Inefficiency Factors Research Articles

Material Flow Cost Accounting with Multiple Inefficiency Factors and Recycling

AbstractSustainability management requires differentiated information on the environmental and economic consequences of material demand’s increasing and decreasing factors. Material flow cost accounting fails to provide this information due to the common undifferentiated determination of realized costs of material and product losses and, therefore, the lack of a production theoretical basis for cost planning. We develop a material flow model considering the impacts of waste and reject as material demand increasing factors and reworking and recycling as material demand decreasing factors at the company, quantity center, and product unit levels. This enables designing a material flow cost accounting system with specific cost information on the different factors at each level. We also analyze the consequences of the material distribution key and possible alternatives for allocating costs in material flow cost accounting. Finally, we discuss further development opportunities for this accounting system.

Assessing Efficiency Of Paddy Farming In Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia

The use of agricultural input is significant for farm management. It would relate to productivity and efficiency. The problem is that the paddy farmers still needed to determine the appropriate agricultural input use level to achieve efficiency. This study aims to assess the efficiency of paddy farming in Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia. This study evaluated the efficiency of paddy farming with three types: technical efficiency, allocative efficiency, and economic efficiency. A survey was conducted with 40 paddy farmers to obtain data on paddy production and agricultural input use such as seed, fertilizer, chemicals, and labor. Data envelopment analysis with an input approach was employed to analyze the data. The scores of technical efficiency, allocative efficiency, and economic efficiency were 0.935, 0.711, and 0.668, respectively. This study indicated that paddy farming in Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia, was technically efficient. However, it was allocative and economically inefficient. The unachieved cost minimization was the driving factor of the allocative inefficiency. Furthermore, this study also found that the condition of paddy farming increased the return to scale (IRS). This condition implied that the paddy farmers could escalate the paddy production and achieve efficiency by improving agricultural input use. Moreover, eco-friendly agricultural input is encouraged to minimize costs to improve allocative efficiency and support sustainable agriculture. Also, the government should take some actions and policies to improve the efficiency of paddy farming in Deli Serdang.

Identifying the Components of Organizational Culture in Hospital Environments: A Qualitative Study

Background: Weak organizational culture is one of the main factors of inefficiency in hospitals. Identifying the type of organizational culture of hospitals is an important step in increasing productivity. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of identifying the components of organizational culture. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd in 1400. The statistical population included the nurses of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd. The sampling method used in this study was purposive and snowball sampling. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were used. The content analysis method was used to analyze the texts using MAXQDA version 10 software. Results: In this study, 13 experts were interviewed. The results of the data analysis showed that the 11 main components of organizational culture at Yazd University of Medical Sciences are rational, ideological, agreement and participation, hierarchical, constructive, passive, work and open culture, club, stronghold, flexible, Learner, and value orientation. Conclusion: The identified components of organizational culture can help healthcare managers and policymakers to improve service quality, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of employees, improve organizational performance, and increase patient satisfaction.

Analysis of Competitiveness and Efficiency the Export of Essential Oils from Indonesia

This study analyzes the competitiveness, efficiency, and factors influencing Indonesia's essential oils exports using the Stochastic Frontier Gravity Model (SFGM). The main variables examined include Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), population, exchange rate, and geographical distance. The findings indicate that Indonesian essential oils are highly competitive in international markets, particularly in France, Spain, and Switzerland. Significant factors affecting export value include the real GDP of the destination country, RCA, population, exchange rate, and geographical distance. Additionally, inefficiency factors are influenced by area, language, business freedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom. Export efficiency is categorized into five levels. This study provides empirical insights into the impact of economic and non-economic factors on the export performance of Indonesian essential oils, offering valuable implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders to enhance global competitiveness and efficiency.

The efficiency of China's export trade with Africa and its influence mechanism

AbstractThis paper calculates the trade efficiency of China's exports to Africa by considering trade inefficiency factors, such as Chinese aid to Africa and Chinese contracted projects. Based on a stochastic frontier gravity model and data for China's exports to 38 African countries from 2010 to 2020, this study draws the following conclusions. First, trade inefficiencies, such as China's aid and contracted projects, play a positive role in promoting China's export trade to Africa. Second, the efficiency of China's export trade to Africa varies significantly in different regions, among which countries with high export trade efficiency are concentrated in North and South Africa. Third, the trade potential and trade expansion space of China's exports to Africa vary significantly among different product sectors, which provides much space for promoting trade policy. We highlight that China's government should develop differentiated regional trade policies due to regional heterogeneity in terms of export trade efficiency between China and African countries.

