Climate Zone Crucial for Efficiency of Ski Lift Operators

Falk, Martin and Hagsten, Eva (2017): Climate Zone Crucial for Efficiency of Ski Lift Operators. Published in: Current Issues in Tourism (6 March 2017)

Abstract

This paper investigates the efficiency of ski lift companies across different climate zones in a group of countries based on establishment data. By a joint estimation of the stochastic frontier production and efficiency equations, the results indicate that ski areas in subarctic climate zones are far more efficient than their counterparts in warmer zones. Presence of a large local market and elevation of the ski area are factors not relevant for efficiency. Output of ski lift operators (companies) increases with the length of ski runs, number of ski lifts, share of slopes covered by snowmaking facilities and availability of fast lifts. Productivity is also significantly higher for ski lift companies owned by a large conglomerate.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: technical efficiency, stochastic frontier production function, ski lift companies, climate zones, ownership
• Subjects: L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance > L11 - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure ; Size Distribution of Firms; L - Industrial Organization > L2 - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior > L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope; L - Industrial Organization > L9 - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities; L - Industrial Organization > L9 - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities > L92 - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R4 - Transportation Economics > R40 - General

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