Ramón Fuentes

Smoothed bootstrap Malmquist index based on DEA model to compute productivity of tax offices

We study productivity of tax offices using DEA-based Malmquist Productivity Index.In addition a smoothed bootstrap technique is used to provide confidence intervals.Mann Whitney U test is utilised to study the influence of specific context variables.No evidence that population or number of municipalities affect productivity.Results reveal an increase in productivity due to technology and resource management. This paper analyses the productivity growth of the SUMA tax offices located in Spain evolved between 2004 and 2006 by using Malmquist Index based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. It goes a step forward by smoothed bootstrap procedure which improves the quality of the results by generalising the samples, so that the conclusions obtained from them can be applied in order to increase productivity levels. Additionally, the productivity effect is divided into two different components, efficiency and technological change, with the objective of helping to clarify the role played by either the managers or the level of technology in the final performance figures.

Productivity of travel agencies in Spain: the case of Alicante

The main objective of this study is to analyse the productivity of travel agencies located in Alicante (Spain) in order to obtain results that will complement other previous findings based on efficiency. Malmquist indices and the smoothed bootstrap method have been selected to carry out this analysis. In addition, the Mann–Whitney U test has been adopted to study the relationships between levels of productivity, ownership type, location and experience. In the light of this new perspective, the results do not present an optimistic view of the evolution of the economic activity of the agencies. Furthermore, some of the variables, such as location, have a different effect.

A three-stage DEA model to evaluate learning-teaching technical efficiency

The main objective is to evaluate learning-teaching technical efficiency.A three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis with contextual variables is used.Super efficiency between efficient units is examined.The key performance indicators and their influence have been identified.The results also reveal that contextual variables are significant. This study evaluates the technical efficiency of the learning-teaching process in higher education using a three-stage procedure that offers advances in comparison to previous studies and improves the quality of the results. First, it utilizes a multiple stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with contextual variables. Second, the levels of super efficiency are calculated in order to prioritize the efficiency units. And finally, through sensitivity analysis, the contribution of each key performance indicator (KPI) is established with respect to the efficiency levels without omission of variables. The analytical data was collected from a survey completed by 633 tourism students during the 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 academic course years. The results suggest that level of satisfaction with the course, diversity of materials and satisfaction with the teacher were the most important factors affecting teaching performance. Furthermore, the effect of the contextual variables was found to be significant.

Shadow prices of emerging pollutants in wastewater treatment plants: Quantification of environmental externalities

Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are designed to remove mainly the organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds and suspended solids from wastewater but are not capable of removing chemicals of human origin, such as pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). The presence of PPCPs in wastewater has environmental effects on the water bodies receiving the WWTP effluents and renders the effluent as unsuitable as a nonconventional water source. Considering PPCPs as non-desirable outputs, the shadow prices methodology has been implemented using the output distance function to measure the environmental benefits of removing five PPCPs (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, carbamazepine and trimethoprim) from WWTP effluents discharged to three different ecosystems (wetland, river and sea). Acetaminophen and ibuprofen show the highest shadow prices of the sample for wetland areas. Their values are 128.2 and 11.0 €/mg respectively. These results represent a proxy in monetary terms of the environmental benefit achieved from avoiding the discharge of these PPCPs in wetlands. These results suggest which PPCPs are urgent to remove from wastewater and which ecosystems are most vulnerable to their presence. The findings of this study will be useful for the plant managers in order to make decisions about prioritization in the removal of different pollutants.

Wiki and blog as teaching tools in tourism higher education

ABSTRACT The application of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to higher education is an essential element in the improvement of open and flexible teaching–learning. This is particularly important for students of tourism, a sector in which the relationship with technological processes and their everyday use is increasing. This article describes the experience of students of an “Introduction to Economics” in a tourism degree that was involved in this initiative. It is based on the information provided by a quantitative and qualitative survey to obtain the start profile of students, gender differences and mainly the attitude of students towards the use of the wiki and blog as educational tools. As a result, it is highlighted that the implementation of these technological teaching tools increases the interest and engagement of students with the subject.

Travel agencies in Alicante, Spain: a productivity analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide lines of action based on the results aimed at improving the future levels of productivity of the travel agencies in Alicante.Design/methodology/approach – Estimates of output‐oriented Malmquist Productivity Indices and the values of their components will be calculated. Furthermore, in order to avoid problems that may arise from these results (which are based on finite samples that are sensitive to sampling variations) bootstrapping techniques (smoothed bootstrap) are used. Lastly, the Mann‐Whitney‐U test is used in order to accept or reject the influence that different factors have on productivity levels.Findings – This study is a continuation of previous studies analysing the variation productivity of 22 travel agencies located in Alicante (Spain) over the period 2008‐2010. The results obtained from applying the afore‐mentioned methods do not provide substantially different conclusions to those obtained in previous studies. The authors can observe that th...

Monetary valuation of salicylic acid, methylparaben and THCOOH in a Mediterranean coastal wetland through the shadow prices methodology

The presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products and drugs of abuse (PPCPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) indicates discharge of the effluent may not be suitable for the ecological balance of water ecosystems, such as wetlands. These PPCPs degrade water quality, considered as an ecosystem service (ES), provoking serious environmental impacts. Assessing the monetary value of PPCPs can be used as a proxy for environmental status of the ES of water quality (ESWQ). Considering PPCPs as non-desirable outputs of WWTPs, the shadow prices methodology has been implemented using directional distance function to measure the environmental avoided cost of removing salicylic acid (SA), methylparaben (MP), and THCOOH from WWTPs effluents discharged to Albufera Natural Park (Spain). The SA shows the highest shadow price (138.16 €/μg), followed by THCOOH (48.15 €/μg), and MP (30.66 €/μg). These values are interpreted as the environmental cost that would be avoided if SA, MP, and THCOOH were removed from WWTPs effluents. The non-parametric tests show that wastewater treatment technology, together with population equivalent (as a proxy of the size of urban areas) and seasonality are factors that influence shadow prices obtained. The approach used in this study highlights the use of PPCPs as status indicators of ESWQ quantified in monetary units. As a way to synthesize the essential concepts to implement the shadow prices approach, this study proposes a flow diagram to represent the relationship between all the factors involved in this work. The use of shadow prices methodology proves that removing SA, MP, and THCOOH is associated with a measurable improvement in the ESWQ of Albufera Natural Park. The findings of this study will be useful for plant managers in order to make decisions about the removal of PPCPs in WWTPs effluents.