Factors affecting judicial system efficiency: a systematic mapping review with a focus on Italy

PurposeEuropean justice systems are facing a dramatic performance crisis due to the frequent inability to resolve cases without incurring unreasonable delays and backlogs. In this framework, the Italian Judicial system places itself well below the European countries average, in terms of speed of resolution of administrative, civil and criminal trials. The purpose of the paper was to (1) identify factors affecting Italian judicial system efficiency and (2) identify potential actions to manage them, improving judicial system efficiency.Design/methodology/approachIn order to achieve the aims of this paper, a systematic review to map all critical factors discussed in previous studies was performed. Studies were extracted from Google Scholar, Web of Science and SSRN databases. In total, 22 studies were included.FindingsThe identified factors of inefficiency of the Italian judicial system have been divided into three macro-classes depending on whether they concern human resource management, the judicial process or whether they pertain to internal or external outside the judicial organization. For each of these, possible strategies have been developed in a new conceptual framework.Originality/valueThe framework seeks to assist policymakers in forming policy measures that can significantly increase court effectiveness. This is the first attempt to review and map all factors affecting judicial system efficiency systematically, providing a new conceptual framework to manage them.

Reflections on Labour Productivity of the Sri Lanka Transport Board: An Analysis of Patterns and Evolution

The predominant reliance on buses, particularly by low-income commuters, has made the bus transportation industry one of the most pivotal contributors to the domestic economy. Therefore, as the single largest public bus transportation service provider in Sri Lanka, SLTB’s ability to generate higher volumes of output by employing fewer inputs is increasingly crucial. However, SLTB is a state-owned enterprise that has been criticised for its inefficient factor productivity for a long time. Such allegations against the leading transport service provider of the country would raise serious economic concerns. Thus, this study attempted to examine SLTB’s labour productivity in its physical dimensions as reflected through the elasticity of output on labour inputs to determine the underlying causes for any inefficiency in the utilisation of labour in the organisation. The scale and evolution of elasticities of output of SLTB’s operations on labour inputs between 2011 and 2019 were subject to econometric scrutiny in this study. The results of the study revealed that the SLTB’s elasticity of output on labour inputs has been negative at the overall national level. However, a favourable evolution of the elasticity of output on labour could be observed over the years. The results also revealed the presence of significant differences in region-specific effects on the elasticity of output on labour inputs compared to the national level, indicating that different regions have different labour productivity levels.

Economic analysis of inefficiency in wheat production: An empirical study from India

The study undertook an effort to trace the production inefficiency between different farm sizes (i.e., marginal, small, semi-medium, and medium farms) for wheat crops in Uttar Pradesh, India. Using a sample of 320 farmers from the U.P., the study employed the stochastic production frontier (SPF) approach to determine the level of inefficiency using key inputs such as land, irrigation, fertilizer, seed, pesticides, equipment, and labour. Further, factors such as age, farm size (FS), soil fertility problem (SFP), awareness spearheaded by the panchayat (ASP), inaccessibility to certify seeds (ICS), and Simmons land fragmentation index (LFI) that accounted for inefficiency among various farm sizes have been taken into account. The study found that the inefficiency factors used in the study are hindering wheat production. The study exhibits significant differences among farm-wise inefficiency in Uttar Pradesh and therefore suggests the possibility of increasing the production of wheat crops in the state. The study recognizes that for farms with above-two-hectare land, production is relatively higher as compared to small and marginal farms’ production. Thus, farms above 2 hectares are, in real terms, recognised as true economic holdings in the study, as they are less inefficient relative to others. The study suggests policy measures to improve the symmetrical information regarding input usages and interventions to reduce marginalisation in the state.

Enhancing asphaltic mixtures with Calcined Nano Montmorillonite: A performance assessment

There are increasing interest in using nanoclay particles to improve asphalt binder and the produced concrete in pavement engineering. However so far most of the study was to directly use the nanoclays in natural material conditions, which come with some inefficient factors affecting the final effectiveness of the modified asphalt binder and the made concrete. This paper reports extensive experimental research on using preprocessed nanoclay, the Calcined Nano Montmorillonite (CNMM), to modify asphalt binder, compared with using natural Nano Montmorillonite (NMM). The nanoclays were added in asphalt as additive at different content rates ranging from 0% to 10% by the weight of asphalt binder. Experimental tests were performed on both of the modified asphalt binders and the concrete mixes using them. The study showed that at a 10% content CNMM demonstrated 32% improvement on Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS), and 5.25% less permanent deformation after exposed 10,000 load repetitions; at 6% CNMM presented 57.5% improvement on the CTindex for fatigue resistance. Meanwhile, the SEM analysis proved a distinctive morphological difference between NMM and CNMM, which indicates the optimized microscopic structure of the CNMM for the improvement on the interlock and adhesion with asphalt binder. In comparison, the optimum dosage for NMM is identified at 4%, while CNMM is at around 6%. The economic viability of the use of CNMM against the use of NMM has also been discussed in reference to the local material prices. In consideration of a balance between cost and performance, 6% content is recommended for the use of CNMM.

