Harold O. Fried is Professor of Economics at Union College and David L. and Beverly B. Yunich Chair of Business Ethics.

C.A. Knox Lovell is Emeritus Professor of Economics at University of Georgia and Honorary Professor, School of Economics at University of Queensland.

"This is an excellent collection of book-length essays on the three main approaches to productivity and efficiency measurement: the econometric, the nonparametric, and the index number approach. The authors, who are experts in the various domains, succeed in providing highly readable surveys of the rich flow of literature that started in the late 1970s, and in giving introductions that are primarily aimed at newcomers but also interesting for experienced researchers. The many applications that are spread through the chapters give the reader a good idea of how to carry out performance assessment in practice. This book has a lot to offer a variety of readers."--Bert M. Balk, Statistics Netherlands and RSM Erasmus University

"Efficiency and productivity involve the 'best' use of scarce resources, which is the foundation of economic performance. The top specialists who have contributed to this volume unravel a fundamental but unresolved issue of economic performance--that extensive real-world variability in firms' economic performance belies the homogeneity implied by economic theory. They evaluate the pieces of the puzzle--inefficiencies involving technical, cost and revenue optimization--that cause firms to deviate from best-practice operation, and explain how such deviations can be measured and explained to further business performance and competitiveness. This is an excellent and comprehensive reference for any researcher interested in the analysis of economic performance, and the recent advances made and challenges still ahead in this field."--Catherine J. Morrison Paul, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis and member of the Giannini Foundation