IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/
MyIDEAS: Log in (now much improved!) to save this article

Efficiency analysis of German electricity distribution utilities - non-parametric and parametric tests

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Christian von Hirschhausen
  • Astrid Cullmann
  • Andreas Kappeler

Abstract

This study applies non-parametric and parametric tests to assess the efficiency of electricity distribution companies in Germany. Traditional issues in electricity sector benchmarking are addressed, such as the role of scale effects and optimal utility size, as well as new evidence specific to the situation in Germany. Labour, capital, and peak load capacity are used as inputs, and units sold and the number of customers as output. The data cover 307 (out of 553) German electricity distribution utilities. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) is applied with constant returns to scale (CRS) as the main productivity analysis technique, whereas stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) with distance function is the verification method. The results suggest that returns to scale play but a minor role; only very small utilities have a significant cost advantage. Low customer density is found to affect the efficiency score significantly, in particular in the lower third of all observations. Surprisingly, East German utilities feature a higher average efficiency than their West German counterparts. The correlation tests imply a high coherence of the results.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840500427650
Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Article provided by Taylor & Francis Journals in its journal Applied Economics.

Volume (Year): 38 (2006)
Issue (Month): 21 ()
Pages: 2553-2566

as
in new window

Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:38:y:2006:i:21:p:2553-2566
DOI: 10.1080/00036840500427650
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20

Order Information: Web: http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RAEC20

Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
  • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
  • L43 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation
  • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

as
in new window


  1. Giannakis, D. & T. Jamasb & Pollitt, M.G., 2004. "Benchmarking and incentive regulation of quality of service: an application to the UK electricity distribution utilities," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0408, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
  2. Massimo Filippini, 1998. "Are Municipal Electricity Distribution Utilities Natural Monopolies?," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 157-174, 06.
  3. Antonio Estache & MartÌn A. Rossi & Christian A. Ruzzier, 2004. "The Case for International Coordination of Electricity Regulation: Evidence from the Measurement of Efficiency in South America," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 271-295, 05.
  4. Mehdi Farsi & Massimo Filippini, 2004. "Regulation and Measuring Cost-Efficiency with Panel Data Models: Application to Electricity Distribution Utilities," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 25(1), pages 1-19, 08.
  5. Mork, Knut Anton, 1992. " Productivity in Swedish Electricity Retail Distribution: Comment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(0), pages 207-209, Supplemen.
  6. Hjalmarsson, Lennart & Veiderpass, Ann, 1992. " Productivity in Swedish Electricity Retail Distribution," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(0), pages 193-205, Supplemen.
  7. Coelli, Tim & Perelman, Sergio, 1999. "A comparison of parametric and non-parametric distance functions: With application to European railways," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 326-339, September.
  8. Jamasb, T. & Pollitt, M., 2001. "International Benchmarking and Yardstick Regulation: An Application to European Electricity Utilities," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0115, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
  9. David Hauner, 2005. "Explaining efficiency differences among large German and Austrian banks," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 969-980.
  10. Growitsch, Christian & Wein, Thomas, 2005. "Network access charges, vertical integration, and property rights structure--experiences from the German electricity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 257-278, March.
  11. Filippini, Massimo & Wild, Jorg, 2001. "Regional differences in electricity distribution costs and their consequences for yardstick regulation of access prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 477-488, July.
  12. Grosskopf, S. & Margaritis, D. & Valdmanis, V., 1995. "Estimating output substitutability of hospital services: A distance function approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 575-587, February.
  13. Burns, Philip & Weyman-Jones, Thomas G, 1996. "Cost Functions and Cost Efficiency in Electricity Distribution: A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 41-64, January.
  14. Rolf Fare & Shawna Grosskopf & William Weber, 2004. "The effect of risk-based capital requirements on profit efficiency in banking," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(15), pages 1731-1743.
  15. Kostas Tsekouras & Dimitris Skuras, 2005. "Productive efficiency and exports: an examination of alternative hypotheses for the Greek cement industry," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 279-291.
  16. Jamasb, T. & Pollitt, M., 2000. "Benchmarking and regulation: international electricity experience," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 107-130, September.
  17. Førsund, Finn R. & Kittelsen, Sverre A. C., 1998. "Productivity development of Norwegian electricity distribution utilities," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 207-224, September.
  18. Jamasb, Tooraj & Pollitt, Michael, 2003. "International benchmarking and regulation: an application to European electricity distribution utilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(15), pages 1609-1622, December.
  19. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
  20. Alejandra Mizala & Pilar Romaguera & Dario Farren, 2002. "The technical efficiency of schools in Chile," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(12), pages 1533-1552.
  21. Laure Latruffe & Kelvin Balcombe & Sophia Davidova & Katarzyna Zawalinska, 2004. "Determinants of technical efficiency of crop and livestock farms in Poland," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(12), pages 1255-1263.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.

