Inference about productivity change over time based on data envelopment (DEA) has focused primarily on the Malmquist index and is based on asymptotic properties of the index. In this paper we propose a novel set of significance tests for DEA based productivity change measures based on...

When benchmarking production units by non-parametric methods like data envelopment analysis (DEA), an assumption has to be made about the returns to scale of the underlying technology. Moreover, it is often also relevant to compare the frontiers across samples of producers. Until now, no exact...

In this paper we consider staffing decisions in branches of a large Canadian bank. The bank has well-developed staffing models and the branches work in a highly competitive environment. One would therefore expect limited ‘inefficiency’ in the sense of wasted resources and over-staffing....

Many studies have attempted to explain estimated inefficiency, for instance by bounded rationality, ignorance, lack of incentives or motivation etc. However, the presence of inefficiency remains in conflict with the neo-classical idea of economic rationality. This paper suggests ways in which...

In this paper we examine the possibility of using the standard Kruskal-Wallis rank test in order to evaluate whether the distribution of efficiency scores resulting from Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is independent of the input (or output) mix. Recently, a general data generating process (DGP)...

This paper proposes a test for whether data are over-represented in a given production zone, i.e. a subset of a production possibility set which has been estimated using the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. A binomial test is used that relates the number of observations...

This paper proposes a test for whether data are over-represented in a given production zone, i.e. a subset of a production possibility set which has been estimated using the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. A binomial test is used that relates the number of observations...

The recent nancial crisis highlighted how banks' funding and investment portfolios are associated with their risk taking. In a "normal" DEA banking efficiency model this risk element, embedded in banks' business models, is indicated by possibly inappropriate mixes of funding portfolio and/or...

In this paper we examine the possibility of using the standard Kruskal-Wallis rank test in order to evaluate whether the distribution of efficiency scores resulting from Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is independent of the input (or output) mix. Recently, a general data generating process (DGP)...

This paper analyses the productive efficiency of 141 public hospitals from 1998-2004 in two Canadian provinces; one a small province with a few small cities and a generally more rural population and the other a large province that is more urban in nature, with a population who mainly live in...