Indices of Productivity Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
Description
Levels and changes of productivity and profitability are measured with various indices.
The package contains the multiplicatively complete Fre-Primont, Fisher, Hicks-Moorsteen,
Laspeyres, Lowe, and Paasche indices, as well as the classic Malmquist productivity index.
Fre-Primont and Lowe indices verify the transitivity property and can therefore be used for
multilateral or multitemporal comparison.
Fisher, Hicks-Moorsteen, Laspeyres, Malmquist, and Paasche indices are not transitive and are
only to be used for binary comparison.
All indices can also be decomposed into different components, providing insightful information
on the sources of productivity and profitability changes.
In the use of Malmquist productivity index, the technological change index can be further
decomposed into bias technological change components.
The package also allows to prohibit technological regression (negative technological change). In
the case of the Fisher, Hicks-Moorsteen, Laspeyres, Paasche and the transitive Fre-Primont
and Lowe indices, it is furthermore possible to rule out technological change.
Deflated shadow prices can also be obtained. Besides, the package allows parallel computing as
an option, depending on the user's computer configuration.
All computations are carried out with the nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and
several assumptions regarding returns to scale are available.
All DEA linear programs are implemented using 'lp_solve'.