Search

Most empirical studies evaluating efficiency in the agricultural sector estimate cost efficiency, assuming homogeneity across firms. However, achieving the goal of profit maximisation requires both minimising costs and maximising revenue. Unlike cost efficiency, the concept of profit efficiency considers the errors on both the input side and the output side, and thus, it is more appropriate for evaluating the overall performance of firms. This paper estimates profit efficiency and its determinants in the agricultural sector in Spain using a Bayesian stochastic frontier model with random coefficients. This methodology adequately captures the heterogeneity across firms in the industry. The results reveal, firstly, that agricultural firms in Spain are operating with an average profit inefficiency of 35.78% and, secondly, that this inefficiency is affected, albeit unevenly, by the size and age of the farm. Finally, the implications of these results for managers and public policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental strategies and their effects on firm performance are receiving increased attention in the literature, but the results are inconclusive. To fill this gap, we propose to evaluate the effect of environmental strategies on firm performance, thereby making two significant contributions. The first is the use of Bayesian techniques to estimate a stochastic frontier model with random coefficients to evaluate the relationship between environmental strategies and performance at the individual firm level, thus adequately incorporating heterogeneity; the second is the adoption of profit efficiency as a measure of firm performance. To test this idea, we studied the effect of a set of pollutants on profit efficiency in a sample of livestock firms in Spain. The results reveal that i) the success of environmental strategies depends on the properties and internal characteristics of each firm and the environment in which it operates and ii) the mean efficiency is 55.80%, which implies that these firms are losing on average 44.20% of their maximum potential profit. These results have significant strategic implications for firms' ability to achieve a competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm is one of the most accepted theories of strategic management, it has been criticized for its limited empirical support. The RBV basically predicts the relationship between the firm's resources and its performance. This study argues that it is more appropriate to measure firm performance using profit efficiency than traditional financial or accounting measures and that frontier models have great potential in empirical research on the RBV. To test this idea empirically, we used a stochastic frontier model with random coefficients to evaluate the impact of corporate reputation on profit efficiency. Finally, implications of the aforementioned focal points are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource heterogeneity is a key aspect of one of the most important theories of strategic management: the resource-based view of the firm. This theory suggests that the performance effects of a firm's strategy depend on the firm's individual resources and capabilities and the setting within which it is operating. In this article, we argue that the current methods for measuring hotel performance and its determinants may be inconsistent with this theory. To measure efficiency, hotels should be viewed as heterogeneous firms, and the relationships between determinants and performance must be assessed for each individual hotel rather than as an average across hotels. Accordingly, we use a random-effect Bayesian stochastic frontier model to estimate the profit frontier and the effect function of the inefficiency for each hotel. The results indicate that hotels tend to choose strategies based on the heterogeneous resources that maximize their performance in their individual statuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotel efficiency has traditionally been estimated assuming that all hotels use the same production technology. However, in practice, hotels have different technologies, and ignoring this reality can lead to an overestimation of inefficiency in the sector. This article relaxes this assumption and estimates efficiency in the hotel industry using a stochastic frontier model with random coefficients. This methodology allows us to separate firm-specific inefficiencies from potential technological heterogeneity across hotels. The empirical results indicate that the estimated efficiencies differ between the random coefficients model and the fixed coefficients model. These findings support our thesis of technological heterogeneity across hotels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, all-inclusive packages have had an extraordinary boom in one of the most popular sun and beach tourism destinations in Europe, the Canary Islands. This fact reinvigorated the debate on potential benefits and negative effects on the local economy. However, there is no empirical evidence of the impact that all-inclusive packages may have on the efficiency in the hotel industry. This study assessed the effects of all-inclusive packages on cost and profit efficiency using the stochastic frontier approach and the model proposed by Battese and Coelli [(1995). A model for technical inefficiency effects in a stochastic frontier production function for panel data. Empirical Economics, 20(2), 325-332] in a sample composed of 102 hotels of the Canary Islands from 2008 to 2014. The empirical results revealed that the hotels that offered all-inclusive packages exhibited lower efficiency levels than those hotels that did not provide this service. These results have important implications for both public policies and hotel management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study measured profit efficiency and its determinants in the hotel sector in Spain from 2010 to 2014, using a Bayesian stochastic frontier approach. This model provides estimates of efficiency and more accurate confidence intervals than the traditional frequentist approach. The results revealed that the hotels are operating with significant profit inefficiencies. These inefficiencies are significantly affected by size, location, occupancy rate by region, customer satisfaction, and whether the hotel is affiliated or independent. Finally, the study points out the strategic implications of these findings, to improve the efficiency of the hotels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inefficiency in the hotel sector is normally estimated through cost and scale efficiencies. This paper estimates hotel profit efficiency and its determinants employing a stochastic frontier profit function and the inefficiency effects function. The key advantage of this methodology is its ability to estimate efficiency for each hotel and the factors that explain differences in efficiency in a single-stage sampling procedure. The sample consists of 231 hotels in Spain in the period 2008-2012. Empirical evidence shows that the average level of profit efficiency is 45.85% and that age, labour productivity and location are determinants of this efficiency. Policy implications for the improvement of less efficient hotels are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on estimating and discussing cost and profit efficiencies related with the Spanish hotel sector. Managers have a special interest in controlling costs as a source of competitive advantage, which may enable companies to improve their results in a continuous manner. However, they usually do not attribute much importance to the improvement of profit efficiency, which is generally much lower than cost efficiency and as a result vital for achieving competitive advantage. In this article, cost and profit efficiencies are estimated in the Spanish hotel sector using a data panel for the years 2007 to 2011 and using distribution free approach methodology. The results show profit efficiency levels significantly lower than levels of cost efficiency, thereby confirming our working hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs a stochastic frontier model to estimate cost efficiency and its determinants in the hotel industry in Spain between 2008 and 2012. Measuring cost efficiency provides useful information on the performance of hotels to management, shareholders and, in general, to all stakeholders. Cost control is an issue managers are particularly concerned about, as it gives a competitive advantage that allows hotels to perform better. The results indicate that the inefficiency in average costs for the sample considered is 32.44% and is time invariant. The results also show that labour productivity, the accumulation of knowledge and location are factors that largely determine the differences in efficiency between hotels. These findings have important implications for public policymakers and hotel management, specifically, policies aimed at improving the skills of hotels' human resources should be encouraged. Likewise, both location and the accumulation of knowledge are strategic resources that hotel management must include in their competitive strategies to increase efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates profit efficiency and its determinants in small and mediumsized manufacturing enterprises in Spain. The stochastic frontier methodology and the model proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995) were used to determine the impact of the technological and environmental differences between these companies on their efficiency. The results indicate that the average profit efficiency of food SMEs is 49.37%. The results also reveal that company size, export orientation, government assistance and labour productivity are all positively related to the efficiency of food SMEs; age, however, is negatively related. Finally, the strategic implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]