scholarly journals Productivity growth, economies of scale and scope in the water and sewerage industry: The Chilean case

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251874
Author(s):  
Maria Molinos-Senante ◽  
Alexandros Maziotis
Keyword(s):  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Scale Efficiency ◽  
Water And Sewerage Industry ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Quadratic Cost Function

Evaluating the performance and analyzing the cost drivers of water utilities is of great interest for water regulators and water sector managers. This study uses a quadratic cost function to investigate the existence of economies of scale and scope in the Chilean water and sewerage industry over the period 2010–2017. We also estimate and decompose productivity growth into technical change and scale efficiency change. Technical change is further broken into pure, non-neutral and scale-augmenting technical change. The results indicate that cost savings can be achieved by increases in the scale of production and the separation of water and sewerage services. Productivity progressed favorably throughout the whole period at an annual rate of 8.4%, which was attributed to the scale effect, the adoption of new technologies and a good allocation of resources. Some policy implications are finally discussed based on our findings.

Trade Liberalization and Productivity Performance: Evidence from the Australian Passenger Motor Vehicle Industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 467-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lionel Bopage ◽  
Kishor Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Tariff Protection ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Motor Vehicle Industry ◽  
Production Subsidies

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the effects of trade liberalization on productivity performance of the Australian passenger motor vehicle industry, which has experienced significant liberalization over the years. Our analysis indicates that trade liberalization had a negative impact on productivity growth, at least in the immediate post-liberalization period. Empirical results suggest that economies of scale and tariff protection improve productivity, while industry assistance (such as the local content and duty drawback schemes and production subsidies) retards productivity. Policy implications of these findings are that there are dividends in terms of improved productivity by encouraging economies of scale, providing tariff protection and lowering industry assistance.

Student Laptop Ownership Requirement and Centralization of Information Technology Services at a Large Public University

2011 ◽  
pp. 201-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory B. Newby
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Chief Information Officer ◽  
Public University ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Information Technology Services ◽  
Technology Services ◽  
The Cost

A large, highly ranked public university implemented a requirement for all incoming undergraduates to own a laptop computer starting in fall, 2000. To control increased expenditures for information technology, this requirement has shifted some of the cost of technology to students by decreasing the need for centralized general-purpose computing laboratories. At the same time, a shift towards centralized academic computing support occurred. This shift was away from information technology resources, services and support based in individual departments. This shift, engineered by the newly formed office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), was envisioned to generate cost savings through economies of scale. The educational impact of the laptop requirement is starting to be felt, but adoption is not widespread in daily classroom use. Envisioned cost savings have not yet become apparent. However, laptop ownership has enabled some new classroom activities and helped to reinforce the leading-edge image of the university.

Student Laptop Ownership Requirement and Centralization of Information Technology Services at a Large Public University

2006 ◽  
pp. 163-175
Author(s):  
Gregory B. Newby
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Chief Information Officer ◽  
Public University ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Information Technology Services ◽  
Technology Services ◽  
The Cost

A large, highly ranked public university implemented a requirement for all incoming undergraduates to own a laptop computer starting in fall, 2000. To control increased expenditures for information technology, this requirement has shifted some of the cost of technology to students by decreasing the need for centralized general-purpose computing laboratories. At the same time, a shift towards centralized academic computing support occurred. This shift was away from information technology resources, services and support based in individual departments. This shift, engineered by the newly formed office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), was envisioned to generate cost savings through economies of scale. The educational impact of the laptop requirement is starting to be felt, but adoption is not widespread in daily classroom use. Envisioned cost savings have not yet become apparent. However, laptop ownership has enabled some new classroom activities and helped to reinforce the leading-edge image of the university.

Determinants of Judicial Efficiency Change: Evidence from Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago A. Fauvrelle ◽  
Alessio Tony C Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
State Courts ◽  
Scale Efficiency ◽  
Productivity Change ◽  
Efficiency Change ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Judicial Efficiency ◽  
Shift Effect ◽  
Using Data

AbstractJudicial efficiency matters for economic development. Nevertheless, the determinants of judicial productivity growth are not entirely understood. Using data of Brazil's state courts for the period of 2009 to 2014, this paper analyzes judicial productivity change and its possible determinants over time in a two stage approach. First, data envelopment analysis is used to calculate Malmquist productivity measures which are decomposed in: technical change (frontier-shift effect) and efficiency change (composed of pure efficiency change and scale efficiency change). In the second stage, fixed effect models are estimated to evaluate the associated factors with judicial productivity growth. The first stage results show a slight improvement in judicial productivity trend, which is defined mainly by efficiency change, since technical change deteriorated in the period. The second stage findings suggest the nonexistence of a trade-off between judicial quality and efficiency improvement. Moreover, judges’ remuneration, legal complexity and technological use are correlated with judicial productivity, however not always in the expected direction.

scholarly journals Economies of Scale in the Floriculture Industry

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara K. Schumacher ◽  
Thomas L. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cost Function ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cost Structure ◽  
Cost Advantage ◽  
Quadratic Cost ◽  
Cost Efficiencies ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Quadratic Cost Function

This study investigated the cost structure of the floriculture industry in the United States. Economies of scale and input elasticities were estimated with a normalized quadratic cost function. Results suggest that economies of scale exist in the floriculture industry. As producers become large and more automated, they have a cost advantage relative to smaller producers who are producing the same output product mix. The existence of economies of scale suggests that average grower size can increase in the future as growers increase in size to take advantage of cost efficiencies.

