IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v38y2004i5p383-404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Operational efficiency versus financial mobility in the global airline industry: a data envelopment and Tobit analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Scheraga, Carl A.

Abstract

The events of September 11th, 2001 precipitated an almost unprecedented financial crisis for the world airline industry. However, it is not clear that these events represent a discrete, industry disruption or whether, in fact, airlines were already entering a period of economic challenges that would demand new strategic orientations on their part. This study investigates the structural drivers of operational efficiency as well as the financial posture of airlines on the eve of September 11th. A sample of 38 airlines from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East was utilized to investigate whether relative operational efficiency implied superior financial mobility (as defined by Donaldson). Data envelopment analysis was utilized to derive efficiency scores for individual airlines. The underlying structural drivers of efficiency were then investigated. It was found that the traditional framework developed in the literature still provided reasonable explanatory power for realized relative operational efficiency. However, the second stage of the analysis found that relative operational efficiency did not inherently imply superior financial mobility. As such, airlines that had chosen relatively efficient operational strategies found themselves in positions of vulnerability with regard to financial mobility and thus suffered the consequences in the post-September 11th environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Scheraga, Carl A., 2004. "Operational efficiency versus financial mobility in the global airline industry: a data envelopment and Tobit analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 383-404, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:38:y:2004:i:5:p:383-404
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965-8564(04)00012-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul Hewson & Keming Yu, 2008. "Quantile regression for binary performance indicators," Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(5), pages 401-418, September.
    2. Hasan, Iftekhar & Lozano-Vivas, Ana, 2002. "Organizational Form and Expense Preference: Spanish Experience," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 135-150, April.
    3. Lundgren, Tommy & Marklund, Per-Olov & Zhang, Shanshan, 2016. "Industrial energy demand and energy efficiency – Evidence from Sweden," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 130-152.
    4. Subhash C. Ray, 2004. "A Simple Statistical Test of Violation of the Weak Axiom of Cost Minimization," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 111-121, January.
    5. Raushan Bokusheva & Lukáš Čechura & Subal C. Kumbhakar, 2023. "Estimating persistent and transient technical efficiency and their determinants in the presence of heterogeneity and endogeneity," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 450-472, June.
    6. António Afonso & Ana Patricia Montes & José M. Domínguez, 2024. "Measuring Tax Burden Efficiency in OECD Countries: An International Comparison," CESifo Working Paper Series 11333, CESifo.
    7. Barros, Carlos Pestana & Williams, Jonathan, 2013. "The random parameters stochastic frontier cost function and the effectiveness of public policy: Evidence from bank restructuring in Mexico," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 98-108.
    8. Khanal, Aditya & Koirala, Krishna & Regmi, Madhav, 2016. "Do Financial Constraints Affect Production Efficiency in Drought Prone Areas? A Case from Indonesian Rice Growers," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 230087, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    9. Wu, Yanrui, 1995. "The productive efficiency of Chinese iron and steel firms A stochastic frontier analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 215-222, September.
    10. Valeriy Makarov & Albert Bakhtizin, 2014. "The Estimation Of The Regions’ Efficiency Of The Russian Federation Including The Intellectual Capital, The Characteristics Of Readiness For Innovation, Level Of Well-Being, And Quality Of Life," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(4), pages 9-30.
    11. Kui-Wai Li & Tung Liu & Lihong Yun, 2007. "Technology Progress, Efficiency, and Scale of Economy in Post-reform China," Working Papers 200701, Ball State University, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2007.
    12. Firna Varina & Sri Hartoyo & Nunung Kusnadi & Amzul Rifin, 2020. "The Determinants of Technical Efficiency of Oil Palm Smallholders in Indonesia," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 89-93.
    13. Rossi, Martín, 2000. "Análisis de eficiencia aplicado a la regulación ¿Es importante la Distribución Elegida para el Término de Ineficiencia?," UADE Textos de Discusión 22_2000, Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
    14. Chen, Yufeng & Ni, Liangfu & Liu, Kelong, 2021. "Does China's new energy vehicle industry innovate efficiently? A three-stage dynamic network slacks-based measure approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    15. Mochebelele, Motsamai T. & Winter-Nelson, Alex, 2000. "Migrant Labor and Farm Technical Efficiency in Lesotho," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 143-153, January.
    16. Dhehibi, Boubaker & Lachaal, Lassaad & Elloumi, Mohamed & Messaoud, Emna B., 2007. "Measurement and Sources of Technical Inefficiency in the Tunisian Citrus Growing Sector," 103rd Seminar, April 23-25, 2007, Barcelona, Spain 9391, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Stephen M. Miller & Terrence M. Clauretie & Thomas M. Springer, 2006. "Economies Of Scale And Cost Efficiencies: A Panel‐Data Stochastic‐Frontier Analysis Of Real Estate Investment Trusts," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 74(4), pages 483-499, July.
    18. Anthony Rezitis & Kostas Tsiboukas & Stauros Tsoukalas, 2002. "Measuring technical efficiency in the Greek agricultural sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(11), pages 1345-1357.
    19. Fabiana Rocha & Igor Viveiros Souza, 2007. "Reajuste De Preços Na Indústria Farmacêutica Brasileira E O Fator X: Uma Avaliação Usando O Método De Fronteiras Estocásticas," Anais do XXXV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 35th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 041, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    20. Rosen Azad Chowdhury & Dilshad Jahan & Tapas Mishra & Mamata Parhi, 2023. "A Quality Dimension? A Re-appraisal of Financial Development and Economic Growth Nexus in a Quality-Quantity Setting," Working Papers 2023-02, Swansea University, School of Management.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:38:y:2004:i:5:p:383-404. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.