Technical efficiency of small-scale production of date palm in Jigawa State

This study was conducted to analyse the technical efficiency of small-scale date palm farmers in Jigawa state, Nigeria. A sample size of 113 small scale date palm farmers was selected for the study using random sampling technique. The technical efficiency for small- scale date palm production was determined using stochastic frontier production function. While age was identified as the major contributor to the technical inefficiency, the study however revealed the mean technical efficiency is 78% in small scale date palm production which implies a 22% potential for the least technically efficient small-scale date palm farmer to increase date palm production with the current level of resources and technology. It was concluded that small scale date palm production is technically efficient in the study area, although age is the major contributing factor of the technical inefficiency in date palm production.

Assessing the factors of economic and environmental inefficiency of sunflower production in Pakistan: an epsilon-based measure model

Considering the growing pressure of the edible oil imports bill on Pakistan’s national accounts, the significance of sunflower cultivation is gaining more attention to meet the domestic edible oil demand. Given the declining area for sunflower production, this study explored the factors of economic and environmental inefficiencies affecting sunflower growers in Pakistan. The study adopted the epsilon-based measure (EBM) model at the first stage and the Tobit truncated regression model at the second stage to precisely estimate the economic and environmental inefficiencies in the data collected from 240 sunflower growers. Results found that out of 240, 69.9% of the sunflower growers are economically inefficient, while the average environmental inefficiency of sunflower growers is 56.3%. The findings further revealed that farmers’ age, cultivated land, and market distance are the driving factors of farmers’ economic and environmental inefficiencies. However, formal education, farming experience, and access to agricultural extension services decreased the farmer’s inefficiencies. Based on the present study’s findings, diverse policy options are presented to address the problem of contraction of the area under sunflower production.

Optimasi Pengaturan pH Developer untuk Meningkatkan Efisiensi Waktu dalam Processing Film di Ruang Gelap Radiologi

Background: Film processing is an activity to obtain a permanent and real picture of a film, which can be seen with the eye in general conditions. The developer fluid is very influential on the image produced in the film. After exposure, it will be placed in the next step, namely the washing process, so as to produce a permanent image and make a diagnosis. Each exposure of washing film from one film to another, there is a difference in processing time. The more films that are processed, the longer the film processing time is required. The purpose of this study is to see the effect of developer pH on inefficient factors that lead to the film processing time in a dark room. Methods: The research design used was experimental with research samples tested on pH developers in the Radiology Installation of RSUD Pesawaran. Result: Calculation analysis, measurement test result of developer pH measurement to the time of generation on the film was the sig. value which was 0,000 and the degree of relationship value was - 0,983. Conclusion: Based on the provisions, the sig. value of 0.000 0.05 then Ho was rejected or it was stated that there was a relationship between variable X (pH value) and variable Y (Time).

A stochastic frontier analysis of cost of efficiency in Turkish cement industry

Purpose - The main focus of this paper is to measure cost efficiency in Turkish Cement Industry using firm level data over the period 2008-2016. The measurement of cost efficiency in the industry in which there can seem usually competition infringement is of great importance regarding effective allocation of resources. The ineffective allocation of resources can bring about cost inefficiency. Methodology - In this study, efficiency is measured using a frontier analysis approach, which quantifies efficiency as the gap between the best achievable performance and actual performance. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) method is employed to assess cost efficiency of each firm in this manner. By incorporating both statistical error and inefficiency, the SFA method recognizes that deviations from optimal performance can arise from both random errors and inefficiency factors. Findings- Empirical results show that cost efficiency scores vary between 82% and 93% by different models. The results also indicate a wide range of cost efficiencies across different size cement firms. The lowest cost efficiency score is estimated by TFE, BC95, and PL81 models in 2015. Conclusion- Average cost efficiency score varies between approximately 93% and 82%, which means that the firms can potentially achieve at least 7% and a maximum of 18% reduction in input costs. Keywords: Stochastic frontier analysis, cement industry, cost efficiency, efficiency estimation, time-varying, invariant efficiency. JEL Codes: D24, C51, L61

The efficiency of use of production factors for rice through mechanization in Sukoharjo

