This study proposes an estimate of eco-efficiency levels for a large sample of Italian polluting firms, operating in five different industrial sectors and subject to the same European normative framework. Emission data come from reliable public sources and a non-parametric directional distance function (DDF) is applied to estimate overall performance for what concerns pollution. In addition, the scarcity of data allows authors to apply a bootstrap methodology in order to improve the robustness of estimates. Industrial specificity has been controlled through second stage analysis based on the truncated regression framework by Simar and Wilson (2007). Our results show that both the financial structure and the technological issue of the firms have a significant explanatory power in relation to environmental performance and should be considered by policy makers for supporting eco-efficiency practices. In addition, results are also confirmed by the validity of separability conditions, tested on the basis of results suggested by Daraio et al. (2015; 2017).
A DDF bootstrapped framework for estimating eco-efficiency: The influence of the financial and technological structure in the Italian polluting industries
Falavigna G;Manello A
2018
Abstract
This study proposes an estimate of eco-efficiency levels for a large sample of Italian polluting firms, operating in five different industrial sectors and subject to the same European normative framework. Emission data come from reliable public sources and a non-parametric directional distance function (DDF) is applied to estimate overall performance for what concerns pollution. In addition, the scarcity of data allows authors to apply a bootstrap methodology in order to improve the robustness of estimates. Industrial specificity has been controlled through second stage analysis based on the truncated regression framework by Simar and Wilson (2007). Our results show that both the financial structure and the technological issue of the firms have a significant explanatory power in relation to environmental performance and should be considered by policy makers for supporting eco-efficiency practices. In addition, results are also confirmed by the validity of separability conditions, tested on the basis of results suggested by Daraio et al. (2015; 2017).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
