The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Production Frontiers and Productive Efficiency
Abstract
When discussing the performance of production units, it is common to describe them as being more or less “efficient,” or more or less “productive.” In this chapter1 I discuss the relationship between these two concepts, and I consider some hypotheses concerning the determinants of producer performance as measured by efficiency and productivity. I then tum to an analysis of some of the techniques that have been developed for measuring efficiency and productivity. Since these techniques are discussed in detail in the next three chapters, and illustrated in subsequent chapters, my analysis of them is brief and nontechnical. It focuses on the differences among the techniques, and on their relative strengths and weaknesses.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“The ability to observe each unit more than once can translate into more accurate estimates of efficiency than can be obtained from a single cross-section (Greene, 1993;Lovell, 1993).”
From Technical efficiency in developing country agriculture: a meta‐analysis (2001) · cites this paper as Lovell, 1993
Citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–400 of 589
A stochastic frontier analysis of cost of efficiency in Turkish cement industry
Şengül, S., Köprücü, Y., & Yıldız, H. (2023) · Pressacademia · doi:10.17261/pressacademia.2023.1738 · Cited by 10
Atuahene, S. A., & Xusheng, Q. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24673 · Cited by 13
Ibáñez, J. S., & Garratón, M. C. (2021) · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management · doi:10.1002/csr.2167 · Cited by 10
Günaydın, Y., Correia, A., & Kozak, M. (2022) · European Journal of Management and Business Economics · doi:10.1108/ejmbe-11-2021-0308 · Cited by 10
Analyzing Technical Efficiency in Cereal Production across Selected European Union Countries
Aljohani, E. S., & Chidmi, B. (2024) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su16020546 · Cited by 10
Measuring individual efficiency and unit influence in centrally managed systems
Davtalab-Olyaie, M., Mahmudi-Baram, H., & Asgharian, M. (2022) · Annals of Operations Research · doi:10.1007/s10479-022-04676-6 · Cited by 10
Managing Common Property in Russian Cities: An Economic Analysis of Homeowners Associations
Polishchuk, L., Borisova, E., & Peresetsky, A. A. (2010) · Voprosy Ekonomiki · doi:10.32609/0042-8736-2010-11-115-135 · Cited by 9
A Top-Down Economic Efficiency Analysis of U.S. HouseholdEnergy Consumption
Burnett, J. W., & Madariaga, J. (2018) · The Energy Journal · doi:10.5547/01956574.39.4.jbur · Cited by 10
Efficiency assessment of real estate cadastral offices using DEA
Ferrera, J. M. C., Chaparro, F. P., & Jiménez, J. S. (2011) · International Review of Administrative Sciences · doi:10.1177/0020852311419385 · Cited by 9
Chen, S., Lee, D., & Huang, C. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su132112030 · Cited by 9
Shahi, S. K., Dia, M., Yan, P., et al. (2021) · Journal of Modelling in Management · doi:10.1108/jm2-07-2020-0181 · Cited by 9
Entrepreneurial quality management — A new definition of quality
Beaujean, P., Kristes, D., & Schmitt, R. H. (2008) · IEEE International Engineering Management Conference (IEMC) · doi:10.1109/iemce.2008.4617973 · Cited by 9
Peixoto, F. M., Ferreira, R. D. N., Lopes, A. L. M., & Fagundes, A. F. A. (2011) · Revista de Ciências da Administração · doi:10.5007/2175-8077.2011v13n31p161 · Cited by 9
Compétitivité, productivité et efficacité dans les secteurs agricole et agroalimentaire
Latruffe, L. (2010) · doi:10.1787/5km91nj6929p-fr · Cited by 9
Push-Pull Two-Layer Super-Peer based P2P Live Media Streaming
Hoong, P. K., & Matsuo, H. (2008) · Journal of Applied Sciences · doi:10.3923/jas.2008.585.593 · Cited by 8