as
in new window


Cited by:

  1. Lenka Š astná & Martin Gregor, 2011. "Local Government Efficiency: Evidence from the Czech Municipalities," Working Papers IES 2011/14, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised May 2011.
  2. Zakaria, Muhammad & Noureen, Rabia, 2016. "Benchmarking and regulation of power distribution companies in Pakistan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1095-1099.
  3. Jamasb, T. & Söderberg, M., 2009. "Yardstick and Ex-post Regulation by Norm Model: Empirical Equivalence, Pricing Effect, and Performance in Sweeden," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0908, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
  4. Galán, Jorge E. & Pollitt, Michael G., 2014. "Inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in Colombian electricity utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 31-44.
  5. repec:spr:jecstr:v:6:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40008-017-0073-z is not listed on IDEAS
  6. Cambini, Carlo & Croce, Annalisa & Fumagalli, Elena, 2014. "Output-based incentive regulation in electricity distribution: Evidence from Italy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 205-216.
  7. Astrid Cullmann & Christian von Hirschhausen, 2007. "From Transition to Competition: Dynamic Efficiency Analysis of Polish Electricity Distribution Companies," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 716, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  8. Löber, Gerrit & Staat, Matthias, 2010. "Integrating categorical variables in Data Envelopment Analysis models: A simple solution technique," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 202(3), pages 810-818, May.
  9. Çelen, Aydın & Yalçın, Neşe, 2012. "Performance assessment of Turkish electricity distribution utilities: An application of combined FAHP/TOPSIS/DEA methodology to incorporate quality of service," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 59-71.
  10. Tooraj Jamasb & Magnus Söderberg, 2010. "The Effects of Average Norm Model Regulation: The Case of Electricity Distribution in Sweden," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 36(3), pages 249-269, May.
  11. Astrid Cullmann & Hélène Crespo & Marie-Anne Plagnet, 2008. "International Benchmarking in Electricity Distribution: A Comparison of French and German Utilities," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 830, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  12. Cullmann, Astrid & Nieswand, Maria, 2015. "Regulation and Investment Incentives in Electricity Distribution," Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113090, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
  13. Geys, Benny & Moesen, Wim, 2008. "Measuring local government technical (in)efficiency: An application and comparison of FDH, DEA and econometric approaches," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Processes and Governance SP II 2008-21, Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB).
  14. Bönisch, Peter & Haug, Peter & Illy, Annette & Schreier, Lukas, 2011. "Municipality Size and Efficiency of Local Public Services: Does Size Matter?," IWH Discussion Papers 18/2011, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
  15. Kuosmanen, Timo, 2012. "Stochastic semi-nonparametric frontier estimation of electricity distribution networks: Application of the StoNED method in the Finnish regulatory model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2189-2199.
  16. Fatima S. Al Shamsi & Hassan Aly & Mohamed El-Bassiouni, 2009. "Measuring and explaining the efficiencies of the United Arab Emirates banking system," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(27), pages 3505-3519.
  17. Taniguchi, Mariko & Kaneko, Shinji, 2009. "Operational performance of the Bangladesh rural electrification program and its determinants with a focus on political interference," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2433-2439, June.
  18. Vishal Chandr Jaunky and Lin Zhang, 2016. "Convergence of Operational Efficiency in Chinas Provincial Power Sectors," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(China Spe).
  19. Jorge E. Galán & Michael G. Pollitt, 2014. "Inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in Colombian electricity distribution utilities," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1423, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
  20. Jaunky, Vishal Chandr, 2013. "Divergence in technical efficiency of electric utilities: Evidence from the SAPP," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 419-430.

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Access and download statistics

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:38:y:2006:i:21:p:2553-2566. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Michael McNulty)

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using RePEc data.