Tobit Regression Analysis Research Articles

Influence of Specific Health Guidance on the Consultation Rate of Metabolic-Related Diseases

In Japan, national health expenditure is increasing each year. In particular, medical care costs for the elderly is growing at the rate of about 9% annually alongside the rapid increase of the aging population. In Japan, the specific health checkup and specific health guidance were implemented in 2008 to reduce medical costs in the medium to long term by preventing metabolic syndrome. To evaluate the influence of Specific Health Guidance on medical costs for metabolic-related or other diseases, we conducted propensity score matching and compared between those who received the Health Guidance and those who did not. The two groups were extracted from those with zero outpatient medical expenses for the five months prior to the checkup. The following were selected as variables for matching: gender, age, BMI, abdominal circumference, systolic blood pressure, HbA1c, total cholesterol, urinary protein, smoking/nonsmoking, hoping/not hoping for Health Guidance, and willing/not willing to improve one’s lifestyle habits. Finally, 50 one-to-one matches were performed between the intervention and control groups. The results of the Tobit regression analysis showed that Health Guidance significantly lowered metabolic-related medical expenses for the 26 months. However, for other diseases, no significant difference for medical expenses was evident between the two groups. The consultation rate of the intervention group after 12 months was 28% and 46% for the control group. The results suggest that the Specific Health Guidance in Japan reduced outpatient consultation for metabolic-related diseases.

Does Reduction of Material and Energy Consumption Affect to Innovation Efficiency? The Case of Manufacturing Industry in South Korea

“Reduction of material and energy consumption” (RMEC) exists as a major objective of innovation and it is proved to affect positively to innovation performance from previous literature. Though innovation should be measured in efficiency rather than performance itself, however, the relationship between material and energy reduction on innovation efficiency is still unanswered. In this paper, we analyzed the effect of RMEC on innovation efficiency considering both innovation inputs and outputs. We utilized data of 388 manufacturing enterprises in Korea, and performed data envelopment analysis (DEA) and tobit regression analysis. According to the result, firms show difference by industry type in terms of innovation efficiency and RMEC. Moreover, the effect of RMEC on innovation efficiency turned out to be negative. The result indicates a possibility that input used for innovation might overweigh the output yielded when firms pursue innovation for the RMEC.

Determinants of The Revenue Efficiency of Indian Scheduled Commercial Banks

Research aim: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the internal (bank-specific) and external (macroeconomic and industry-specific) factors thataffect the revenue efficiency of banks. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper considers all the Scheduled Commercial Banks operating in India over a period of 22 years from 1991-92 to 2012-13. Due to the non-availability of information for certain variables the sample varies across years. The revenue efficiency of banks is calculated by employing a non-parametric approach, namely, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). To determine the factors affecting revenue efficiency, the Panel Data Tobit model, as proposed by James Tobin (1958), is used. It is applied due to the censored nature of the dependent variable, i.e., the efficiency scores, which range from 0 to 1. Research finding: The results indicate that the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Net Non-Performing Assets to Net Advances (NPANA), Operating Expenses to Total Expenses (OETE), Business per Employee (BPE), Return on Assets (ROA), Size (LNTA), and Inflation (INF) reveal a negative relationship with the revenue efficiency scores. Equity to Total Assets (ETA), Total Loans and advances to Total Deposits (TATD), Total Investments to Total Assets (TITA), Total Expenses to Total Income (TETI), Spread to Total Assets (STA), Non-Interest Income to Total Income (NIITI), Cash Deposit Ratio (CDR), Time Dummy (TD), Public Dummy (PUBD), and Log of Gross Domestic Product (LNGDP) disclose a positive relationship for the revenue efficiency model. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study is among the few that examine factors affecting the revenue efficiency of Indian Commercial Banks as limited research is available in the Indian Banking Literature. Practitioner/Policy implication: The empirical findings of this article clearly provide assistance to bank managers in understanding the factors that positively or adversely affect the revenue efficiency. It specifically recommends that managers focus on credit risk management and asset liability management. Research limitation/Implication: The present study may be extended by considering other efficiency parameters as dependent variables. Various risks faced by banks and off-balance sheet activities can also be taken into consideration. The impact of other events, such as global financial recession, might also be captured for future research. Keywords: Revenue Efficiency, Bank Specific Variable, Industry Specific Variable, Data Envelopment Analysis, Panel Tobit Regression Analysis, Indian Scheduled Commercial Banks Type of manuscript: Research paper JEL Classification: G2, C24, D61

