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This paper extends to production theory some notions of compensated and equivalent variation analyzed in Luenberger (Econ Theory 7:445-462, 1996) in a consumer context. Along this line the Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator introduced in Briec and Kerstens (Econ Theory 23:925-939, 2004) is derived from these concepts for multi-output production technologies. The dual properties of this productivity indicator are analyzed and an aggregate indicator is introduced inspired from the resource function proposed in Luenberger (1996). A connection to a suitable Slutsky matrix is established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical contribution reviews the rather limited existing literature measuring congestion in production. It first compares current ways to measure congestion using nonparametric specifications of technologies. In particular, it focuses on the magnitude and incidence of the congestion detected in empirical studies using traditional radial efficiency measures. Thereafter, it shows the limitations of this radial measurement and how alternative measurement schemes may reveal higher amounts of congestion. Then, the new, more general methodology of measuring S-congestion is presented. In particular, we first present a numerical example to illustrate the way the S-disposable technologies allow to capture more extreme forms of congestion by setting empirically determined upper bounds to the wasting of inputs. Then, an empirical illustration is presented based on an existing sample of data. A final section concludes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production frontiers for the manufacturing sector are estimated to determine a 'country specific' catching-up process of Total Factor Productivity (TFP). TFP gains were aimed at assessing the manufacturing industry's productive performances for 14 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over the period 1970 to 2001. Our TFP measure does not assume technical or allocative efficiency which are inherent drawbacks of usual TFP indices. We show that catching-up processes can be very different between sub-periods and across countries. A significant catching-up process was in progress in the manufacturing sector between 1970 and 1986, then it overturned over the period 1987 to 2001. During the first sub-period, the speed of technological catching-up of the Eurozone countries was definitely higher than those of the other European or OECD nations, whereas the divergence noted in the second sub-period had the same order of magnitude amongst the three groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature, two types of factor productivity indices are defined as a function of a primal notion of technology. The Malmquist and the Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indices take a ratio-based approach, whereas the Luenberger and the Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indices follow a difference-based approach. The purpose of this note is to establish that the Hicks-Moorsteen type of productivity index, contrary to the Malmquist type of index, is well defined and satisfies the determinateness property under weak conditions on technology. This conclusion results from the fact that the underlying distance functions are always based on a feasible direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a procedure for analysing tourism productivity. The procedure is based on the Luenberger productivity indicator for estimating and decomposing productivity change into efficiency change and technological change. The authors expand the procedure and further decompose the process of technological change to study the sources of bias within it. Therefore, a clearer and more enlightening view emerges of the productivity of travel agencies. The Portuguese travel agency sector is used as an application. Some managerial implications are developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successive CAP reforms have increased the exposure of European agriculture to market forces. As a result, farmers have become preoccupied with their competitiveness and have progressively adopted best practices. However, these long-run technological adjustments could be slowed down by eventual short-run financial constraints. This contribution measures the role of these financial constraints on the catching-up component of total factor productivity for a panel of French farmers in Nord-Pas-de-Calais region during 1994-2001. For TFP estimates based on non-parametric distance functions, the second stage econometric results indicate that the technological adaptation is significantly conditioned by financial constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops the notion of parallel-neutral technical change for inputs and outputs. It is shown that parallel-neutral technical change generalizes existing radial notions of neutral technical change. A taxonomy of the structural consequences of parallel-neutral technical change is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. Introducing a new difference-based Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator, this contribution establishes theoretically its relations with some existing ratio- and difference-based productivity indexes and indicators. The first main result is an approximation proposition stating that the logarithm of the Hicks-Moorsteen productivity index is about equal to the Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator. Secondly, we also establish the specific conditions under which the Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen indicator equals the recently introduced Luenberger indicator and compare these to the conditions governing the relations between ratio-based Hicks-Moorsteen and Malmquist indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This contribution establishes, from a theoretical viewpoint, the relations between the Malmquist productivity indices, that measure in either input or output orientations, and the Luenberger productivity indices, that can simultaneously contract inputs and expand outputs, but that can also measure in either input or output orientations. The main result is that a Malmquist productivity index overestimates productivity changes, since it provides productivity measures that are nearly twice those given by the Luenberger productivity index looking for simultaneous contractions of inputs and expansions of outputs. This relationship is empirically illustrated using data from 20 OECD countries over the 1974–97 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends the recent work by Frei and Harker on projections onto efficient frontiers (1999) in three ways. First, we provide a formal definition of the production set as the intersection of a finite number of closed halfspaces. We emphasize the necessity of a complete enumeration of the supporting hyperplanes to define the production set properly. We focus on the problem of exhaustive enumeration of the supporting hyperplanes to characterize the production set. Second, we consider the problem of an arbitrary-norm projection on the boundary of the production set. We use the concept of the Holder distance function and we derive the necessary mathematics to calculate distances and projections of inefficient DM Us onto the efficient frontier. Third, we introduce a relevant weighting scheme for inputs and outputs so that the Holder distance function respects the commensurability axiom defined by Russell (1988). Finally, we present an illustration using the same data set as Frei and Harker (1999) to highlight some of the extensions proposed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]