Paddy was a staple food ingredient to produce rice. Rice contains nutrients for the human body as an energy source. Rice contains strengthening substances such as carbohydrates, protein, fat, crude fiber, ash, and vitamins. Sukoharjo Regency has implemented a corporate farming system since 2018. The level of use of the mechanization system of production factors was not yet known. The objective of this study was to know the level of efficiency of the use of the corporate farming system in the Sukoharjo Regency. The method of determining the location of the study uses a purposive. The method of determining the sample in this study is the purposive sampling method. That is, sampling from the population was done randomly without regard to the existing strata in the population. The results showed that The use of production factors in lowland rice farming had not reached the maximum efficiency level. The factors of production needed to increase their use were land area and organic fertilizer. In comparison, the inefficient factors were labor, seeds, urea fertilizer, sp36 fertilizer, spontaneous pesticides, and furadan pesticides, so their use does not need to be added.

Informational inefficiency on bitcoin futures

This paper investigates the dynamics and drivers of informational inefficiency in the Bitcoin futures market. To quantify the adaptive pattern of informational inefficiency, we leverage two groups of statistics which measure long memory and fractal dimension to construct a global-local market inefficiency index. Our findings validate the adaptive market hypothesis, and the global and local inefficiency exhibits different patterns and contributions. Regarding the driving factors of the time-varying inefficiency, our results suggest that trading activity of retailers (hedgers) increases (decreases) informational inefficiency. Compared to hedgers and retailers, the role played by speculators is more likely to be affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Extremely bullish and bearish investor sentiment has more significant impact on the local inefficiency. Arbitrage potential, funding liquidity, and the pandemic exert impacts on the global and local inefficiency differently. No significant evidence is found for market liquidity and policy uncertainty related to cryptocurrency.

A Copula-Based Meta-Stochastic Frontier Analysis for Comparing Traditional and HDPE Geomembranes Technology in Sea Salt Farming among Farmers in Phetchaburi, Thailand

This study analyzed sea salt production and compared the technical efficiency level and the technology gap between traditional technology and High-Density Polyethylene Geomembranes (HDPE GMB) technology in the Phetchaburi province using a copula-based meta-stochastic frontier technique. A total sample size of 250 was chosen, comprising 195 traditional farmers and 55 HDPE GMBs farmers. Several copula families were used to analyze the dependence structure of the two error components and the best-fit copula-based meta-frontier model used Gaussian copulas. Land, labor, and fuel energy are the most significant input variables in the Gaussian copula-based meta-frontier model with a translog production function. Compared to meta-frontier production, the average technological gap between traditional technology production and HDPE GMB technology production was 0.69 and 0.77, respectively, meaning HDPE GMB technology is more technically efficient than traditional technology. The study identified that land, market price, sex, and experience were the contributing technical inefficiency factors for traditional technology production. For HDPE GMB technology production, land, sex, and experience were found to be contributing factors. The performance of HDPE GMB technology in salt farming in the Phetchaburi province suggests that public and private sector agencies should promote greater access to this technology for salt farmers.

Measuring the efficiency of public hospitals: A multistage data envelopment analysis in Fujian Province, China.

The present study aimed to evaluate the operational efficiency of public hospitals in Fujian Province and the factors responsible for the inefficiency of these hospitals and provide relevant suggestions for health policymakers in allocating service resources. In the first stage of the research, the variables affecting the efficiency of hospitals were extracted by qualitative and quantitative methods, including literature optimization, gray related analysis and gray clustering evaluation. In the second stage, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method was used to evaluate the operational efficiency of 49 hospitals of different levels and types selected by sampling in 2020. Finally, a Tobit regression model with introduced institutional factors and background factors was established to study the main influencing factors of hospital inefficiency. In the first stage, 10 input variables and 10 output variables necessary from the mangers' point of view were identified to test efficiency. In the second stage, the average comprehensive TE, PTE, and SE of 49 sample hospitals was 0.802, 0.888, and 0.902, respectively. 22.45% of these hospitals met the effective criteria, i.e., the overall effective rate was 22.45%. The low SE value of the hospital was the main reason hindering the improvement of the comprehensive efficiency value. The overall effective rate of secondary public hospitals (30.77%) was higher than that of tertiary public hospitals (19.44%), and the overall effective rate of public specialized hospitals (30%) was higher than that of general public hospitals (18.92%). Based on the third stage results, the bed occupancy rate (BOR) and the proportion of beds (POB) were major factors affecting the operation efficiency of grade III hospitals (p < 0.01). However, the operating efficiency of grade II hospitals was significantly affected by POB and regional per capita GDP(GDPPC) (p < 0.05). Moreover, the impact of BOR and GDPPC was positive, and POB was negatively correlated with hospital operation efficiency. The study results indicated that the overall operation efficiency of public hospitals in Fujian Province is low. This study revealed that intervention should be strengthened from a policy and management perspective to improve the operation efficiency of public hospitals.

