Current Search: data envelopment analysis (x)
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- Title
- Real Estate Investment Trust Performance, Efficiency and Internationalization.
- Creator
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Harris, Joshua, Anderson, Randy, Schnitzlein, Charles, Turnbull, Geoffrey, Rottke, Nico, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are firms that own and manage income producing commercial real estate for the benefit of their shareholders. The three studies in this dissertation explore topics relating to best practices of REIT management and portfolio composition. Managers and investors can use the findings herein to aide in analyzing a REIT's performance and determining optimal investment policies. Utilizing REIT from SNL Real Estate and CRSP, the first two studies examine the role...
Show moreReal Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are firms that own and manage income producing commercial real estate for the benefit of their shareholders. The three studies in this dissertation explore topics relating to best practices of REIT management and portfolio composition. Managers and investors can use the findings herein to aide in analyzing a REIT's performance and determining optimal investment policies. Utilizing REIT from SNL Real Estate and CRSP, the first two studies examine the role of international diversification upon performance, technical efficiency, and scale efficiency. The third study utilizes REIT data to examine technical and scale efficiency over a 21 year window and investigates characteristics of the REITs that affect the levels of efficiency. CHAPTER 1 (-) PROFITABILITY OF REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST INTERNATIONALIZATIONReal Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in the United States have grown extremely fast in terms of assets and market capitalization since the early 1990's. As with many industries, U.S. REITs began acquiring foreign properties as their size grew and they needed to seek new investment opportunities. This paper investigates the role of holding foreign assets upon the total return of U.S. based REITs from 1995 through 2010. We find that holding foreign properties in associated with negative relative performance when risk, size, and other common market factors are controlled for. Interestingly, the source of the negative performance is not related to the two largest areas for foreign investment, Europe and Canada. Instead, the negative performance is detected when a REIT begins acquiring properties in other global regions such as Latin America and Asia/Pacific. This paper has broad ramifications for REIT investors and managers alike.CHAPTER 2 (-) EFFECT OF INTERNATIONAL DIVERSIFICATION BY U.S. REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS ON COST EFFICIENCY AND SCALEAs U.S. based Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have increased their degree and type of holdings overseas, there has yet to a study that has investigated such activity on the REIT's measures of cost efficiency and scale. Using data from 2010, Data Envelopment Analysis techniques are used to estimate measures of technical and scale efficiency that are then regressed against measures of international diversification and other controls to measure the impact of this global expansion. It is determined that REITs with foreign holdings are significantly larger than domestic REITs and are correspondingly 96% of foreign investing REITs are operating at decreasing returns to scale. Further almost every measure of foreign diversification is negative and significantly impacting scale efficiency. However, simply being a REIT with foreign holdings did positively and significantly associate with higher levels of technical efficiencies. Thus REITs that expand globally may have some advantages in operational efficiency but lose considerably in terms of scale efficiency by increasing their size as they move cross-border. ?CHAPTER 3 (-) THE EVOLUTION OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND ECONOMIES OF SCALE OF REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTSData Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to measure technical and scale efficiency of 21 years of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) data. This is the longest, most complete dataset ever analyzed in the REIT efficiency literature and as such makes a significant contribution as prior efficiency studies' data windows end in the early 2000's at latest. Overall, REITs appear to continue to operate at decreasing returns to scale despite rapid growth in total assets. Further, there is some evidence of improving technical efficiency overtime; however the finding is not strong. In summation, it appears that REITs have not improved on a relative basis despite the rapid growth, a finding that suggests a potential of a high degree of firm competition in the REIT industry. Finally, firm characteristics such as debt utilization, management and advisory structure, and property type specialization are tested for their impact upon technical and scale efficiency.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004383, ucf:49399
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004383
- Title
- POLICE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA:CONFIRMATORY ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN STRUCTURE TO PERFORMANCE.
- Creator
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Goltz, Jeffrey, Wan, Thomas, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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To date, police organizations have not been rigorously analyzed by organizational scholars and most analysis of these organizations has been captured through a single construct. The purpose of this study is to develop confirmatory police organizational analysis by validating a multi-dimensional conceptual framework that explains the relationships among three constructs: environmental constraints, the design structures of police organizations, and organizational performance indicators. The...
