Osman Zaim

Searching for a Kuznets curve in environmental efficiency using kernel estimation

Abstract The paper constructs environmental efficiency indexes for a sample consisting of high- and low-income countries using nonparametric production frontier techniques and then establishes an environmental Kuznets relationship for environmental efficiency by Nadaraya–Watson kernel estimation methodology.

Catching-up and innovation in high- and low-income countries

Abstract The study utilizes a variant of the Malmquist Productivity Index computed by nonparametric linear programming techniques to empirically investigate the catching-up hypothesis for a group of high- and low-income countries. The results show that the countries with low initial per capita income levels catch up at a faster rate while countries with relatively high income depend more on technological progress for their productivity increases.

The role of international trade on environmental efficiency: a DEA approach

Abstract The relationship between trade and environmental conditions receives considerable attention whenever countries are in the process of negotiating trade agreements. In this paper using a non-parametric non-stochastic production frontier approach, we first develop an environmental efficiency index for a sample of high income and low and middle income countries and then examine the role of trade on the changes in environmental efficiency. The paper shows that, in addition to the per capita income which exhibits an environmental Kuznets type relationship, trade-related variables such as trade composition, the share of polluting exports and openness of a country are important determinants of environmental efficiency.

Hyperbolic efficiency and return to the dollar

Abstract This paper, after establishing the relations between hyperbolic graph measure of technical efficiency and the radial measures of technical efficiency, shows that the dual, cost and revenue interpretation of the hyperbolic efficiency measure is related to Georgescu-Roegens notion of “return to the dollar” [N. Georgescu-Roegen, in: Koopmans, T. (Ed.), Activity Analysis of Production and Allocation, Wiley, New York, 1951, pp. 98–115]. Once this relation is established, it leads to a derivation of an allocative efficiency index, which measures the price distortions using data on observed costs and revenues without requiring information on prices.

Estimating the efficiency of the system of healthcare financing in achieving better health

This paper contributes to the effort to model and measure how the method of financing of health expenditure affects the efficiency with which better health can be achieved. The focus is on the health system efficiency at the country level, which provides an alternative to the work done in the WHO in this regard. The approach uses frontier techniques as in the WHO studies; however the paper appeals to the economic index number theory of quantity and productivity indexes, which have well-established axiomatic properties, and provides a means for aggregating multiple health output proxies without having to attach arbitrary weights. This allows the proposal of a specification that embeds health sector performance in a broader index of economic inputs and outputs and allows for comparisons across countries and time.

A Framework for Incorporating Environmental Indicators to the Measurement of Human Well-Being

The last decade has witnessed major improvements in the measurement of sustainable human development. Considerable time and research effort have been devoted to both extending the dimensions of the measurement and the methodology used to compute sustainable human development indices. Now, the measurement of human well-being is not only limited to economic indicators but also takes into account social, institutional and ecological background, thus utilizing over 130 indicators approved by the United Nations in April 1995 (UN 2001). Improvements in the data collection of indicators, while triggering the construction of indexes from a series of constituent indicators such as human development index (HDI) with component indicators on longevity, educational attainment and income, have also led to aggregation of indexes of different dimensions. As a typical example of the latter, one can cite Prescott-Allen’s (2001) human well-being index (HWI), which is an equal weighted average of the human well-being index and ecosystem well-being index (EWI), integrating two indices with social-economical and environmental dimensions.

Measuring the quality of life in European Union

This paper is aimed at measuring and comparing the quality of life in European Union (EU) and Turkey as an important candidate country on the process of integrating with the EU. Rather than using per capita income as a classical measure, this study uses social indicators of development as a measure of well‐being. Instead of using human development index (HDI) – an index commonly referred as “deprivation index” – we adopt the indices that are developed in Zaim, Fare and Grosskopf. The “achievement index” measures the success of a country in the provision of standard of life. On the other hand “improvement index” is used to measure the improvement of the country over time in terms of its life quality. The stated results suggest that Turkey should improve its quality of life on the way of integrating with the EU.

THE RURAL ECONOMY UNDER STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT AND FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION: Results of a Macro-Integrated Agricultural-Secter Model for Turkey

ABSTRACT The Macro-Integrated Agricultural-Sector modeling approach is introduced to analyze the economic effects of the post-1980 Turkish structural adjustment reform on the agricultural economy. The distinguishing feature of the model is its capability in addressing simultaneously the real and financial macro aggregates and the micro-sectoral detail of agriculture in a consistent fashion. The modeling analysis discloses that the Turkish mode of adjustment has typically relied on taxation of agricultural incomes, and suggests that an investment program based on reinvesting the rural surplus within the agricultural economy is a superior option.