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The hidden cost of investment: the impact of adjustment costs on firm performance measurement and regulation

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  • Sebastian Nick
  • Heike Wetzel

Abstract

In this study, we address a major problem in the measurement of firm performance and the regulation of natural monopolies, namely the intertemporal character of long-term investment decisions. Specifically, we focus on the impact of adjustment costs of investments on estimates of firms’ technical and cost inefficiency. We make use of a nonparametric dynamic data envelopment analysis to investigate the dynamic inefficiency of electricity distribution and transmission companies in the US during the years 2004–2011. These results are compared to their static counterparts. Our empirical findings reveal that ignoring long-term investments and their corresponding adjustment costs significantly distorts both firm-specific and industrial inefficiency estimates and may thus create misleading incentives for the regulated firms to cut investments. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Nick & Heike Wetzel, 2016. "The hidden cost of investment: the impact of adjustment costs on firm performance measurement and regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 33-55, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:regeco:v:49:y:2016:i:1:p:33-55
    DOI: 10.1007/s11149-015-9285-z
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    Cited by:

    1. S.N. Silvestrov & N.V. Kuznetsov & V.V. Ponkratov & D.A. Smirnov & N.E. Kotova, 2018. "Investment Development of Russian Regions Backed up by Natural Monopolies," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 89-99.
    2. Dakpo, K Hervé & Lansink, Alfons Oude, 2019. "Dynamic pollution-adjusted inefficiency under the by-production of bad outputs," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(1), pages 202-211.
    3. Cherchye, Laurens & De Rock, Bram & Kerstens, Pieter Jan, 2018. "Production with storable and durable inputs: Nonparametric analysis of intertemporal efficiency," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 270(2), pages 498-513.
    4. Engida, Tadesse Getacher & Rao, Xudong & Oude Lansink, Alfons G.J.M., 2020. "A dynamic by-production framework for analyzing inefficiency associated with corporate social responsibility," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 287(3), pages 1170-1179.
    5. Magdalena Kapelko, 2017. "Dynamic versus static inefficiency assessment of the Polish meat‐processing industry in the aftermath of the European Union integration and financial crisis," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 505-521, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dynamic inefficiency; Dynamic directional distance function; Dynamic data envelopment analysis; Electricity transmission and distribution; D22; D24; D61; D92; L51;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation

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