An integrated approach for identifying the efficiency-oriented drivers of electronic markets in electronic business

Purpose Effectively evaluating the efficiency of individual e-markets for better understanding the efficiency-oriented critical drivers for individual e-markets is of great significance to the development of electronic business. The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach through adequately integrating data envelopment analysis (DEA) and bootstrapped Tobit regression analysis for identifying the efficiency-oriented critical drivers on the development of e-market in electronic business. Design/methodology/approach A review of the related literature is conducted for adequately formulating the e-market evaluation problem. DEA is appropriately used for assessing the efficiency of available e-markets, leading to the identification of the efficient e-market. Tobit regression analysis is then employed to examine the outcome of the DEA analysis for identifying the efficiency-oriented critical drivers in the development of e-markets in electronic business. Findings A better understanding of the operations of individual e-markets with respect to their overall efficiency in electronic business can be achieved with the use of the developed approach. Such understanding is built on the identification of the efficiency-oriented critical drivers on the development of e-market in electronic business. Originality/value This paper develops a novel approach for better understanding of the operations of individual e-markets with respect to their overall efficiency in electronic business. The adoption of this approach helps existing e-markets improve their efficiency by focussing on the efficiency-oriented critical drivers and provide new players in e-markets with guidelines for developing their efficient e-markets.

Analysis of Driving Factors of Photovoltaic Power Generation Efficiency: A Case Study in China

With the increasing consumption of fossil energy and changes in the ecological environment, meeting the energy demands required for industrial and economic development with clean and efficient power generation is a major challenge of our society. Solar energy is considered to be one of the most renewable and sustainable energy sources, and photovoltaic power generation has become an important research topic. This study combines data envelopment analysis (DEA) with Tobit regression analysis to assess the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation in China and analyze factors affecting efficiency to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation. The results show that there are obvious regional differences in photovoltaic power generation efficiency in China. The phenomenon of focusing on economic development at the expense of the use of solar power generation still exists. The establishment of photovoltaic demonstration projects, the implementation of differential electricity price policies, and the promotion of photovoltaic precision poverty alleviation can alleviate economic pressure and effectively improve the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation.

Efficiency Analysis of East Asian Zinc Smelters and the Effects of Capacity and Bonus Zinc on Efficiency

Non-ferrous metals are widely used as basic materials in various industrial fields, and zinc is a metal that is produced and used next to iron, aluminum, and copper. In this study, DEA (data envelopment analysis) was applied to measure the efficiency of 43 zinc smelters in three countries in East Asia: Korea, China, and Japan. The constant returns to scale (CRS) and the variable returns to scale (VRS) models, and the slack-based measure (SBM) were used for the analysis. As a result of the efficiency analysis, there were three efficient zinc smelters in the CRS model, 14 in the VRS model and 14 in the SBM. The average efficiency was 0.458 based on the SBM, which indicates that there is room for improvement in efficiency. In addition, the average scale efficiency value was 0.689, showing the scale to be inefficient. Therefore, it can be seen that the labor cost and the energy cost must be brought to an appropriate level. The Tobit regression analysis was used to analyze the causes of efficiency. The greater the capacity and the larger amount of bonus Zn of the refinery, the higher the efficiency of the refinery.

An experimental study of the investment implications of bankruptcy laws

In bankruptcy laws, proportionality is the universal norm when allocating the liquidation value of a bankrupt firm among creditors. The theoretical literature on bankruptcy proposes two prominent alternatives to proportionality: the equal awards and the equal losses principles. We use an experiment to analyze and compare actual creditor behavior under these three principles. More specifically, we test the following hypotheses: replacing proportionality with equal losses increases total investment while replacing proportionality with equal awards decreases total investment; under all three principles individual investment choices decrease in response to an increase in the probability of bankruptcy or an increase in risk aversion; total investment difference between proportionality and either of the other two principles is independent of the probability of bankruptcy as long as both induce an interior equilibrium. The results of the nonparametric tests and random effects Tobit regression analyses we conduct on our experimental data offer support for all hypotheses.

