicity (582 million €2010) were in the same range as the total damage costs associated with reduced air quality (816 million €2010) and climate change (737 million €2010). The framework and the results from the current study can be used in future socio-economic assessments of ship emissions to prioritize cost efficient measures. The framework can be used globally but the damage costs presented on the marine environment are restricted to emissions on the Baltic Sea and Kattegat region as they are based on willingness to pay studies conducted on citizens around the Baltic Sea where eutrophication and emissions of chemicals are particularly threats to the state of the Baltic Sea.

Discriminating between Islamic and Conventional banks in term of cost efficiency with combination of credit risk and interest rate margin in the GCC countries: Does Arab Spring revolution matter?

This study aims to test the contagion effect of the Arab Spring revolution in the GCC countries on discrimination between Islamic and conventional banks in terms of cost efficiency, and to test how prudential factors can influence this comparison. We used the stochastic frontier of Battese and Coelli (1995) to measure the cost efficiency of both Islamic and conventional banks in the GCC countries during 2006_ 2015 (before the Arab revolution 2006-2010 and after the Arab revolution 2011-2015). Second, we used a logit model to discriminate between Islamic and conventional banks in terms of cost efficiency combined with credit risk, regulatory capital and interest margin. Third, we finally test the convergence and divergence between Islamic and Conventional banks by measuring the probability of having Islamic/conventional activities for both banks. We have shown that there is no absolute difference in terms of cost efficiency between Islamic and conventional banks. This difference can be observed through the credit risk taking but not through the interest rate margin. In addition, Islamic banks have taken advantage from the event of the Arab Spring revolution, compared to conventional ones, by being more efficient through risk mitigating due to their participatory financial product. Unlike previous research, we have used a cost efficiency measurement following Battese and Coelli’s (1995) model and we have incorporated it in a logit model, in the context of crisis. Cost efficiency is combined with a set of prudential factors to determine their effect on the convergence/divergence between Islamic and conventional bank.