Show moreTo date, police organizations have not been rigorously analyzed by organizational scholars and most analysis of these organizations has been captured through a single construct. The purpose of this study is to develop confirmatory police organizational analysis by validating a multi-dimensional conceptual framework that explains the relationships among three constructs: environmental constraints, the design structures of police organizations, and organizational performance indicators. The modeling is deeply rooted in contingency theory, and the influence of isomorphism and institutional theory on the covariance structure model are investigated. One hundred and thirteen local police organizations from the State of Florida are included in this non-experimental, cross-sectional study to determine the direct effect of the environmental constraints on the performance of police organizations, the indirect effect of environmental constraints on the performance of police organizations via the organizational design structure of police organizations, and the direct affect of organizational design structure on performance of police organizations. For the first time, structural equation modeling and data envelopment analysis are used together to confirm the effects of the environment on police organization structure and performance. The results indicate that environmental social economic disparity indicators have a large positive effect on police resources and a medium effect on police efficiency. Propensity of crime indicators has a large negative effect on police resources, and population density has a small to medium negative effect on crime clearance. Structure has a much smaller effect on performance than the environment. The results of the efficiency analysis revealed unexpected findings. Three of the top five largest police organizations in the study scored maximum efficiency. The cause of this unexpected result is explained and confirmed in the covariance model. The study methodology and results enhances the understanding of the relationship among the constructs while subjecting environmental and police organizational data to two comprehensive analytical techniques. The policy implications and practical contributions of the study provide new knowledge and information to organizational management of police organizations. Furthermore, the study establishes a new approach to police organizational analysis and police services management research called Police Services Management Research (PSMR) that encompasses a variety of disciplines with a primary responsibility of theory building and the selection of theoretical framework.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001363, ucf:47000
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001363
- Title
- INTEGRATING THEORY, PRACTICE AND POLICY: THE TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF FLORIDA'S CIRCUIT COURTS.
- Creator
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Ferrandino, Joseph, Wan, Thomas T.H., University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In 1998, Florida voters approved Article V, Revision 7, which changed the funding mechanism of the state circuit court system from a county/state mix to state responsibility. The change was implemented as planned in the 2004/05 fiscal year. Although increased efficiency was a key goal of Revision 7, to date no published studies exist on the impacts of Revision 7 on circuit or system efficiency and/or productivity. This work analyzes Revision 7, integrating the larger debate of increasing...
Show moreIn 1998, Florida voters approved Article V, Revision 7, which changed the funding mechanism of the state circuit court system from a county/state mix to state responsibility. The change was implemented as planned in the 2004/05 fiscal year. Although increased efficiency was a key goal of Revision 7, to date no published studies exist on the impacts of Revision 7 on circuit or system efficiency and/or productivity. This work analyzes Revision 7, integrating the larger debate of increasing judgeships or improving efficiency.The study is a full performance analysis of the Florida circuit courts from 1993 through 2008 that can benchmark the system's future efficiency and productivity. In that respect, top performers are identified. The study follows the evolution of court studies from their rational origins to the more recent orientation of open-natural systems. Resource dependency and institutional theory, two open-natural system frameworks, are utilized to predict that Florida's circuit courts have become more efficient over the period since the implementation of Revision 7. The efficiency outcomes are expected to be unequal across circuit sizes. Integrating a Florida debate to a larger one that transcends time and culture, productivity changes are expected to be a function of the number of judges that a circuit adds within a given year, controlling for other factors. The results of the study methodologies--data envelopment analysis, Malmquist Productivity Index, hierarchal regression analysis and analysis of covariance--reveal that only 3 of 300 DMU's in Florida are technically efficient; the mean IOTA score is .76. The Florida circuits did not improve efficiency and productivity as expected, in fact becoming significantly less efficient over time as a function of Revision 7. Small and medium-sized circuits lost efficiency, large circuits showed no change and there was a significant interaction between circuit size and Revision 7 period. Within the system overall, productivity fell by 2.7%, most noticeably in the small and medium-sized circuits. The number of judges a circuit added explained 32.2% of the variance in total factor productivity change. The largest system productivity losses followed both Revision 7 intervention years and the addition of the most judges in a single year. Analysis of covariance revealed that productivity increased only when no judges were added to a circuit, regardless of circuit size or time period (+2.6%). The addition of a single judge reduced average productivity by 8.6%; adding two judges reduced productivity by 10.5% and adding 3 or more judges reduced productivity by 16.2%. As judges were added, productivity declined in circuits of all sizes, but the drop was more pronounced in the small and medium-sized circuits. None of the circuits showed an increase in productivity from 1993 to 2008. Revision 7 has not increased circuit court efficiency or productivity in Florida. It is recommended that efficiency and productivity analyses be included in resource allocation decisions such as adding judgeships. More data on court structures and process are needed. Efficiency and productivity measures show that the current level of circuit court judgeships is sufficient.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003457, ucf:52888
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003457
- Title
- Defining a Stakeholder-Relative Model to Measure Academic Department Efficiency at Achieving Quality in Higher Education.
