Extent Of Inefficiency Research Articles

Leveraging B2B field service technicians as a “second sales force”: How service situations affect selling activity and success

To extract the full revenue potential of their front line, B2B firms use their technical field service force for selling activities. However, as selling is only a complementary activity embedded in technicians’ main service tasks, they may struggle to sell effectively. The authors investigate the service situation as a key driver of (i) the technician’s decision to engage in selling (selling activity) and (ii) the customer’s decision to purchase (selling success). They identify four types of service situations with unique effects on these outcomes. Notably, technicians’ selling activity is highest (+ 10% compared to baseline) in service situations that offer a lower (-22%) likelihood of success, whereas activity is lower in the most promising situations. Thus, technicians do not properly exploit sales opportunities. The extent of inefficiencies moreover varies by employee-specific moderators, such that specialized technicians and those with little practical experience have particular difficulty exploiting excellent sales opportunities.

Assessing the efficiency of solid waste collection services in urban Ghana

Whether private solid waste management companies are efficient in solid waste collection (SWC) has long dominated public discourse in Ghana. In many instances, such discourses are based on an empirical vacuum. This article seeks to provide the empirical basis on which discussions on SWC efficiency can be grounded. It examined the efficiency of resource inputs into SWC using the Data Envelopment Analysis. With cost and allocative efficiencies as model output, the value of total assets, number of trucks, number of collection containers, number of clients, and number of personnel deployed were set as input data, while the quantity of waste hauled and the amount of revenue generated was the output factors. The companies constituted the decision-making units (DMUs). The results showed that the average efficiency score for all DMUs was less than the 1.0 threshold for efficiency score. The results imply that the DMUs consistently operated inefficiently. We argue that the extent of inefficiencies provides the basis for stakeholders to re-examine the existing waste management architecture.

Direct targeting of efficient DMUs for benchmarking

We propose a two-stage procedure for finding realistic benchmarks for nonparametric efficiency analysis. First, the efficient units are identified by a free disposal hull approach. These benchmarks are directly targeted by directional distance functions and the extent of inefficiency is measured along the direction towards an existing efficient unit. Two variants for finding the closest or the farthest benchmark are proposed. With this approach there is no need to use linear combinations of efficient units as benchmarks which may not be achievable in reality and also no need to accept slacks which are not reflected by the efficiency measure.

What do normative indices of multidimensional inequality really measure?

We argue that normative indices of multidimensional inequality do not only measure a distribution's extent of inequity (i.e., the gaps between the better-off and the worse-off), but also its extent of inefficiency (i.e., the non-realized mutually beneficial exchanges of goods). We provide a decomposition that allows us to quantify these two parts of inequality. Strikingly, the inequity component turns out to be a two-stage measure, that is, a measure that applies a unidimensional inequality measure to the vector of individual well-being levels. The decomposition also clarifies existing controversies surrounding two prominent transfer axioms, viz., uniform majorization and correlation increasing majorization. An application to inequality in human development illustrates the analysis.

The price of anarchy in social dilemmas: Traditional research paradigms and new network applications

Research on social dilemmas has largely been concerned with whether, and under what conditions, selfish decisions by autonomous individuals jointly result in socially inefficient outcomes. By contrast, considerably less emphasis has been placed on the extent of the inefficiency in those outcomes relative to the social optimum, and how the extent of inefficiency in theory compares with what is observed in experiments or practice. In this expository article, we introduce and subsequently extend the price of anarchy (PoA), an index that originated in studies on communication in computer science, and illustrate how it can be used to characterize the extent of inefficiency in social dilemmas. A second purpose of our article is to introduce a class of social dilemmas that occur when individuals selfishly choose routes in networks, and illustrate how the concept of PoA can be helpful in studying them.

Vplyv rôznych foriem vlastníctva na efektivitu českých a slovenských bánk: prístup analýzy stochastických hraníc

The paper presents empirical analysis of influence of different ownership forms on efficiency of Czech and Slovak banks using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The paper brings new results as it uses set of data which has not been used previously in the literature. On the set of 44 Czech and 21 Slovak banks in the 1996 - 2005 period we show, that the stochastic specification of cost frontier is justified method for the data. Our main findings are that the structural influences are significant for both countries. Foreign-owned banks are bit more cost efficient than domestic private banks, state-owned banks are significantly less cost efficient when compared to domestic private banks. Extent of inefficiency also depends on the specification of the model.

Advertising, Pricing & Market Structure in Competitive Matching Markets

This paper develops a model of pricing and advertising in a matching environment with capacity constrained sellers. Sellers' expenditure on directly informative advertising attracts consumers only probabilistically. Consumers who happen to observe advertisements randomize over the advertised sellers using symmetric mixed strategies. Equilibrium prices and profit maximizing advertising levels are derived and their properties analyzed, including the interplay of prices and advertising with the market structure. The model generates a unimodal (inverted U-shape) relationship between both, individual and industry advertising level, and market structure. The relationship results from a trade off between a price effect and a market structure-matching effect. We find that the decentralized market has underprovision of advertising, both for individual sellers and industry wide, and that entry is excessive relative to the efficient level. We present a quantitative analysis to highlight properties of the models and to demonstrate the extent of inefficiency.

Non-parametric approach to the study of farm efficiency in agriculture

This article examines the extent of resource-use efficiency under different types of tenure and different farm sizes in two types of villages — one having high incidence of irrigation facilities and High Yielding Varieties (HYV) technology in an area usually cropped twice the same plot of land every year and the other having no irrigational facilities except rain-water and non-HYV technology in a mono-cropping area because the estimates on the extent of inefficiencies could help to decide whether to improve or to develop new technology to raise productivity. On the basis of a field survey and applying the method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) the authors observe that all farms score high efficiency irrespective of the types of tenure and of farm sizes, in both the types of villages. This seems to suggest that the diffusion of new agricultural technology is not so important in improving the efficiency level of the farm.