Revenue efficiency analysis of scheduled commercial banks in a dynamic environment
Bhatia, A., & Mahendru, M. (2015) · Indian Growth and Development Review · doi:10.1108/igdr-04-2015-0015 · Cited by 8
Begnini, S., & Tosta, H. T. (2017) · Revista Economia & Gestão · doi:10.5752/p.1984-6606.2017v17n46p43 · Cited by 8
Kouriati, A., Tafidou, A., Lialia, E., Prentzas, A., Moulogianni, C., Dimitriadou, E., & Bournaris, T. (2023) · Agronomy · doi:10.3390/agronomy13082109 · Cited by 11
Non‐Parametric Modelling of CO2Emission Quota
Lansink, A. O., & Vlist, A. J. V. D. (2008) · Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/j.1477-9552.2008.00168.x · Cited by 8
Analysis of Economic Efficiency of Small-scale Onion Production in Volcanic Highlands in Rwanda
Maniriho, A., Musabanganji, E., & Lebailly, P. (2020) · MONTENEGRIN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS · doi:10.14254/1800-5845/2020.16-3.15 · Cited by 8
Technical-and-allocative inefficiency index of Indian sugarcane farms- A primal system approach
Felix, K. T., Kumar, P. N., & Arivarasan, S. (2021) · Environmental and Sustainability Indicators · doi:10.1016/j.indic.2021.100133 · Cited by 8
Determinants of the Productivity Change for the Banking Sector in Egypt
Jreisat, A., Hassan, H., & Shankar, S. (2017) · Global Business Review · doi:10.1177/0972150917713508 · Cited by 8
A stochastic frontier model for measuring online bank profit efficiency
Baten, M. A., & Kamil, A. A. (2011) · South African Journal of Business Management · doi:10.4102/sajbm.v42i3.499 · Cited by 8
The Effect of Incentive Regulation in Telecommunications in the United States
Uri, N. D. (2003) · Quality & Quantity · doi:10.1023/a:1023305426380 · Cited by 8
Explaining Bank Efficiency Differences Between China and Taiwan by Meta-Frontier Cost Function
Liu, Y., Yang, W., Mai, S.-Y., et al. (2012) · Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies · doi:10.1142/s0219091512500245 · Cited by 8
Bandyopadhyay, S. (2011) · Journal of the Operational Research Society · doi:10.1057/jors.2010.193 · Cited by 8
Consolidation in Indian banking: Does size matter?
Saha, A., & Dash, U. (2016) · DECISION · doi:10.1007/s40622-016-0133-5 · Cited by 8
Analysing water use efficiency and productivity in Iran's metropolises
Rad, M. H., Sarkheil, H., & Khojastehpour, R. (2017) · Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Water Management · doi:10.1680/jwama.17.00025 · Cited by 8
Detecting Intrinsic Inefficiency on Process Level: Benchmarking of Transactions in Banking
Burger, A., & Moormann, J. (2009) · Lecture notes in business information processing · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-00328-8_14 · Cited by 8
Measuring Public Spending Efficiency in Brazilian Municipalities: A Nonparametric Approach
de Sousa, M. D. C. S., & Ramos, F. D. S. (1999) · Deutscher Universitätsverlag eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-663-08343-6_12 · Cited by 8
Kumar, S., & Gupta, S. (2004) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.552582 · Cited by 8
Efficiency analysis of the OECD countries' long-term productivity using DEA and TOPSIS approaches
Wänke, P., Antunes, J. J. M., Filgueira, A. L. L., et al. (2023) · Benchmarking An International Journal · doi:10.1108/bij-11-2021-0662 · Cited by 7
He, Y., Chiu, Y., & Zhang, B. (2020) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/2158244020939533 · Cited by 7
Tayebi, A., Lila, A., Cheikh, S., et al. (2023) · Competitiveness Review An International Business Journal incorporating Journal of Global Competitiveness · doi:10.1108/cr-01-2023-0012 · Cited by 7
An Evaluation of Groundnut Processing by Women in a Rural Area of North Central Nigeria
