This paper proposes a flexible stochastic cost frontier panel data model where the technology parameters are unknown smooth functions of firm- and time-effects, which non-neutrally shift the cost frontier. The model decomposes inefficiency into firm and time-specific components and productivity...

This paper analyzes the impact of load factor, facility and generator types on the productivity of Korean electric power plants. In order to capture important differences in the effect of load policy on power output, we use a semiparametric smooth coefficient (SPSC) model that allows us to model...

In efficiency studies using the stochastic frontier approach, the main focus is to explain inefficiency in terms of some exogenous variables and computation of marginal effects of each of these determinants. Although inefficiency is estimated by its mean conditional on the composed error term...

This paper proposes a semiparametric smooth-coefficient (SPSC) stochastic production frontier model where regression coefficients are unknown smooth functions of environmental factors (Z). Technical inefficiency is specified in the form of a parametric scaling function which also depends on the...

Although the theoretical case for universal pre-primary education is strong, the empirical foundation is weak. In this paper, we contribute to the empirical case by investigating the effect of a large expansion of universal pre-primary education on subsequent primary school performance in...