Benchmarking and productivity analyses with economic applications – PhD courses in Denmark

PhD School in Economics and Management at CBS

Course dates: 25 September 2017 – 29 September 2017
Lecturer: Professor Peter Bogetoft, Department of Economics, CBS
Place/Venue:Porcelænshaven 18B
City: Frederiksberg
ECTS: 5 points
Link: https://ssl1.peoplexs.com/Peoplexs22/Candidat…

Prerequisites
A basic knowledge of quantitative methods and statistics is desirable, but the course will refresh the participants’ prior knowledge as we go along. During the course, we will also train the use of opens source software like R. Participants are encouraged to bring their own notebooks to facilitate subsequent usage.
Aim
The aim of this course is to introduce the participants to the theory and practice of performance evaluations and their usages in research, policy analyses, incentive schemes and regulation. Specifically, the objectives are 1. To provide a basic understanding of state-of-the-art benchmarking, efficiency and productivity analyses methods using Data Envelopment Analyses (DEA), Stochastic Frontier Analyses (SFA) and related methods. 2. To provide training in the actual usage of such methods and associated software on different applications 3. To discuss the usage of performance evaluations to evaluate economic systems and to design decision support, reallocation mechanisms and incentive systems.Background: Productivity and efficiency analysis is a rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field of research in economics, management sciences, and statistics. In addition to the empirical research on the magnitude, direction, and sources of productivity growth, this literature has produced quantitative methods such as data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), which have diffused beyond their traditional confinement to production settings. These tools are used in many different application areas including environment, development studies, education, finance, health care studies, natural resource management, public economics, and sports studies, among other fields. The tools and approaches of productivity analysis are equally well suited for micro-level analyses of firms and other decision-making units as well as macro-level cross-country comparisons. Integration with incentive theory, mechanism design and decision support systems makes the tools relevant also in normative applications
Course content
The course comes in two parts. Base course Day 1 : Welcome * Introduction and overview ?* Production and costs models ?* Firm behavior ?* Efficiency concepts * Exercises Installation of software Day 2 : Data Envelopment Analyses (DEA) Non-discretionary, environmental, quality etc variables * Dual models * Game interpretations * Exercises. Day 3 : Statistical inference in DEA * Bootstrapping * Two stage models * Stochastic Frontier Analyses (SFA) * Exercises Day 4 : Reallocation, market and merger analyses * Decision Support Systems * Network models * Exercises Day 5 :Efficiency and Incentives, * Contracts * Regulation * Yardstick competition, * Auctions * Exercises Add-on course (Optional) Individual advice ?* Participants work on own projects * Individual advise on methods, analyses and interpretation of results Day 6 & 7 : Participants present preliminary results * Additional topics covered depending on interests of participants (e.g. Indices, rational inefficiency, dynamic efficiency, advanced SFA, advanced bootstrapping, regulatory practices, etc).
Teaching style
The base course (5 ETCS) stretches over five days. Each day will consist of lecturing in the morning and conceptual discussions and data exercises in the afternoon. The optional add-on course (5 ETCS) consists of advise to individuals or groups on specific research projects during a one month period combined with two days of final lecturing and presentations of the participants’ research work.
Lecture plan

Learning objectives

Exam
A course certificate for the base course is granted based on attendance and active participating. A course certificate for the add-on course is granted based on progress with individual projects and active participation in the in class activities.
Other
When registering for the course please write a few lines on your background in ‘comments’