Measuring the Cost Efficiency of International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei-Ching Wang ◽  
Wei-Ting Hung ◽  
Jui-Kou Shang
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Allocative Efficiency ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Scale Efficiency ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
International Tourist ◽  
Dea Efficiency ◽  
The Cost

This study employs data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the relative cost efficiency of 49 international tourist hotels in Taiwan. The study uses five different measures: overall efficiency (OE), allocative efficiency (AE), technical efficiency (TE), scale efficiency (SE) and pure technical efficiency (PTE). Applying efficiency measures derived from the DEA estimation, hotel efficiency determinants are evaluated using the Tobit regression model. A bootstrapping technique is applied to overcome the interdependency problem of the DEA efficiency scores adopted in the regression analysis. The empirical results demonstrate that the international tourist hotel industry in Taiwan is inefficient, with most efficiency losses attributable to technical inefficiencies, of which scale inefficiencies are the primary cause – the scale of operations of international tourist hotels in Taiwan being too small to enable the cost-savings associated with larger-scale operations. The Tobit regression results indicate that the proportion of foreign individual travellers (FIT), online transaction function (WEB) and franchising (HOTELTYPE) are related to a better performance of international tourist hotels in Taiwan. The number of years a hotel has been operating (AGE) is not significantly related to any of the efficiency measures.

Application of a New Nonlinear Programming Code with Decomposition to the Regional Wastewater-Collection and Treatment-Location Problem

1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 563-571
Author(s):  
L R Padgett ◽  
A H Montgomery ◽  
L Romino
Keyword(s):  
Nonlinear Programming ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Location Problem ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Regional Model ◽  
Programming Algorithm ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Cost

A new, highly reliable nonlinear programming algorithm is coupled with decomposition to find the optimal solution to a regional sewage-treatment system for an area in Monongalia County surrounding Morgantown, West Virginia. A regional model with trade-offs between the cost of transporting wastewater to centrally located plants for treatment and the economies of scale accruing to large centralized treatment plants is developed. Possible cost savings of an optimal system are demonstrated.

scholarly journals Drivers of Productivity Change in the Italian Tomato Food Value Chain

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 996
Author(s):  
Lukáš Čechura ◽  
Zdeňka Žáková Žáková Kroupová ◽  
Antonella Samoggia
Keyword(s):  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Estimation Procedure ◽  
Scale Efficiency ◽  
Productivity Change ◽  
Tomato Production ◽  
Productivity Dynamics

This study evaluated productivity dynamics and identified sources of productivity growth in Italian tomato production and processing. We used a stochastic frontier input distance function with four error components—heterogeneity, statistical noise, persistent and transient inefficiency—and a four-step estimation procedure with a system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator in the first step to address the endogeneity problem. The results reveal significant differences in the productivity and efficiency of tomato production and processing. Moreover, there are considerable differences among the different sizes of tomato producers, with the main variations observed for scale efficiency. While tomato processors operate at an optimal production size, tomato producers are characterized by considerable economies of scale, especially small producers. These results thus suggest that there is significant opportunity for technical efficiency improvements at both stages of the value chain. Finally, due to improvements made to scale efficiency, extensive productivity growth was observed for the group of small tomato producers.

PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY, AND RETURNS TO SCALE IN THE WASHINGTON STATE SAWMILL INDUSTRY

2005 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 477-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
TED L. HELVOIGT ◽  
SHAWNA GROSSKOPF
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Productivity Index ◽  
Scale Efficiency ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Sawmill Industry ◽  
Annual Decline

We employed data envelopment analysis (DEA) to examine the technical and scale efficiency of the sawmill industry of Washington State. We found that there is regional variation in the rate of technical efficiency and that for most years the industry in aggregate operated at a point of modest scale inefficiency. In addition, we examined the industry's rate of productivity growth and technical change between the early 1970s and late 1990s using the Malmquist input-oriented productivity index. We found that the industry experienced a modest average annual decline in productivity and technical change during the 1970s, but experienced strong productivity growth and technical change during the 1980s and 1990s.

Do prices vary with purchase volumes in healthcare contracts?

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 185-214
Author(s):  
Robert B Handfield ◽  
Jaikishen Venkitaraman ◽  
Shweta Murthy
Keyword(s):  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Price Variation ◽  
Medical Products ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Cost

Hospitals are facing severe increases in the cost of clinical supplies, and a common strategy is to drive economies of scale achieved by hospital consolidation. The supply strategy of “volume leveraging” involves sourcing through contracts with Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) for commercial distributors and manufacturers of medical products. This study seeks to document the empirical benefits associated with volume leveraging, through analysis of purchasing data from three large hospitals. The dependent variables include a number of factors that are used to justify volume leveraging approaches, yet the study finds no significant explanatory factors that determine price variation related to the volume purchased. Interviews with physicians and clinicians suggest that poor data quality leads to lack of transparency, and an inability to aggregate volumes across inventory SKUs may be preventing volume-based cost savings from materializing. The results also suggest that lack of transparency results in low levels of utilization, which increases costs.

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