Sustainable Environmental Economics in Farmers’ Production Factors via Irrigation Resources Utilization Using Technical Efficiency and Allocative Efficiency

This study reports the results of farmers’ production via irrigation resources utilization and efficiency parameters of technical efficiency and allocative efficiency by way of sustainable environmental economics. The hypothesis is that factors of farmers’ production affect technical efficiency and allocative efficiency in the irrigation scheme as sustainable environmental economics. Data from cross section and panel data were used and then the productivity parameters measurement of the production function are outlined in two scenarios: first, the data report that the parameters such as output elasticity determine factors of inefficiency and technical efficiency. Second, it presents the scores for the allocative efficiency to explain whether production factors (resources) are optimally, under- or over-allocated by farmers in the irrigation systems under environmental sustainability. This paper presents the productivity and efficiency parameters estimated using stochastic frontier analysis for the translog production function, which was estimated by the MLE method, and the allocative efficiency for the factor inputs allocation in the irrigation systems estimated by ordinary least square for the Cobb-Douglas production function. This study concludes that collective farmers lead into technical inefficiency and over use of factors of production.

Краткосрочная профилактика интернет-зависимости у старших подростков

The work is devoted to the analysis of the implementation of the program of short-term prevention of Internet addiction in older adolescents in the ever-increasing informatization of society, in the conditions of metropolitan gymnasiums. Domestic scientists focus on various aspects of Internet addiction, which are manifested in adolescents. Foreign research is carried out at the intersection of psychology with pharmacotherapy, psychiatry, philosophy, sociology, and addictology. The novelty of the study lies in highlighting the stages of forming ideas about the phenomenon of Internet addiction based on methodological and theoretical analysis, as well as clarifying the concepts of “informatization”, “digitalization”, “Internet addiction”. Based on the generally accepted paradigm of Internet addiction as a standard non-chemical addiction, acting as desocializing or interfering with normal socialization, based on the development of the modern information society, there is a need to prevent Internet addiction. The purpose of the article was to describe the empirical results of a study of short-term prevention of Internet addiction in older adolescents in urban gymnasiums. It was assumed that purposefully organized prevention of Internet addiction would contribute to its reduction, regardless of the timing of the implementation of preventive measures. The study involved 50 students of the 9th grade aged 14 to 16 years. An analysis of the results of the primary diagnosis of grade 9 of two different educational organizations before the start of the program showed that 94 % of students are at risk for the formation of Internet addiction and allowed us to say that older adolescence is a key factor in the emergence of a tendency to Internet addictive behavior. Experimental work was aimed at the implementation of a short-term group program for the prevention of Internet addiction in students of older adolescence. According to the results of the final diagnosis, the only significant quantitative change in the experimental group was the change in the Scale of intrapersonal problems, which may indicate the effectiveness of the training part of the preventive work, as well as the effectiveness of individual consulting work provided to students. The factors of inefficiency of a short-term prevention program and targets in building a comprehensive work on the prevention of Internet addiction among students of educational institutions are identified.

Production Efficiency Analysis of Oil Palm Plantations: Stochastic Frontier Approach

Palm oil is a commodity in the plantation sector that has an important role in the economy of North Sumatra Province. The oil palm plantation sector is one of the main sources of income for the people in South Labuhan Batu regency. The productivity of smallholder oil palm plantations is relatively lower when compared to the productivity of oil palm managed by large plantations. This study aims to determine the factors that influence the production and technical inefficiency of oil palm production. The research location is in South Labuhanbatu Regency, North Sumatra Province, which was carried out in 2020. Sampling was carried out using a purposive method, namely as many as 45 oil palm farmer households. The approach used is the stochastic frontier production function. Maximum likelihood estimation method used. The results of the analysis show that the area and the number of workers significantly affect the production of oil palm farmers. The technical inefficiency factor is caused by the age of the farmer, and the number of household members involved in oil palm farming. To measure the use of all resources can be used the concept of return to scale. The sum of all the elasticity responses to the use of all inputs estimated using the maximum likelihood method of the stochastic production function is 1.09, which indicates that an increase in all available inputs leads to a greater increase in farmers’ income. Government support is needed in the form of farming practice improvement and access to capital to achieve production at the frontier point with an opportunity of 10.93 %. Keywords: Increasing return to scale, palm oil, stochastic frontier, technical efficiency