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF SUGAR CANE FARMING IN MALANG REGENCY, INDONESIA

This research aimed to analyze the factors that affect the production of sugar cane, to analyze the level of technical efficiency of farming sugar cane, and to analyze the factors that affect the technical inefficiency of sugar cane farming in Malang Regency. Methods of data analysis that is used to find out the factors that affect the production of sugar cane and the level of technical efficiency of sugar cane farming is a stochastic frontier analysis used the Frontier 4.1 software. As for knowing the factors that affect technical inefficiency of sugar cane farming used tobit regression analysis. The results show that production factors of sugar cane farming in Malang Regency i.e. amount of seeds, amount of labor, amount of fertilizer, amount of land area, and ratooncane. The average technical efficiency of sugar cane farming achieved i.e 0,81. Factors that influence the technical inefficiency of sugar cane farming i.e. age factors of farmers and formal education have a positive influence on the inefficiency effect of sugar cane farming and factors of farm experience and farmer group participation have a negative effect on the inefficiency effect of sugar cane farming.

Determinants of Cost Efficiency of Takaful and Conventional Insurance Firms of Pakistan

This study investigates the Efficiency Performance of Takaful and Conventional Insurance Firms of Pakistan in terms of Cost, Allocative and Technical efficiencies for the period of 2010-2015. Six years panel data of Takaful and listed Conventional Insurance Firms of Pakistan is taken under consideration. The Methodology of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used in order to estimate efficiencies scores. Furthermore, Tobit Regression Analysis is carried out for determination of the real contributors of efficiencies in Insurance and takaful Industry of Pakistan. In Data Envelopment Analysis, Labor, Total Fixed Assets and Total Equity Capital are used as input variables. Simultaneously, the price variables are used along with input variables such as Price of Labor, Price of Total Fixed Assets and Price of Total Equity Capital. The output variables include Invested Assets, Investment Incomes and Net Premiums. In second Stage Analysis (i.e. Tobit regression), DEA efficiency scores are used as dependent variable, whereas Age, Size, and Leverage are used as independent variables along with the dummy for conventional and Takaful firms of Pakistan. This study found that Takaful and insurance firms have been operating on almost equal efficiency levels. Furthermore LEVERAGE is the main contributor for efficiency optimization, followed by the firm SIZE, whereas, firm’s AGE has no contribution in efficiency scores.

Evaluation of Transfer Efficiency between Bus and Subway based on Data Envelopment Analysis using Smart Card Data

The government of Seoul has been operating the automatic fare collection system based on the smart card since 2004. The smart card data in Seoul consist of 15 million instances of individual transit information per day, providing 99% of transit users’ trips. This study provides information about the efficiency of transfer stations in Seoul. The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative efficiency of the transfer stations between bus and subway using smart card data and suggest the improvement strategies for achieving the optimal efficiency. The transfer efficiency was estimated by using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model, and Tobit regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors that influence transfer efficiency. The DEA model showed that the efficiency scores of 32 major stations were estimated to be 0.557 on average. The transfer efficiency scores of these stations were analyzed to be proportional to the number of transfer trips and the transfer rate of the station. In the external factor analysis, we selected two socioeconomic variables, i.e., population and the number of companies. The external factor analysis indicated that the DEA model produced reasonable results for evaluating transfer efficiency.

Knowledge of Extension Agents regarding Professionalization of Extension Services: Evidence from South West Nigeria

The study examined the knowledge of agriculture extension agents on professionalization in South West Nigeria. This was borne out of the need to improve and ensure a viable, effective and vibrant extension and advisory service delivery in the area. 301 public and 55 private extension agents were selected through a two-staged sampling procedure. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on their socio-economic characteristics, knowledge on professionalization and its components, these being analyzed using descriptive, t-test and tobit regression analyses. The results showed that the agricultural agents in the public and private extension organizations had a basic knowledge on the concept of professionalization and its components of accreditation, registration and certification. However, disparities in the level of knowledge between the public and private extension personnel were observed. The findings indicated that their educational level and background were significant influencing factors of knowledge on professionalization. The study has implications for educating and training agricultural extension agents on professionalization. Seminars and workshops should be held specifically for the public extension agencies, to upgrade their knowledge and capacity on the concept, intricacies and potential benefits of professionalization on service delivery. This will help assist the institutionalization of professionalization in the agricultural extension sector and enhance competent, accountable and effective extension and advisory services delivery.

