Chin Yi Fang

Environment-adjusted total-factor energy efficiency of Taiwan's service sectors

Abstract This study computes the pure technical efficiency (PTE) and energy-saving target of Taiwans service sectors during 2001–2008 by using the input-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach with the assumption of a variable returns-to-scale (VRS) situation. This paper further investigates the effects of industry characteristics on the energy-saving target by applying the four-stage DEA proposed by Fried et al. (1999). We also calculate the pre-adjusted and environment-adjusted total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) scores in these service sectors. There are three inputs (labor, capital stock, and energy consumption) and a single output (real GDP) in the DEA model. The most energy efficient service sector is finance, insurance and real estate, which has an average TFEE of 0.994 and an environment-adjusted TFEE (EATFEE) of 0.807. The study utilizes the panel-data, random-effects Tobit regression model with the energy-saving target (EST) as the dependent variable. Those service industries with a larger GDP output have greater excess use of energy. The capital–labor ratio has a significantly positive effect while the time trend variable has a significantly negative impact on the EST, suggesting that future new capital investment should also be accompanied with energy-saving technology in the service sectors.

Do market share and efficiency matter for each other? An application of the zero-sum gains data envelopment analysis

Current studies that use traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) neglect the 100% market share restriction. This study adopts zero-sum gains data envelopment analysis to measure the efficiency scores of securities firms (SFs) and indicates that the traditional DEA model underestimates the efficiency scores of inefficient SFs. This research analyses 266 integrated securities firms in Taiwan from 2001 to 2005 and employs three inputs (fixed assets, financial capital, and general expenses) and a single output (market share). The foreign-affiliated ownership of SFs positively affects the efficiency scores. The two-stage least squares procedure confirms that the market share and efficiency score simultaneously reinforce each other.

Does using an à la carte or combo set menu affect the performance of a teppanyaki‐style restaurant?

Purpose – The purpose of this study is threefold: to use an innovative metafrontier‐to‐data‐envelopment analysis (MDEA) model incorporating multiple outputs and inputs – including the item revenue, gross profit, food costs, time‐driven labor costs, and other operating expenses (OOEs) – to distinguish four quadrants based on efficiency and profit to offer different strategies to the restaurateur under study; to compare the proficiency levels of the different meal categories of the a la carte and combo set menus using the metatechnology ratio (MTR) via the MDEA; and to use slack‐based analyses with simulation to improve the financial performance of a teppanyaki‐style restaurant.Design/methodology/approach – Six months of point of sale (POS) data are obtained from a teppanyaki‐style restaurant. The proposed inputs are categorized into total food costs, total labor cost, the number of processes, and OOEs. Two outputs (total revenue and gross profit) are used to assess the efficiency of the menu items. The MTR...

An Efficiency-Based Metafrontier Approach To Menu Analysis:

The decision about which dishes should appear on the menu is crucial to attracting customers and maximizing restaurant profitability. There is a paucity of empirical research on quantifying the effects of particular menu items on the efficiency of a restaurant. The present research used an innovative metafrontier-to-data-envelopment analysis method to aid decision making when distinguishing between desirable, improved, and undesirable menu items by efficiency measurements to increase a restaurant’s profitability. The metatechnology ratio obtained via the metafrontier approach compared the technology level in different meal periods. The results, based on real data gathered during 3 months from two same-brand units of a chain restaurant, show that the efficiency of the metafrontier-to-data-envelopment analysis method increased the profitability of the restaurants by more than 15% compared with the traditional menu-engineering method. The metatechnology ratios also identified that the skill level differed between the meal periods, which was because of the presence of different operators. Managerial and strategic implications for menu planners and future research are described.

Did the financial crisis and policy deregulation for Chinese tourists affect the efficiency and output slacks of taiwanese hotels

The financial crisis of 2008 caused the economic recession. In addition, restrictions on Chinese tourists to Taiwan were relaxed in July of 2008. The paper was to examine whether the financial crisis or the deregulation of Chinese tourists affected the performance of hotels in Taiwan. A metafrontier approach to data envelopment analysis (MDEA) was used in this paper to estimate the efficiency scores and metatechnology ratios (MTRs) of 84–99 international tourism hotels (ITHs) and standard tourism hotels (STHs) in Taiwan during the period ranging from 2005 to 2010. The results indicated that the MTR of ITHs with more service facilities was worse than that of STHs with specialised room revenue during the economic downturn. After the Chinese tourists policy deregulation, the MTR of ITH had increasingly outperformed that of STH. A truncated regression with a bootstrap procedure had examined the impact of macroeconomic and microeconomic variables on hotel efficiency and output slacks. In addition to the insignificant effects of the financial crisis on the efficiency of Taiwanese hotels, China/Taiwan tourism policy deregulation had a favourable influence on hotel efficiency, but mainly benefited on the occupancy rate, and unfavourable impact on the room revenue.

