In this paper we measure technical efficiency and productivity gains in airline activities. Non-parametric frontiers and Malmquist indices of productivity are estimated for thirty-three airlines observed over the period 1977-1988. We identify three sources of growth: technological progress,...

The subject of this paper is an attempt to reconsider the relations between economic statistical information and the reality about which it pretends to state something. We develop a notion of adequacy with respect to reality which is appropiate for economic and social statistics. After...

The study employs Data Envelopment Analysis and a MALMQUIST index to analyze the development of total factor productivity in Swiss banking during the period 1988/91. The results show that the increase in total factor productivity was primarily due to improved technical efficiency and to a much...

At the Earth Summit in Rio, Switzerland was among those countries that declared to stabilize their carbon dioxide emissions. In order to achieve such a target, the Swiss energy system is analyzed and, based on this analysis, a dynamic optimization model is developed to evaluate technological C02...

Most empirical studies on innovative activity are based on a single (or a very small number of) indicator(s), a procedure not appropriate to the complexity of the innovation process. In this study, using factor analysis we develop at the firm level a composite innovation measure which contains...

This paper investigates how Swiss consumer prices for gasoline and light heating oil react to changes in corresponding Rotterdam prices and tax rates. Monthly data from January 1977 to June 1993 are employed. After using unit root, Granger causality and cointegration tests error correction...

The conventional government deficit measured as the difference between total government income and spending during one fiscal year has little economic meaning. In this article alternative deficit concepts and estimates for Switzerland are presented. These include the structural, primary and...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sensitivity of a recently proposed non-parametric approach to technical efficiency measurement. Using a data set of Belgian municipalities, we analyze the sensitivity of the Free Disposal Hull (FDH) approach with respect to the number of input and...

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Non-profit organizations or NPO are social organizations which differ in purpose, tasks and structure from private and public enterprises. Their most destined ve trait is an orientation which foregoes making a profit. Thus achieving specific goals becomes the major purpose. The spectrum of NPOs...