Ibrahim, H. Y., Saingbe, N. D., & Ibrahim, H. I. (2010) · Journal of Agricultural Science · doi:10.5539/jas.v2n1p206 · Cited by 7
Hassan, N. Z. A. M., Bahari, M. S., Aminuddin, F., et al. (2023) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.959812 · Cited by 7
Lee, T.-H., & Chih, S.-H. (2014) · Emerging Markets Finance and Trade · doi:10.2753/ree1540-496x5002s213 · Cited by 7
Kidane, A., Hepelwa, A., Ngeh, E. T., et al. (2013) · Tanzanian Economic Review · doi:10.56279/ter.v3i1-2.6 · Cited by 7
Xiu-qing, Z., Min, G., Zou, W.-C., et al. (2021) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2021.3139084 · Cited by 7
Timber Production Efficiency Analysis
Carter, D. R., & Siry, J. P. (2003) · Forestry sciences · doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0219-5_7 · Cited by 7
Determinants of the productive efficiency for the bank systems in the European Union countries
Escuer, M. A. E., & Cebrián, L. I. G. (2004) · International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management · doi:10.1108/17410400410545905 · Cited by 7
The Domestic Effects of Tight Monetary Policy in the Wake of Thailand's Financial Crisis
Leightner, J. E. (2002) · Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy · doi:10.1080/13547860220134833 · Cited by 7
Mbangala, M. A., & Perelman, S. (1997) · Revue d économie du développement · doi:10.3406/recod.1997.970 · Cited by 7
Using Adaboost for Equity Investment ScorecardsPreprint
Creamer, G. G., & Freund, Y. (2006) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.940729 · Cited by 7
A new criterion for technical efficiency measures: non-monotonicity across dimensions axioms
Kerstens, K., & Eeckaut, P. V. (1999) · Managerial and Decision Economics · doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1468(199902)20:1 · Cited by 7
Armenteros-Ruiz, T., Ballesteros-Ron, A., Rodríguez‐Mañero, M., et al. (2024) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-076853 · Cited by 6
Ngo, H. L., Oanh, L. T. T., Cao, V. D., et al. (2025) · Environmental Engineering Science · doi:10.1089/ees.2024.0324 · Cited by 6
Monzeli, A., Daneshian, B., Tohidi, G., et al. (2025) · International Journal of Economic Sciences · doi:10.31181/ijes1412025174 · Cited by 6
Shahi, S. K., & Dia, M. (2021) · Journal of Management Analytics · doi:10.1080/23270012.2021.1884619 · Cited by 6
Bhatia, A., & Mahendru, M. (2021) · Benchmarking An International Journal · doi:10.1108/bij-01-2021-0051 · Cited by 6
Valeur, performance et efficacité productive de l’entreprise agricole
Debruyne, M. (2010) · La Revue des sciences de gestion/La Revue des sciences de gestion, Direction et gestion · doi:10.1051/larsg/2010030 · Cited by 6
How financial market in Bangladesh appraises efficiency?
Quader, S. M., & Abdullah, M. N. (2019) · Economic Change and Restructuring · doi:10.1007/s10644-019-09259-3 · Cited by 6
Performance measurement: Does education impact productivity?
Larbi-Apau, J. A., & Sarpong, D. B. (2010) · Performance Improvement Quarterly · doi:10.1002/piq.20069 · Cited by 6
Roh, C.-Y., & Moon, M. J. (2016) · The Korean Journal of Policy Studies · doi:10.52372/kjps31202 · Cited by 6
APEC Region Customs Efficiency: an Analysis through the Malmquist DEA Model
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, I. D. I. E. Y. E., & Torres, A. I. Z. (2017) · México y la Cuenca del Pacífico · doi:10.32870/mycp.v6i18.554 · Cited by 6
Bozec, R., & Dia, M. (2003) · Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences / Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l Administration · doi:10.1111/j.1936-4490.2003.tb00706.x · Cited by 6
A Model of Evaluating Transportation System Efficiency Based on Data Envelopment Analysis Approach
Jiang, C. (2009) · International Symposium on Electronic Commerce and Security · doi:10.1109/isecs.2009.87 · Cited by 6
