Abstract
This paper used Data Envelopment Analysis IDEA) to test the economic consequences of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) cotton dust standards by comparing the relative efficiency of firms affected by cotton dust in SIC 2200 and 2300 for the years before and after the Supreme Court upheld the regulation in 1981. Accounting-based inputs of common equity, total assets and production costs were minimized, while total revenue was maximized. Using available Compustat firms, we found that the surviving firms under stiff foreign competition had become more efficient during the post-regulatory period as predicted. The results indicate the usefulness of DEA as an alternative method of testing the economic consequences of a regulation.
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