How Do Household Tasks Shape Employment Contracts? The Provision of Care in Portugal

ABSTRACTThis study illustrates the complexities involved in outsourcing domestic work to the market. It draws on an original dataset of paid domestic workers in Portugal to examine how specific tasks interact with and explain contractual arrangements. A fuzzy cluster analysis categorizes paid domestic workers into caregivers and cleaners; however, a great degree of overlap implies that caring also entails cleaning tasks necessary for the care receiver’s well-being. A subsequent Tobit regression analysis shows that caregivers have more formal and stable contracts but earn lower wages and have longer working hours relative to cleaners. The study finds a segmentation of national origin and that some migrants are at a disadvantage in care work. The study also examines how employers deal with the idiosyncrasies of domestic work such as navigating trust-related issues.

Media Exposure and General Trust as Predictors of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Ten Years after the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake in China.

There is a paucity of literature on the roles of media exposure, general trust, and their interactions in long-term post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after a natural disaster. Trying to address this knowledge gap, our study aimed to (a) investigate whether exposure to media coverage during the traumatic event and general trust directly affected adult survivors’ long-term PTSD symptoms 10 years after the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake, and (b) to identify the potential differential pattern of the influence of media exposure on PTSD symptoms for adult survivors with various levels of general trust. Using cross-sectional methodology, we surveyed participants (N = 1000) recruited from six disaster-affected counties. We assessed PTSD symptoms, media exposure, general trust, demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and earthquake exposure. Data were analyzed descriptively and with Tobit regression analyses. Reversed relationships between general trust and PTSD were verified, whereas no direct links were found between media exposure and PTSD. Interaction tests revealed that media exposure alleviated PTSD for high-trust survivors, but aggravated PTSD for low-trust survivors. These results suggest that general trust building should be considered in post-disaster construction activities.

The Korea’s Future ODA Policy Direction through Efficiency Analysis : Focusing on the Beneficiary Countries of ODA Projects Provided by Korea

The purpose of this study is to improve effectiveness of Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided to developing countries. To do this, we analyze the efficiency of ODA provided to 38 recipient countries by Korea through data envelope analysis method. The effects of four factors including population, GDP, economic decline and poverty, and external intervention on efficiency are also investigated by utilizing tobit regression analysis. As a result of the DEA efficiency analysis, it is found that the average efficiency score of the total is about 59%. By region, the average efficiency score of Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and the East and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) are about 42%, 68%, 70%, and 74%, respectively. It indicates that the Asian countries are inefficient compared to countries of the other regions. It is also found that factors of population, GDP, economic decline and poverty, and external intervention have statistically significant effects on efficiency at 0.01 significance level. In the case of the population, the higher the population of the recipient country, the more negative (-) effect is on the efficiency. The other factors such as GDP, economic decline and poverty, and external intervention have positive effects on the efficiency.

High-speed rail services development and regional accessibility restructuring in megaregions: A case of the Yangtze River Delta, China

Many countries have planned to improve intercity links in megaregions by developing High-speed rail (HSR) projects. The development of HSR service network in megaregions can change accessibility landscapes and create advantaged and disadvantaged cities. This study investigates how HSR service development has restructured uneven regional accessibility by developing a new regional accessibility measurement to incorporate train service frequency into the prevailing speed-dominated calculations. We conduct a longitudinal study to examine the changing patterns and relevant determinants of regional accessibility in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), China, as well as the differences between conventional rail (CR) cities and HSR cities. The results indicate that the development of HSR services network has enhanced regional accessibility in the YRD rather than having the overall effect of restructuring the existing accessibility patterns formed by CR services. It has reduced the disparity of regional accessibility but has widened the gap between HSR and CR cities and increased the disparity of CR cities. Combined with a Tobit regression analysis, the results suggest that HSR network development in the YRD was highly spatially selective towards the cities that had higher CR network accessibility and better economic development performance. However, the disadvantage of regional accessibility for CR cities remains persistent, which may result in the issue of ‘peripheralisation of the periphery’. Some policy implications for an integration of the CR and HSR services for both CR and HSR cities are outlined in conclusion.

Benchmarking Toronto wastewater treatment plants using DEA window and Tobit regression analysis with a dynamic efficiency perspective.

The environmental-economic focus of wastewater treatment and management attracts growing attentions in recent years. The static efficiencies and their dynamic changes are helpful to systematically assess the environmental performance of the water agencies and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Additionally, identifying key factors of efficiencies is critical to improve the operation of WWTPs. In this study, the window method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to estimate the annual efficiency for four Canadian WWTPs and to explore the variations of annual efficiency under different window lengths. Meanwhile, the Tobit regression analysis was developed to determine the driving forces for WWTPs' efficiency. The empirical results showed that: (i) the selected DEA window length remarkably affected both the average efficiency and the variations; however, it had no impact on the ranking of plants' efficiency; (ii) lower efficiencies were observed in plants with larger capacities due to higher infrastructure and operation investments involved; (iii) both the influent total phosphorus concentrations and influent flow rates had significant effects on the WWTPs' performance. Moreover, the staff and utility expenditures should be reduced to generate greater potential cost savings and efficiency improvement given the treatment technologies employed.

