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33rd Academic Salon for Ph.D. Students in Theoretical Economics: Estimation of a Smooth-Coefficient Stochastic Production Function with Panel Data & Non- and Semi-parametric Methods

2017-07-10  

     June 26 saw the 5th Academic Salon for Ph.D. Students in Theoretical Economics in 2017 (the 33rd in history) held by the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU) at Maoshuli Café near the West Gate of SZU. Prof. Yao Feng, an associate professor of Economics from the West Virginia University and a visiting professor at the CCSEZR, delivered an informative speech titled “Estimation of a Smooth-Coefficient Stochastic Production Function with Panel Data & Non- and Semi-parametric Methods”. The salon was presided over by CCSEZR associate professor Li Fan and attended by some teachers and graduate students from the CCSEZR and the College of Economics, SZU.

      Prof. Yao Feng brought in the theme of the salon “efficiency” with an example - improving dining efficiency. Technical efficiency denotes a firm’s ability to produce the maximum output from fixed inputs. If a firm’s effective technical efficiency is 1, it reaches full efficiency. Considering that the production possibility curve of a fully efficient firm is defined as the production possibility frontier, how can we improve enterprises’ productivity through precise estimation of technical efficiency? After combing through related literature, Prof. Yao Feng discovered that the efficiencies among the US manufacturing enterprises vary diversely, even more so in India and China. During his speech, Prof. Yao Feng shed systematic light on the major dimensions of efficiency measurement: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Prof. Yao Feng’s research has broadened the spectrum of the SFA method, brought in non-parametric coefficient estimation, and accentuated the influence of samples around a point estimate on the determination of such point estimate. During the Q & A session, teachers and students were engaged in the discussion of such topics as data stationarity, sample selection, and the application scope of mathematical models. Prof. Yao Feng explained, in plain language, the differences between classic methods and new models in the results of empirical analysis on specific issues.

      Following the speech, Prof. Li Fan gave her remarkable comments on Prof. Yao’s speech, encouraging students to apply non- and semi-parametric methods in an empirical manner. The salon was successfully concluded amidst thunderous applause.

(Correspondent: Wu Songbin)

 

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Prof. Yao Feng delivers an informative speech

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CCSEZR associate professor Li Fan presides over the salon

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 Scene at the academic salon for Ph.D. students


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 The Q & A session of the salon