Explaining Efficiency Differences Among Large German and Austrian Banks
Hauner, D. (2004) · IMF Working Paper · doi:10.5089/9781451856156.001 · Cited by 6
Donini, B. R., & Barbiroli, G. (1997) · Technovation · doi:10.1016/s0166-4972(97)00058-8 · Cited by 6
Wu, Z. (2025) · Transport Policy · doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.07.005 · Cited by 6
An analysis of technical efficiency in Icelandic dairy and sheep farms
(2019) · Studies in Agricultural Economics · doi:10.7896/j.1916 · Cited by 5
Atılgan, E. (2016) · Journal of Human Sciences · doi:10.14687/ijhs.v13i1.3601 · Cited by 5
Decomposition of the technical efficiency of the banking system
Abel, S., Bara, A., & Roux, P. L. (2018) · Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences · doi:10.4102/jef.v11i1.160 · Cited by 5
Technical Efficiency and Agglomeration Economies in the Hotel Industry: Evidence from Canary Islands
Martín-Rivero, R., Rodríguez, F. J. L., & Lorenzo-Alegría, R. M. (2021) · Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy · doi:10.1007/s12061-021-09376-5 · Cited by 5
Life insurance company efficiency: best method and proxies
Wise, W. J. (2018) · Insurance Markets and Companies · doi:10.21511/ins.09(1).2018.02 · Cited by 5
Productive Efficiency of Soybean Production in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam
Viet, H., & Yabe, M. (2011) · InTech eBooks · doi:10.5772/15093 · Cited by 5
Productivity, Public Capital and Convergence: A Study of the Spanish Regions
Canaleta, C. G., Pascual, P., & Gárate, M. R. (2003) · Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie · doi:10.1046/j.1467-9663.2003.00281.x · Cited by 5
World Financial Crisis and the Rise of Chinese Commercial BanksPreprint
Luo, D., & Yao, S. (2009) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1448521 · Cited by 5
Analyzing the Production Changes or the Turkish Banking SystemPreprint
Karacabey, A. A., & Arslan, B. H. (2004) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.485582 · Cited by 5
Lassoued, N., Khanchel, I., & Fakhfakh, I. (2026) · Financial Innovation · doi:10.1186/s40854-025-00882-w · Cited by 4
Islam, S. M. F., & Karim, Z. (2019) · IntechOpen eBooks · doi:10.5772/intechopen.87000 · Cited by 6
You cannot be good at everything: tradeoff and returns in healthcare services
Thirumalai, S., Lindsey, S., & Stratman, J. K. (2022) · International Journal of Operations & Production Management · doi:10.1108/ijopm-06-2021-0407 · Cited by 4
Rella, A., Raimo, N., & Vitolla, F. (2025) · Social Responsibility Journal · doi:10.1108/srj-12-2024-0859 · Cited by 4
Rella, A., & Dipierro, A. R. (2025) · Journal of Innovation & Knowledge · doi:10.1016/j.jik.2025.100724 · Cited by 4
Melo-Becerra, L. A., & Espinosa-Rodríguez, N. J. (2005) · Ensayos sobre Política Económica · doi:10.32468/espe.4903 · Cited by 4
(Non-)Convex production metafrontier for the Baltic states
Rudminas, L., & Baležentis, T. (2020) · Economics & Sociology · doi:10.14254/2071-789x.2020/13-2/15 · Cited by 4
Lahiri, K., & Hu, J. (2020) · Empirical Economics · doi:10.1007/s00181-020-01943-y · Cited by 4
Avaliação da Eficiência dos Gastos das Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior Brasileiras
Rolim, L. F., de Almeida, A. T. C., Filho, S. C. L., et al. (2020) · Teoria e Prática em Administração · doi:10.22478/ufpb.2238-104x.2021v11n1.50628 · Cited by 4
The Transitional Gains Trap in Grandfathered Individual Transferable Quota Fisheries
Byrne, C., Oostdijk, M. N. T., Agnarsson, S., et al. (2023) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108013 · Cited by 4
Measuring the Impact of Regulation: A Study of Canadian Basic Cable Television
Law, S. M., & Nolan, J. F. (2002) · Review of Industrial Organization · doi:10.1023/a:1020445804113 · Cited by 4
What drives efficiency on the Portuguese gas distribution?
