Efficiency Measurement William Greene Stern School of Business New York University
Session 2 Frontier Functions
Deterministic Frontier: Programming Estimators
Estimating Inefficiency
Statistical Problems with Programming Estimators They do correspond to MLEs. The likelihood functions are “irregular” There are no known statistical properties – no estimable covariance matrix for estimates. They might be “robust,” like LAD. Noone knows for sure. Never demonstrated.
An Orthodox Frontier Model with a Statistical Basis
Extensions Cost frontiers, based on duality results: ln y = f(x) – u ln C = g(y,w) + u’ u > 0. u’ > 0. Economies of scale and allocative inefficiency blur the relationship. Corrected and modified least squares estimators based on the deterministic frontiers are easily constructed.
Data Envelopment Analysis
Methodological Problems with DEA Measurement error Outliers Specification errors The overall problem with the deterministic frontier approach
DEA and SFA: Same Answer? Christensen and Greene data N=123 minus 6 tiny firms X = capital, labor, fuel Y = millions of KWH Cobb-Douglas Production Function vs. DEA (See Coelli and Perelman (1999).)
Comparing the Two Methods.
Total Factor Productivity