- Creator
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Robinson, Federica, Sepulveda, Jose, Reilly, Charles, Nazzal, Dima, Armacost, Robert, Feldheim, Mary, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In a time of strained resources and dynamic environments, the importance of effective and efficient systems is critical. This dissertation was developed to address the need to use feedback from multiple stakeholder groups to define quality and assess an entity's efficiency at achieving such quality.A decision support model with applicability to diverse domains was introduced to outline the approach. Three phases, (1) quality model development, (2) input-output selection and (3) relative...
Show moreIn a time of strained resources and dynamic environments, the importance of effective and efficient systems is critical. This dissertation was developed to address the need to use feedback from multiple stakeholder groups to define quality and assess an entity's efficiency at achieving such quality.A decision support model with applicability to diverse domains was introduced to outline the approach. Three phases, (1) quality model development, (2) input-output selection and (3) relative efficiency assessment, captured the essence of the process which also delineates the approach per tool applied. This decision support model was adapted in higher education to assess academic departmental efficiency at achieving stakeholder-relative quality. Phase 1 was accomplished through a three round, Delphi-like study which involved user group refinement. Those results were compared to the criteria of an engineering accreditation body (ABET) to support the model's validity to capture quality in the College of Engineering (&) Computer Science, its departments and programs. In Phase 2 the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to the validated model to quantify the perspective of students, administrators, faculty and employers (SAFE). Using the composite preferences for the collective group (n=74), the model was limited to the top 7 attributes which accounted for about 55% of total preferences. Data corresponding to the resulting variables, referred to as key performance indicators, was collected using various information sources and infused in the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology (Phase 3). This process revealed both efficient and inefficient departments while offering transparency of opportunities to maximize quality outputs. Findings validate the potential of the Delphi-like, analytic hierarchical, data envelopment analysis approach for administrative decision-making in higher education. However, the availability of more meaningful metrics and data is required to adapt the model for decision making purposes. Several recommendations were included to improve the usability of the decision support model and future research opportunities were identified to extend the analyses inherent and apply the model to alternative areas.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004921, ucf:49636
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004921
- Title
- Sustainability Analysis of Intelligent Transportation Systems.
- Creator
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Ercan, Tolga, Tatari, Mehmet, Al-Deek, Haitham, Oloufa, Amr, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Commuters in urban areas suffer from traffic congestion on a daily basis. The increasing number of vehicles and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are exacerbating this congested roadway problem for society. Although literature contains numerous studies that strive to propose solutions to this congestion problem, the problem is still prevalent today. Traffic congestion problem affects society's quality of life socially, economically, and environmentally. In order to alleviate the unsustainable...
Show moreCommuters in urban areas suffer from traffic congestion on a daily basis. The increasing number of vehicles and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are exacerbating this congested roadway problem for society. Although literature contains numerous studies that strive to propose solutions to this congestion problem, the problem is still prevalent today. Traffic congestion problem affects society's quality of life socially, economically, and environmentally. In order to alleviate the unsustainable impacts of the congested roadway problem, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) has been utilized to improve sustainable transportation systems in the world. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the sustainable impacts and performance of the utilization of ITS in the United States. This thesis advances the body of knowledge of sustainability impacts of ITS related congestion relief through a triple bottom line (TBL) evaluation in the United States. TBL impacts analyze from a holistic perspective, rather than considering only the direct economic benefits. A critical approach to this research was to include both the direct and the indirect environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with the chain of supply paths of traffic congestion relief. To accomplish this aim, net benefits of ITS implementations are analyzed in 101 cities in the United States. In addition to the state level results, seven metropolitan cities in Florida are investigated in detail among these 101 cities. For instance, the results of this study indicated that Florida saved 1.38 E+05 tons of greenhouse gas emissions (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), $420 million of annual delay reduction costs, and $17.2 million of net fuel-based costs. Furthermore, to quantify the relative impact and sustainability performance of different ITS technologies, several ITS solutions are analyzed in terms of total costs (initial and operation (&) maintenance costs) and benefits (value of time, emissions, and safety). To account for the uncertainty in benefit and cost analyses, a fuzzy-data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology is utilized instead of the traditional DEA approach for sustainability performance analysis. The results using the fuzzy-DEA approach indicate that some of the ITS investments are not efficient compared to other investments where as all of them are highly effective investments in terms of the cost/benefit ratios approach. The TBL results of this study provide more comprehensive picture of socio-economic benefits which include the negative and indirect indicators and environmental benefits for ITS related congestion relief. In addition, sustainability performance comparisons and TBL analysis of ITS investments contained encouraging results to support decision makers to pursue ITS projects in the future.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004994, ucf:49549
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004994
- Title
- EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF ANIMAL SHELTERS: AN APPLICATION OF DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS.
