The Measurement of Productive Efficiency - Techniques and Applications (Hardcover)

When high levels of economic efficiency and productivity and high rates of productivity growth are the desired goals, it is important to define and measure efficiency and productivity in ways that respect economic theory and provide useful information to managers and policy makers. The Measurement of Productive Efficiency focuses on measuring and explaining producer performance using frontier techniques. Performance is viewed as a function of the state of technology and the degree of economic efficiency, with the former defining a frontier relation between inputs and outputs, the latter incorporating waste and misallocation relative to this frontier. Harold O. Fried, C.A. Knox Lovell, and Shelton S. Schmidt show that insights can be gained by allowing for the possibility of a divergence between the economic objective and actual performance of producers, and by associating this inefficiency with causal variables subject to managerial or policy influence. The Measurement of Productive Efficiency begins with four core chapters which provide a general overview and a detailed development of parametric and nonparametric techniques. This is followed by a dozen applications, organized by approach. All of the contributors are experts from around the world. This work will be an essential reference to scholars, practitioners, researchers, and graduate students in economics, business, operations research and public administration.