Productivity and Efficiency Analysis

Course objectives

General Objectives of the course The course, with an interdisciplinary approach, combines theoretical lectures on the economics of production, with lectures on the main econometric approaches proposed in the literature, including recent developments, and practical sessions to introduce to the main open source software available to carry out productivity and efficiency analysis. The main objectives of the course are: - Present a general overview on the economic theory of productivity and efficiency; - Propose a unified framework on the main methodologies available to estimate and compare productivity and efficiency of Decision Making Units (DMUs); - Make an introduction to the main open source software available to estimate productivity and efficiency; - Provide laboratory sessions to implement productivity and efficiency analyses in practice; - Provide the basic concepts to analyse the specialised literature; - Interact with students through assisted laboratory and the realization of a practical work on real data, seminars and oral presentations. Specific Objectives • KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: DEMONSTRATE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS; • ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: TO BE ABLE TO APPLY EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES LEARNED DURING THE COURSE IN ITS OWN ENGINEERING AREA OF SPECIALIZATION; • JUDGMENT AUTONOMY: TO BE ABLE TO PERFORM AN EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS WITH CRITICAL SPIRIT, CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE METHOD AND CORRECTLY IMPLEMENTING IT. • COMMUNICATION SKILLS: BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE THE RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS AND ITS INFORMATION TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERLOCUTORS; • LEARNING SKILLS: TO DEVELOP THE NECESSARY SKILLS TO APPLY AND DEVELOP AUTONOMOUSLY THE METHODS LEARNED DURING THE COURSE.

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CINZIA DARAIO Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The course is composed by 6 modules. - Module 1. Introduction. Basic concepts of microeconomics. Basic concepts of econometrics (including nonparametric statistics). Basic concepts of operations research. - Module 2. Parametric models. - Module 3. Nonparametric models. - Module 4. Advanced recent models. - Module 5. Practical exercises. - Module 6. Economic applications. This last module involves also the active participation of students that will be asked to prepare an essay (empirical work) with real data. Practical guidelines on how to write the essay and on the choice of the technique will be given during the practical laboratory sessions.
Prerequisites
1. Basic programming knowledge in R and/or Matlab is required to take the course. 2. Attendance is required to pass the exam: students must complete interim assignments and a final group project.
Books
The main textbooks of the course are: Coelli, T.J., Prasada Rao, D.S., O’ Donnell C. J. and Battese, G.E., (2005), An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis, Second Edition, Springer, New York (USA). Daraio C., Simar L. (2007), Advanced Robust and Nonparametric Methods in Efficiency Analysis. Methodology and Applications, Springer, New York (USA). Kumbhakar S. C., Knox Lovell C. A. (2000), Stochastic frontier analysis, Cambridge University Press New York. Färe R., Grosskopf S. (2005) New Directions: Efficiency and Productivity, Springer, New York (USA). Fried H.O., Lovell C.A.K., Schmidt S.S., eds., (2008), The Measurement of Productive Efficiency, Oxford University Press.
Teaching mode
The course will be held in the traditional way, that is, in presence, if there are the conditions to do it in reference to the national and international pandemic situation for COVID-19. Otherwise it will be done in hybrid mode (blended) or online.
Frequency
Attendance of the course is required to participate in the activities and works planned during the lessons.
Exam mode
The evaluation consists in carrying out intermediate tests, in the realization of a final project and in its presentation and discussion.
Bibliography
During the course the Lecture Notes and other additional materials (including various articles) will be distributed.
Lesson mode
The course will be held in the traditional way, that is, in presence. It will be possible to have some seminars with scholars or experts on-line.
CINZIA DARAIO Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The course is composed by 6 modules. - Module 1. Introduction. Basic concepts of microeconomics. Basic concepts of econometrics (including nonparametric statistics). Basic concepts of operations research. - Module 2. Parametric models. - Module 3. Nonparametric models. - Module 4. Advanced recent models. - Module 5. Practical exercises. - Module 6. Economic applications. This last module involves also the active participation of students that will be asked to prepare an essay (empirical work) with real data. Practical guidelines on how to write the essay and on the choice of the technique will be given during the practical laboratory sessions.
Prerequisites
1. Basic programming knowledge in R and/or Matlab is required to take the course. 2. Attendance is required to pass the exam: students must complete interim assignments and a final group project.
Books
The main textbooks of the course are: Coelli, T.J., Prasada Rao, D.S., O’ Donnell C. J. and Battese, G.E., (2005), An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis, Second Edition, Springer, New York (USA). Daraio C., Simar L. (2007), Advanced Robust and Nonparametric Methods in Efficiency Analysis. Methodology and Applications, Springer, New York (USA). Kumbhakar S. C., Knox Lovell C. A. (2000), Stochastic frontier analysis, Cambridge University Press New York. Färe R., Grosskopf S. (2005) New Directions: Efficiency and Productivity, Springer, New York (USA). Fried H.O., Lovell C.A.K., Schmidt S.S., eds., (2008), The Measurement of Productive Efficiency, Oxford University Press.
Teaching mode
The course will be held in the traditional way, that is, in presence, if there are the conditions to do it in reference to the national and international pandemic situation for COVID-19. Otherwise it will be done in hybrid mode (blended) or online.
Frequency
Attendance of the course is required to participate in the activities and works planned during the lessons.
Exam mode
The evaluation consists in carrying out intermediate tests, in the realization of a final project and in its presentation and discussion.
Bibliography
During the course the Lecture Notes and other additional materials (including various articles) will be distributed.
Lesson mode
The course will be held in the traditional way, that is, in presence. It will be possible to have some seminars with scholars or experts on-line.
  • Lesson code1041412
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseManagement Engineering
  • CurriculumBusiness intelligence and analytics (percorso formativo valido anche ai fini del conseguimento del doppio titolo italo-francese) - in inglese
  • Year2nd year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDING-IND/35
  • CFU6