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In multilateral comparisons of environmental performance over time, energy intensity measures, especially "real" energy intensity computed either by index decomposition approach or structural decomposition approach, are the most commonly used measures. Recently, researchers also resort to production-theoretical approach, which relies on data envelopment analysis techniques, to decompose energy intensity changes over time into their subcomponents. While their intuitiveness and computational ease make these indices attractive, their time series properties create considerable challenges in performing informative and fair comparisons among the energy efficiency levels of units considered. Furthermore, the resultant measure of energy intensity in these studies is still the inverse of a partial factor productivity (PFP) measure, i.e., energy productivity, that does not take into consideration compositional differences between inputs of the units being compared (which are also subject to change over time) and that ignores the type of substitution among inputs and, hence, makes it a measure that disguises rather than illuminates. The theoretical part of this paper shows how one can overcome the shortcomings of the energy intensity measure by constructing a new energy index using directional technology distance functions. The new index constructed in this study not only overcomes the shortcomings of the energy intensity measures but also satisfies the axiomatic properties of index numbers that are laid down by Fisher. An empirical application on U.S state-level agricultural sectors further complements existing studies.

This paper contributes to the effort to model and measure how the method of financing of health expenditure affects the efficiency with which better health can be achieved. The focus is on the health system efficiency at the country level, which provides an alternative to the work done in the WHO in this regard. The approach uses frontier techniques as in the WHO studies; however the paper appeals to the economic index number theory of quantity and productivity indexes, which have well-established axiomatic properties, and provides a means for aggregating multiple health output proxies without having to attach arbitrary weights. This allows the proposal of a specification that embeds health sector performance in a broader index of economic inputs and outputs and allows for comparisons across countries and time. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.

This paper extends the results of series of papers, i.e., Zaim (2004) and Yörük and Zaim (2005a, 2005b). We construct an environmental efficiency index for OECD countries and establish an environmental Kuznets curve relationship between environmental efficiency and income. We then investigate the effect of an international protocol on reducing global emissions on the environmental efficiency.

This study proposes a usefulalternative to the ``aggregate deprivationindex'' which is used to measure the well-beingsof individuals in different countries orgeographic locations. Furthermore, we alsopropose an improvement index which alleviateswell known difficulties associated withovertime comparisons of ``aggregate deprivationindex''. While deriving our indexes, we pursuedan economic approach to index numbers theoryand relied on the assumptions of optimizingbehavior. The proposed achievement index hasits roots in the theory of quantity indexeswhose axiomatic properties are wellestablished. The roots of our improvement indexon the other hand, is well grounded in theproductivity growth literature. The study alsoprovides a numerical example.

Cataloged from PDF version of article. The role of the environment is an important issue in the policy-making and hence, the accurate assessment of the environmental conditions is vital. In this paper, an environmental efficiency index is developed for the OECD countries using non-parametric techniques. The approach adopted is based on the assumption that there is just one production process behind the production of both goods and pollution emissions. The index derived in this work measures the extent of the required output sacrifice, due to the transformation of the production process, from one where all outputs are strongly disposable to the one which is characterized by weak disposability of pollutants. Using this index, we first conduct cross-section comparisons on the state of each country's production process in its treatment of pollution emissions. We then trace each country's modification of their production processes overtime. The results indicate that if the disposability for CO2 emissions were strictly restricted as the result of an environmental regulation, the total value of output loss to the OECD countries as a whole would correspond to 3.7, 4.8 and 3.5% of the total OECD GDP for 1980, 1985 and 1990, respectively. (C) 2000 Academic Press.

The role of the environment is an important issue in policy making andthe accurate assessment of the environmental conditions is vital. Inthis paper, using nonparametric techniques, an environmental efficiencyindex is developed for each of the OECD countries. These indexes allowone both to do cross section comparisons on the state of each country'sproduction process in its treatment of undesirable outputs and also totrace each country's modification of their production processesovertime. Furthermore in this study we investigate the factorsunderlying societies' environmental concerns that eventually lead tochanges in the environmental efficiency. The results provide furtherempirical evidence for the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis.

To investigate the effects of post-1980 financial liberalization policies on the economic efficiency of Turkish commercial banks at the micro level, a nonparametric frontier methodology is applied. The distinguishing feature of this model is its capability in addressing simultaneously the developments in economic efficiency and returns to scale in a consistent fashion. The results show that financial reform seems to have succeeded in stimulating the commercial banks not only to take measures that would enhance technical and allocative efficiency, but also to go through necessary scale adjustments in order to achieve optimal scale.

This paper extends the results of series of papers, i.e., Zaim (2004) and Yörük and Zaim (2005a, 2005b). We construct an environmental efficiency index for OECD countries and establish an environmental Kuznets curve relationship between environmental efficiency and income. We then investigate the effect of an international protocol on reducing global emissions on the environmental efficiency.

Chapter 10 The last decade has witnessed major improvements in the measurement of sustainable human development. Considerable time and research effort have been devoted to both extending the dimensions of the measurement and the methodology used to compute sustainable human development indices. Now, the measurement of human well-being is not only limited to economic indicators but also takes into account social, institutional and ecological background, thus utilizing over 130 indicators approved by the United Nations in April 1995 (UN 2001). Improvements in the data collection of indicators, while triggering the construction of indexes from a series of constituent indicators such as human development index (HDI) with component indicators on longevity, educational attainment and income, have also led to aggregation of indexes of different dimensions. As a typical example of the latter, one can cite Prescott-Allen’s (2001) human well-being index (HWI), which is an equal weighted average of the human well-being index and ecosystem well-being index (EWI), integrating two indices with social-economical and environmental dimensions.

