Advanced Robust and Nonparametric Methods in Efficiency Analysis

Cover -- Contents -- Dedication -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. INTRODUCTION -- 1.1 What this work is about -- 1.2 Improving the nonparametric approach in frontier analysis -- 1.3 An outline of the work -- Part I: Methodology -- 2. THE MEASUREMENT OF EFFICIENCY -- 2.1 Productivity and Efficiency -- 2.2 A short history of thought -- 2.3 The economic model -- 2.4 A taxonomy of efficient frontier models -- 2.5 The nonparametric frontier approach -- 2.6 Recent developments in nonparametric efficiency analysis -- 3. STATISTICAL INFERENCE IN NONPARAMETRIC FRONTIER ESTIMATION -- 3.1 Statistical foundation -- 3.2 Introducing stochastic noise in the model -- 3.3 Asymptotic results -- 3.4 Bootstrap techniques and applications -- 4. NONPARAMETRIC ROBUST ESTIMATORS: PARTIAL FRONTIERS -- 4.1 A re-formulation based on the probability of being dominated -- 4.2 Order-m frontiers and efficiency scores -- 4.3 Order- quantile-type frontiers -- 4.4 Properties of partial frontier estimators -- 4.5 Summary of the results for the output oriented case -- 4.6 Parametric approximations of robust nonparametric frontiers -- 4.7 Multivariate parametric approximations -- 5. CONDITIONAL MEASURES OF EFFICIENCY -- 5.1 Explaining efficiency in the literature -- 5.2 Introducing external-environmental variables -- 5.3 Bandwidth selection -- 5.4 An econometric methodology -- 5.5 Simulated illustrations -- Part II: Applications -- 6. ECONOMIES OF SCALE, SCOPE AND EXPERIENCE IN THE ITALIAN MOTOR-VEHICLE SECTOR -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Data description -- 6.3 Testing returns to scale and bootstrapping efficiency scores -- 6.4 Economies of scale -- 6.5 Economies of scope -- 6.6 Economies of experience -- 6.7 Conclusions -- 7. AGE, SCALE AND CONCENTRATION EFFECTS IN A PUBLIC RESEARCH SYSTEM -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Data description -- 7.3 Scale and concentration effects -- 7.4 Age effects on CNR scientific productivity -- 7.5 Robust parametric approximation of multioutput distance function -- 7.6 Conclusions -- 8. EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF MANAGER TENURE, FUND AGE AND THEIR INTERACTION -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Data description -- 8.3 Impact of mutual fund manager tenure on performance -- 8.4 Interaction between manager tenure and fund age -- 8.5 Conclusions -- 9. CONCLUSIONS -- References -- Topic Index -- Author Index -- Last Page.