- Creator
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Heyde, Brandy, Reilly, Charles, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The focus of this thesis is the application of data envelopment analysis to understand and evaluate the performance of diverse animal welfare organizations across the United States. The results include identification of the most efficient animal welfare organizations, at least among those that post statistics on their operations, and a discussion of various partnerships that may improve the performance of the more inefficient organizations. The Humane Society of the United States estimates...
Show moreThe focus of this thesis is the application of data envelopment analysis to understand and evaluate the performance of diverse animal welfare organizations across the United States. The results include identification of the most efficient animal welfare organizations, at least among those that post statistics on their operations, and a discussion of various partnerships that may improve the performance of the more inefficient organizations. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that there are 4000 - 6000 independently-run animal shelters across the United States, with an estimated 6-8 million companion animals entering them each year. Unfortunately, more than half of these animals are euthanized. The methods shared in this research illustrate how data envelopment analysis may help shelters improve these statistics through evaluation and cooperation. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is based on the principle that the efficiency of an organization depends on its ability to transform its inputs into the desired outputs. The result of a DEA model is a single measure that summarizes the relative efficiency of each decision making unit (DMU) when compared with similar organizations. The DEA linear program defines an efficiency frontier with the most efficient animal shelters that are put into the model that "envelops" the other DMUs. Individual efficiency scores are calculated by determining how close each DMU is to reaching the frontier. The results shared in this research focus on the performance of 15 animal shelters. Lack of standardized data regarding individual animal shelter performance limited the ability to review a larger number of shelters and provide more robust results. Various programs are in place within the United States to improve the collection and availability of individual shelter performance. Specifically, the Asilomar Accords provide a strong framework for doing this and could significantly reduce euthanasia of companion animals if more shelters would adopt the practice of collecting and reporting their data in this format. It is demonstrated in this research that combining performance data with financial data within the data envelopment analysis technique can be powerful in helping shelters identify how to better deliver results. The addition of data from other organizations will make the results even more robust and useful for each shelter involved.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002101, ucf:47557
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002101
- Title
- Assessing the Impact of Economies of Scale and Uncontrollable Factors on the Performance of U.S. Cities.
- Creator
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Allaf, Mamoon, Martin, Lawrence, Wan, Thomas, Kapucu, Naim, Baker, Paul, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Despite the increased interest among local governments in collecting data on performance measurement, empirical evidence is still limited regarding the extent to which these data are utilized to assess the impact on efficiency of economies of scale and uncontrollable factors. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a linear programming method designed to estimate the relative efficiency of decision-making units. In addition to assessing relative efficiency, DEA can estimate scale efficiency and...
Show moreDespite the increased interest among local governments in collecting data on performance measurement, empirical evidence is still limited regarding the extent to which these data are utilized to assess the impact on efficiency of economies of scale and uncontrollable factors. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a linear programming method designed to estimate the relative efficiency of decision-making units. In addition to assessing relative efficiency, DEA can estimate scale efficiency and incorporate the impact of uncontrollable factors. Using data from the International City/County Association (ICMA), this study utilized DEA to evaluate the impact of economies of scale and uncontrollable factors on the relative efficiency of municipal service delivery in the United States. The findings from this doctoral dissertation show that uncontrollable variables such as population density, unemployment, and household income suppress the relative efficiency of local governments. Moreover, the findings imply that the prevalence of economies of scale in city governments depends on the types of services these governments provide.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004201, ucf:49002
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004201