Exploring the determinants of attendance in the Chinese professional baseball league

Abstract Purpose: This study examines the factors that contributed to the decline of attendance in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. Without major national or international corporate interest and support, ticket prices and attendance rates are critical to the economic profitability of the CPBL teams. Moreover, given that ticket prices are unlikely to change dramatically in Taiwan, the attendance acts as a major proxy to ball clubs earning performance. Methods: This study uses unbalanced panel regression tests to perform the examinations. Three estimation methods (pooled ordinary least square, fixed effects and random effects) are tested and performed to ensure that all estimation results are unbiased. Results: Panel regression test results show that the game-fixing scandals in 1997 and 2008 had a significantly negative impact on CPBL attendance. In addition, the influences of real GDP per capita and the Major League Baseball (MLB) effect on the CPBL attendance were also significantly negative. Conclusion: The test results imply that the CPBL game in Taiwan is an inferior good and the change in ticket price has insignificantly positive effect on attendance. Empirical findings offer useful information and implications for league authority, team owners in the CPBL and the government.

Facebook marketing campaign benchmarking for a franchised hotel

This study aims to develop a performance evaluation model for Facebook (FB) marketing campaigns (FBMCs) for a franchised hotel, distinguish four quadrants based on efficiency and customer attention and suggest improvements for inefficient FBMCs based on the slack value analysis.,The paper applied the elaboration likelihood model to select three inputs (text, picture and color) and three outputs (number of people reached; reactions, comments and shares; and clicks on post) based on the literature and expert opinions to assess 60 FBMCs for hotels through data envelopment analysis and a robustness test. The four-quadrant analysis (benchmark, improvements in efficiency and customer attention and fade-out) provides suggestions for underperforming FBMCs.,The results indicate that the efficiency of the greeting FBMCs is better than that of the event and promotion FBMCs. The projection of input value analysis showed that an average of 50 words, one picture and six colors is the benchmark of FBMCs.,Sixty FBMCs for the same franchised hotel were examined. Further research could extend this model to different hotels for generalization.,The findings suggest that developing shorter text lengths, concise photos and colors of greeting messages on FB could be efficient for FBMCs.,This paper contributes in assessing the performance of FBMCs to identify the benchmark FBMCs with the higher efficiency and more customer attention for a franchised hotel.

Meal Category Analysis: An Application of the Metafrontier Approach

This study contributes to the literature on menu analysis by applying metafrontier-to-data envelopment analysis (MDEA) to the restaurant industry. MDEA, incorporating multiple outputs and inputs, was used to distinguish retainable, improved and undesirable items on a menu, and to identify differences in the proficiency level among heterogeneous meal categories based on the metatechnology ratio (MTR). The findings indicate that the MTR of meal categories (entrées and appetizers) prepared in each restaurant was inferior to the value of meal categories produced in a central kitchen. Slack-based improvements suggested from MDEA can improve the efficiency of menu items.

Managerial efficiency of securities firms under the law-induced financial holding companies in Taiwan

Taiwans government has been actively promoting financial holding companies (FHCs), which offer various services including banking and securities. This paper investigates the effects of an FHC on the managerial efficiency of its integrated securities firm (ISF) subsidiary. A panel dataset during 2002–2005 of twelve to fourteen ISFs in Taiwan is constructed, whereby seven of them are affiliated with FHCs. The four-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) proposed by Fried et al. (1999) is then applied. The empirical findings are: (1) The securities subsidiaries under the law-induced FHCs are not the efficient ISFs in Taiwan. An FHC has a significantly negative effect on the managerial efficiency of an ISF. (2) A higher duration of an ISF also significantly improves its efficiency. (3) Forming FHCs imposes a threat and creates the incentives for efficiency increasing in the securities industry.

Does Board Size Matter for Taiwanese Hotel Performance? Agency Theory or Resource Dependence Theory

Due to the fast growing hotel industry in Taiwan, recent hospitality studies has paid attention to how various factors affect the Taiwanese hotel performance and offered interesting and valuable findings. To expand the financial literature of the Taiwanese hotel industry and the hospitality literature as a whole, this article is the first hospitality study to investigate how board size affects firm performance of publicly traded hotels in Taiwan. Panel regression test results reveal an interesting finding. Specifically, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between board size and hotel performance in terms of return on assets, return on equity, and Tobin’s Q with an optimal value of board size equal to 10. This indicates that while board size up to 10 has a positive impact on hotel performance (supporting the resource dependence theory), board size can deteriorate hotel performance when it is larger than 10 (supporting the agency theory).