Malmquistindexes of productivity are generally estimated using index numbertechniques or non-parametric frontier approaches. The aim ofthis paper is to show that Malmquist indexes can be estimatedin a similar way using parametric-deterministic or parametric-stochasticfrontier approaches. To...

In this paper we analyze the levels of technical efficiency and productivity growth attained by Spanish insurance companies during a period of deregulation. We compute Malmquist productivity indexes using the estimates of parametric distance function for several specialized insurance branches....

We study the economic, financial and distributional performance of the United States Postal Service subsequent to its 1971 reorganization. We investigate the economic sources of productivity change, (technical change, change in cost efficiency, and scale economies), and the distribution of the...

This paper proposes a new approach for gauging the performance of branch managers of a financial institution by defining a Measure of Internal Performance (MIP). Our proposal is different from others existing in the literature in two main aspects. Firstly, it is consistent with the requirements...

From a managerial point of view, the more efficient, simple, and parameter-free (ESP) an algorithm is, the more likely it will be used in practice for solving real-life problems. Following this principle, an ESP algorithm for solving the Permutation Flowshop Sequencing Problem (PFSP) is proposed...

This paper investigates the role of learning by private agents and the central bank (two-sided learning) in a New Keynesian framework in which both sides of the economy have asymmetric and imperfect knowledge about the true data generating process. We assume that all agents employ the data that...

To understand whether retailers should consider consumer returns when merchandising, we study how the optimal assortment of a price-taking retailer is influenced by its return policy. The retailer selects its assortment from an exogenous set of horizontally differentiated products. Consumers...

We analyze the impact of the countercyclical capital buffers held by banks on the supply of credit to firms and their subsequent performance. Countercyclical ‘‘dynamic’’ provisioning that is unrelated to specific loan losses was introduced in Spain in 2000, and modified...

An analysis of the performance of GDP, employment and other labor market variables following the troughs in postwar U.S. business cycles points to much slower recoveries in the three most recent episodes, but does not reveal any significant change over time in the relation between GDP and...