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WOS: 000348340500004, This study attempts to obtain efficiency scores of thirty-one railway companies operating worldwide by using data envelopment analysis. To assess the data covering a term from 2000 to 2009, we use CCR and BCC methods. According to the results of the CCR model analysis, 17 firms are found to have technical efficiency in the first year, whereas this figure goes up to 18 companies in the last year. Input oriented and variable return analysis in the concept of the BCC model, the number of the firms found technically efficient at the beginning of the period are 20. At the end of the period, this figure is up to 24. We implement panel regression analysis to estimate the effects of the companies' output on their efficiency. Results imply that CCR models provide us more meaningful explanations. Malmquist Index analysis also indicates that total factor productivity increases by 0.03 % for the entire period.

WOS: 000323671200039, This paper attempts to measure the performance of railway companies that produce passenger and freight services around the world. The data covering 10 years from 2000 to 2009 is analyzed first via the data envelopment analysis method in order to obtain technical efficiency and allocative efficiency scores of 31 railway companies for the purpose of the study. In the analysis conducted by use of the CCR model, while total 17 firms were efficient in the first year, this figure reaches to 18 companies for the last year with one more addition. While only two companies seem efficient in the first year, this figure goes down to one for the last year. With input oriented and variable return analysis conducted by use of the BCC model, the firms having technical efficiency at the beginning of the period were 20 in number. At the end of the period, the figure reaches to 24. Next, the outputs of DEA are correlated by Tobit regression and tried to determine decisiveness of the outputs on the efficiency. It has been seen that the same output composition used with Tobit analysis gives more compliant results with the allocative efficiency scores rather than with the technical efficiency scores.

This paper studies demands and expectations of people about the content of the new constitution supposed to be prepared after the parliamentary election of June, 2011 in Turkey. For that purpose, a survey was applied across the country to 6,810 people with different ethnic identities, religious faiths and political tendencies. Economic and social conditions of the respondents were studied and subsequently their tendencies regarding two of the most frequently discussed topics of the country namely Secularism and Republic were explored. For that purpose, statistical technics and the logistic regression technic were used. We interestingly found out that the two principles mentioned above have been substantially accepted by different parts of the society and there are no considerable negative reactions regarding those issues. It was found out in this study that almost all parts of the Turkish society accept some fundamental principles of the regime like Republic and Secularism as well as the Presidency of Religious Affairs. It appears that in Turkey basic differences regarding perspectives on political and social values arise rather from sectarian identities.

In this study, doctoral dissertations conducted at the Turkish Universities for the period of 1990-2011 and the scientifically indexed publications of the professors supervising these dissertations were investigated. In the evaluations, the publications scores of the Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus as well as the citations belonging to the publications in these indexes were included. During the relevant period, 617 professors supervised all the 1,906 doctoral dissertations in the field of economics. The first three universities with the highest number of doctoral dissertations were determined to be Istanbul University, Marmara University, and Dokuz Eylül University whereas the first three universities with the highest scientific indexes were Ihsan Do?ramaci Bilkent University, Middle East Technical University, and Bo?aziçi University. The academicians of the last three universities also outperformed those at the other universities regarding the scientific publications they produced and the citations they received. Overall, there is a low correlation between the dissertations conducted and scientific citations. Finally, academicians with publications and/or citations in Web of Science or Scopus were researched further via logistic regressions. The results indicate that there is positive and meaningful relation with PhD degrees earned abroad and number of publication in the Web of Science. © 2013 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.