Board Gender Diversity and Organizational Determinants: Empirical Evidence from a Major Developing Country

ABSTRACT This article seeks to identify and analyze the organizational determinants of women presence on Indian corporate boards. Using a sample set of 294 Indian firms between years 2004–2014, Tobit regression analysis indicates that firm size, family ownership and affiliation with the high-tech sector exhibit positive association with the number of female directors on corporate boards. Further, we do not find any significant impact of state-ownership on the number of women on those boards. Notably, the effects of the organizational variables are more pronounced for the proportion of female non-executive directors, as compared to female executive directors. We conclude that understanding the organizational characteristics in conjunction with business environment can provide useful insights into state of board gender diversity, particularly in developing countries.

What Is Needed for the Sustainable Success of OSS Projects: Efficiency Analysis of Commit Production Process via Git

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relative efficiency of open source software projects, and to analyze what is needed for their sustainable success. The success of open source software is known to be attributable to a massive number of contributors engaging in the development process. However, an efficient open source software project is not guaranteed simply by active participation by many; a coordination mechanism is needed to seamlessly manage the multi-party collaboration. On this basis, this study aimed to examine the internal regulatory processes based on Git and GitHub, which serve as such a mechanism, and redefine the efficiency of open source software projects to fully reflect them. For this purpose, a two-stage data envelopment analysis was used to measure the project efficiency reflecting the internal processes. Moreover, this study considered the Kruskal–Wallis test and Tobit regression analysis to examine the effects of the participation by many on an open source software project based on the newly defined efficiency. Results show that a simple increase in contributors can be poisonous in terms of the efficiency of open source software projects.

Factors affecting extent of rural livelihood diversification in selected areas of Bangladesh

The study was carried out to investigate the patterns and extent of livelihood diversification in rural Bangladesh. It also identified the major factors affecting extent of livelihood diversification. The study drew a random sample of 500 rural farm households in Bangladesh through a multi-stage sampling technique. The primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical techniques. The results showed that remittance contributed the highest to the household income followed by petty business and rice farming. The estimated values of Simpson Index of Diversification (SID) showed that majority of the rural households had “medium” and “high” level diversified livelihood activities. Tobit regression analysis found that gender of the household head, household size and amount of credit had positive and significant effects; and number of migrant household member, dependency ratio, household assets, education of the household head and amount of savings had negative but significant effects on the extent of livelihood diversification. The small and medium landholding households were more likely to diversify their livelihoods compared to the functionally landless and large landholding households. The study recommended that non-farm employment opportunities should be expanded to combat poor households' vulnerability to shocks and income fluctuations. Functionally landless households should be given more attention to increase and diversify their incomes.SAARC J. Agri., 16(1): 7-21 (2018)

Efficiency Analysis of Official Development Assistance Provided by Korea

Results of the CDI and QODA evaluation developed by OECD showed that Korea’s aid presented low efficiency compared to other aid countries. However, these methods represent a qualitative assessment of the effectiveness of each country’s aid and are not applicable to the evaluation of actual aid projects and the identification of causes of the inefficiency. Therefore, it is needed to grasp the reality of Korea’s aid and to identify the cause of aid inefficiency to set up a better ODA policy. The purpose of this study is to improve the effectiveness of Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided to developing countries. To do this, we analyzed the efficiency of ODA provided to 33 recipient countries by Korea through data envelopment analysis method. The effects of three factors, illiteracy, integrity, and GDP, on efficiency were also investigated by utilizing a Tobit regression analysis. As a result of the DEA efficiency analysis, it was found that the average efficiency was about 65.74%. By region, the average efficiency scores of Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and Middle East and Eastern Europe were about 47.8%, 78.9%, 70.4%, and 62.7%, respectively. This indicates that Asian countries are inefficient compared to countries from other regions. It was also found that GDP, integrity, and illiteracy have positive effects on efficiency. The methodology proposed in this study can be used for other studies to create an aid policy that produces efficient results.