Environmental Regulations and Managerial Myopia

It has recently been claimed that, contrary totraditional neoclassical theory, suitably chosenenvironmental regulation is often beneficial for theregulated firms because it induces cost-reducinginnovations. I analyze the extent to which thisposition is compatible with microeconomic analysis. Itturns out that even in a framework in whichorganizational inefficiencies might lead tounderinvestment, environmental policy can onlyincrease firm profits if several very specificconditions are met. These conditions concern the typeof policy, the extent of inefficiencies, the costs ofpotential innovation projects and their effect onproductivity and abatement costs.

Marketless Set-up vs Trading Posts: A Comparative Analysis

This paper studies the efficiency properties with respect to transactions cost, of a trading post set-up vis-a-vis a marketless trading arrangement under the well-known frame-work of OSTROY and STARR (1974). It is revealed from this exercise that the social institute of money works better when coupled with the social institution of markets and further shows the extent of inefficiency that can be potentially associated with mar- ketless trade in large economies. This gives some insight into why, histori- cally speaking, a market set-up has evolved over time replacing a market- less set-up.

Die Zukunft der Gesundheitssicherung / The Future of Health Care

Zusammenfassung Der defizitären Finanzlage in der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung ist in der Vergangenheit vornehmlich durch Maßnahmen zur kurzfristigen Kostendämpfung begegnet worden, während strukturelle Maßnahmen, die längerfristige Abhilfe schaffen könnten, unterblieben. Die Ursachen dafür sind nicht zuletzt im politischen System mit seinem Wettbewerb von Partikularinteressen zu suchen. Aber auch systematische Probleme wie etwa der Mangel an Kosten- und Leistungstransparenz tragen Verantwortung für die Unwirtschaftlichkeiten in der GKY deren Bedeutung angesichts des derzeitigen gesamtwirtschaftlichen Umfelds offenbar ist. Lösungsstrategien richten sich zunächst auf eine verstärkte Orientierung des Gesundheitswesens an den Interessen der Patienten, die vor allem bessere Information und größere Entscheidungsfreiheit der Versicherten erfordert. Eine solche Ergebnisorientierung muß die Grundlage sein für die Zuwendung von Ressourcen an das Gesundheitswesen und für die funktionale und die entsprechende institutionelle Verteilung innerhalb dieses Sektors. Mit diesen Bemühungen ist eng verbunden, die qualitätssteigernde und kostensenkende Wirkung eines verschärften Wettbewerbs unter den Krankenversicherungen zu nutzen. Ihn zu etablieren setzt insbesondere voraus, den Versicherungen mehr Vertragsfreiheit zuzugestehen und die vielfach gesetzlich vorgesehenen monopolartigen Marktstrukturen zu lösen. Schließlich nehmen institutionelle Regelungen wie Vergütungssysteme und Ausmaß der (auch finanziellen) Eigenverantwortung der Versicherten eine zentrale Stellung ein im Hinblick auf die Bewältigung der zukünftigen, insbesondere der demographischen Herausforderung des Krankenversicherungssystems.

Technical efficiency in multi-mode bus transit: A production frontier analysis

This paper studies the efficiency of U.S. multi-mode bus transit systems by asking whether they could expand their service (outputs) without requiring additional resources (inputs); or whether they could reduce input utilization without having to reduce service. A system which can do neither is said to be “technically efficient”. The technological possibilities facing the industry are identified by computing a piecewise-linear best-practice production frontier exhibiting variable returns to scale and weak disposal. The findings indicate that 80% of the bus systems studied are technically efficient, and that the extent of inefficiency in the industry is slight.

Efficiency evaluation of community-based youth services in Virginia.

This study investigates the efficiency of community-based youth services in the Commonwealth of Virginia using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Efficiency was calculated based on resources available, the demand of services, and the service units produced. Results demonstrated the extent of inefficiency in community-based youth programs and how much efficiency can be improved relative to comparison with peer groups. The differences between large and small communities, urban and rural communities, and rich and poor communities were analyzed. There was no significant difference between each type for all three categories.

An Assessment of Efficiency of Area Agencies on Aging in Virginia Through Data Envelopment Analysis

This study investigates the efficiency of Area Agencies on Aging using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Efficiency was calculated based on resources available and service units produced. Results demonstrated that extent of inefficiency in agencies and how efficiency of individual Area Agencies on Aging can be improved relative to their peer agencies. Analyses by organizational type, size, and rural-urban differences indicated governmental agencies and large agencies were more likely to be efficient. Rural agencies were about equally likely to be efficient as inefficient.

Transactions Costs, Extent of Inefficiencies, Entries and Multiple Wagers in a Racetrack Betting Model

In a previous paper (Management Science, December 1981) Hausch, Ziemba and Rubinstein (HZR) developed a system that demonstrated the existence of a weak market inefficiency in racetrack place and show betting pools. The system appeared to make possible substantial positive profits. To make the system operational, given the limited time available for placing bets, an approximate regression scheme was developed for the Exhibition Park Racetrack in Vancouver for initial betting wealth between $2500 and $7500 and a track take of 17.1%. This paper: (1) extends this scheme to virtually any track and initial wealth level; (2) develops a modified system for multiple horse entries; (3) allows for multiple bets; (4) analyzes the effects of the track take and breakage on profits; (5) presents recent results using this system; and (6) considers the extent of the inefficiency, i.e., how much can be bet before the market becomes efficient?