A detailed decomposition of the sources of the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth index within an output distance function framework was carried out, looking at the following components: technical change, change in technical efficiency, scale component, and violations of the profit...

The study is devoted to the measurement of productivity and efficiency change in Chinese farming sector over the reform process in the 1980s and 1990s. Within an output distance function framework, an index of total factor productivity is decomposed into technical and allocative efficiency,...

This paper explores the consequences for parametric and non-parametric efficiency levels and rankings when using grouped instead of individual Decision Making Units (DMU). The bias results due to the differences of the grouped DMUs frontier compared to the individual DMUs frontier. Monte Carlo...

This paper explores the consequences for parametric and non-parametric efficiency levels and rankings when using grouped instead of individual Decision Making Units (DMU). The bias results due to the differences of the grouped DMUs frontier compared to the individual DMUs frontier. Monte Carlo...

The last couple of decades have seen an increased retail concentration around the world, particularly in Europe. Views on the welfare implications of this severe change are controversial. Consumers might benefit because larger stores (owned by larger retailer chains) offer more product choices....

This study examines family farms and characteristics affecting farm succession. Based on a farm survey, three aspects of succession are analysed in the paper: the probability of family succession; the likelihood of having a successor designated; and the timing of succession. Large and specialised...

By building on theoretical work by Mills and Schumann (1985) and Ungern-Sternberg (1990) this paper provides evidence on the determinants of two dimensions of flexibility, the flexibility in adjusting aggregate output over time (tactical flexibility) as well as the ability to switch quickly...

Calculation of purchasing power parities based on observed consumer behaviour typically relies on the existence of some kind of 'international preferences'. We argue that this unrealistic assumption can be abandoned in 'regional' studies of purchasing power, where prices in both territories...

This paper presents an analysis of the changing food risk perceptions of German consumers over the period 1992 to 2002. We analyse the respondents' general risk attitudes and their specific perceptions of food risks. Using cluster analysis we generate a typology of four consumer types. One group...

It is well documented that a large share of new products does not survive their first year in the market. Research reported in this paper examined the relationship between product quality and innovation success. In contrast to existing product innovation literature that focused on industrial...