Marques, V., de Almeida, P. N., Amaral-da-Cunha, M., et al. (2012) · International Conference on the European Energy Market (EEM) · doi:10.1109/eem.2012.6254744 · Cited by 4
DEA performance assessment of Greek listed metallurgical firms
Tsolas, I. E. (2014) · Journal of Modelling in Management · doi:10.1108/jm2-07-2010-0031 · Cited by 4
Alpar, P., & Porembski, M. (1998) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-60327-3_34 · Cited by 4
Modified fixed effects estimation of technical inefficiency
Wikström, D. (2016) · Journal of Productivity Analysis · doi:10.1007/s11123-016-0473-3 · Cited by 4
Análise da eficiência do setor sucroenergético brasileiro
Xavier, C. (2014) · doi:10.11606/t.11.2014.tde-03122014-173110 · Cited by 4
Gestión competitiva en los destinos turísticos de interior
Acosta, E. O. (2006) · doi:10.4995/thesis/10251/1893 · Cited by 4
Schettini, D. C. D. (2010) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/t.12.2010.tde-10052010-141954 · Cited by 5
Privatisation and Technical Efficiency of Thai Electricity Generation State Owned EnterprisePreprint
Sirasoontorn, P. (2005) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.677070 · Cited by 4
Eki̇nci̇, R. (2020) · Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi · doi:10.16953/deusosbil.733488 · Cited by 3
Índice de eficiencia técnica de las empresas de Perú
Tello, M. D. (2022) · Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad · doi:10.13043/dys.90.4 · Cited by 3
DOĞAN, A., & BEKMEZOĞLU, H. N. (2022) · Sosyal Mucit Academic Review · doi:10.54733/smar.1190365 · Cited by 3
Reddy, M. (2024) · Sustainable Agriculture Research · doi:10.5539/sar.v13n1p91 · Cited by 3
Sustainability of metals production: the case of copper
Golding, B., & Campbell, H. F. (2013) · Mineral Economics · doi:10.1007/s13563-013-0039-z · Cited by 3
Productivity and Deregulation in the Canadian For-Hire Trucking Industry, 1985-1996
Nolan, J. F., Richie, P., & Rowcraft, J. E. (2012) · Journal of the Transportation Research Forum · doi:10.5399/osu/jtrf.49.3.2571 · Cited by 3
Complexity of Measuring Advertising Efficiency: An Application of DEA Method in Turkey
Benli, Y. K., & Bozoklu, Ç. P. (2015) · Springer proceedings in complexity · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-18693-1_20 · Cited by 3
Kilimani, N., Nnyanzi, J. B., Okumu, I. M., & Bbaale, E. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-41513-6_8 · Cited by 4
Heterogeneity in the productivity of sugar-energy mills in Brazil
da Silva, H. J. T., & Marques, P. V. (2021) · The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review · doi:10.22434/ifamr2019.0143 · Cited by 3
A study of hotel sector efficiency in the Canary Islands
Rodríguez, F. J. L., Alegría, R. M. L., & Rivero, R. M. (2021) · Journal of Tourism Analysis Revista de Análisis Turístico (JTA) · doi:10.53596/jta.v28i1.374 · Cited by 3
A data envelopment analysis of the global microfinance industry
Lastra, M. G. U., Santillán‐Salgado, R. J., & Castro, H. J. F. (2021) · Contaduría y Administración · doi:10.22201/fca.24488410e.2022.2928 · Cited by 2
Meta-regression Analysis of Technical (In)Efficiency in Agriculture: a Regional Approach
dos Santos, M. Q., Marta‐Costa, A., & González, X. A. R. (2021) · Economy of Regions · doi:10.17059/ekon.reg.2021-3-14 · Cited by 3
Metadata
- Authors
- Lovell, C. A. K.
- Corresponding author
- Lovell, C A Knox
- ORCID
- Lovell, C A Knox
- Venue
- The Measurement of Productive Efficiency
- Publisher
- Oxford University PressNew York, NY
- Published
- 1993-04-22
- Pages
- 3-67
- OpenAlex
- W4388062704
- Cited by
- 687
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 47.28
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Efficiency Analysis Using DEA
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic Growth and Productivity
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Agricultural economics and policies
- Keywords
- production frontier, productive efficiency, productivity measurement, efficiency measurement
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