We utilize two alternative indices to measure productivity growth for all but two OECD countries. First, we employ a Malmquist productivity index without considering the existence of hazardous by-products of production processes. To address the shortfalls of this index, we construct an alternative Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index and find that the Malmquist index underestimates the productivity growth. Finally, we investigate the effects of an international protocol on reducing global emissions and country-specific effects on Malmquist-Luenberger productivity measures. © 2005 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This paper starts with the basic premise: that conventional measures of productivity growth-often used as a measure of corporate performance-which ignore external or social output, are biased. We then construct an alternative productivity growth measure using activity analysis which integrates the externality/social output into a generalized productivity measure reflecting social responsibility. This method is very general and could be applied to gauge corporate social responsibility. We provide an application to US agriculture to demonstrate the approach: We show that conventional measures of productivity are biased upward when production of negative externalities (or bad) outputs is increasing. Conversely, this same measure of productivity is biased downward when externalities in production are decreasing. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In decomposing the total emissions into scale and pollution intensity, the conventional approach uses the total output as a measure of scale, and hence ignores the fact that pollution is mainly a byproduct of the manufacturing activity. This study recognizing that air pollution is mainly a byproduct of manufacturing activity proposes a new definition of pollution intensity - pollution per unit of manufacturing output - , and a new technique to measure the aggregate pollution intensity. The index used is a variant of Malmquist quantity index and satisfies well-established axiomatic properties. One other focal point of this study is the overtime comparisons of pollution intensities, i.e., change in pollution intensity, using indexes that are firmly established in productivity growth literature. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chapter 4 This chapter presents a comparative study of public finance issues in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, the Baltic countries and Turkey. Section 4.1 considers fiscal policy and economic restructuring. Section 4.2 looks at tax reform and Section 4.3 analyses expenditure reform. Privatisation is discussed in Section 4.4, and problems related to social safety nets and social security are discussed in Section 4.5. The last section presents some conclusions.

The relationship between trade and environmental conditions receives considerable attention whenever countries are in the process of negotiating trade agreements. In this paper using a non-parametric non-stochastic production frontier approach, we first develop an environmental efficiency index for a sample of high income and low and middle income countries and then examine the role of trade on the changes in environmental efficiency. The paper shows that, in addition to the per capita income which exhibits an environmental Kuznets type relationship, trade-related variables such as trade composition, the share of polluting exports and openness of a country are important determinants of environmental efficiency. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

The public enterprise sector in Turkey has grown appreciably since the 1950's and has made a marked impact on aggregate production, employment, and saving. However, since the early 1980's, public enterprises have been accused of absorbing the government's financial resources and are being held responsible for Turkey's large external debt. The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of the public sector with that of the private sector for the various subsectors of manufacturing in Turkey. The Malmquist productivity index, constructed using nonparametric linear programming methods, is employed for the relevant comparisons. J. Comp. Econom., October 1997, 25(2), pp. 129-157. Bilkent University, Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey 06533. © 1997 Academic Press.

The Macro-Integrated Agricultural-Sector modeling approach is introduced to analyze the economic effects of the post-1980 Turkish structural adjustment reforms on the agricultural economy. The distinguishing feature of the model is its capability in addressing simultaneously the real and financial macro aggregates and the micro-sectoral detail of agriculture in a consistent fashion. The modeling analysis discloses that the Turkish mode of adjustment has typically relied on taxation of agricultural incomes, and suggests that an investment program based on reinvesting the rural surplus within the agricultural economy is a superior option. Un modèle sectoriel agricole intégré d un modèle d'équilibre général est introduit pour analyser les effets des réfomes d'ajustement structurel après 1980 sur l'économie agricole. Le trait distinctif du modèle est sa capacité de traiter simultanément les variables réelles et financières et les détails du secteur agricole d'une façon consistante. Les simulations réalisées à l'aide du modèle montrent que le mode d'ajustement turc dépend de la taxation des revenus agricoles, et suggère qu'un programme d'investissement axé sur le réinvestissement des surplus ruraux dans l'économie agricole est une option supérieure.

The paper constructs environmental efficiency indexes for a sample consisting of high- and low-income countries using nonparametric production frontier techniques and then establishes an environmental Kuznets relationship for environmental efficiency by Nadaraya-Watson kernel estimation methodology. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. JEL classification: Q25; Q32.

This paper is aimed at measuring and comparing the quality of life in European Union (EU) and Turkey as an important candidate country on the process of integrating with the EU. Rather than using per capita income as a classical measure, this study uses social indicators of development as a measure of well‐being. Instead of using human development index (HDI) – an index commonly referred as “deprivation index” – we adopt the indices that are developed in Zaim, Fare and Grosskopf. The “achievement index” measures the success of a country in the provision of standard of life. On the other hand “improvement index” is used to measure the improvement of the country over time in terms of its life quality. The stated results suggest that Turkey should improve its quality of life on the way of integrating with the EU.

The study utilizes a variant of the Malmquist Productivity Index computed by nonparametric linear programming techniques to empirically investigate the catching-up hypothesis for a group of high- and low-income countries. The results show that the countries with low initial per capita income levels catch up at a faster rate while countries with relatively high income depend more on technological progress for their productivity increases.