| dc.description.abstract | This study uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate the technical efficiency of Taiwan′s construction industry manufacturers in 2006, and uses the Tobit Model to analyze the impact of domestic and foreign technology purchases, employee training expenditures, online purchases or sales, and factory age on technical efficiency. The results of the research can provide reference for the subsequent improvement of operating efficiency of Taiwan′s construction industry. In addition to the entire sample, this study also divides the size of the manufacturers into three groups based on the number of employees, and further analyzes under different scale, whether the factors affecting the technical efficiency of the manufacturers would be different.
On the first stage, according to the estimation from the results of DEA technical efficiency, this study found that under the assumption of constant returns to scale (CRS), the average technical efficiency of all samples is 0.145 (CRS_TE), and under the assumption of variable returns to scale (VRS), 0.155 (VRS_TE). Compared with large-scale manufacturers, the technical efficiency of small and medium-sized manufacturers is significantly higher.
On the second stage, the Tobit Model regression analysis is used. The estimation of the results shows that the most important variable that affects the technical efficiency of construction companies is the expenses on employee training, which consistently presents a significantly positive impact on all samples and manufacturers of all sizes. As for the variables of technology purchase, it has a significantly positive correlation with the technical efficiency of medium-sized manufacturers. The two variables, online procurement or sales, and plant age, have no obvious relevance to the technical efficiency of construction manufacturers. | en_US |