This paper examines the operational efficiency of equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) with respect to external advisement and management. We employ data envelopment analysis (DEA), a non-parametric statistical procedure that tests whether decision-making units are operating on their efficient frontier, to measure the relative performance of REITs before, during, and after the 2008–2010 financial crisis. Annual observations of both advising and management status of each REIT allow us to parse efficiency by these groups in various combinations. Our evidence suggests the inefficiency of externally-advised REITs has diminished in recent years, and the structure is no longer strictly inferior. External management of property operations, however, remains less efficient than self-management. General and administrative expenses, external advisory fees and property management fees are the main sources of inefficiency over the study period. In a difference-in-difference specification we find industry-wide operational efficiency was higher in the post-crisis than the pre-crisis period, indicating efficiency gains following the crisis.

本文研究了股权房地产投资信托（REIT）在外部咨询和管理方面的运营效率。我们采用数据包络分析（DEA）（一种非参数统计程序）来衡量决策部门是否在其有效边界上运转，以衡量REIT在2008-2010年金融危机之前，之中和之后的相对绩效。每年对每个房地产投资信托基金的建议和管理状况的观察，使我们能够以不同的组合来分析这些群体的效率。我们的证据表明，近年来，外部建议的REIT的效率有所降低，其结构也不再严格逊色。但是，财产运营的外部管理仍然不如自我管理有效。一般及行政开支，外部咨询费和物业管理费是整个研究期间效率低下的主要根源。在差异差异规范中，我们发现危机后的行业范围内的运营效率要高于危机前的水平，这表明危机后的效率有所提高。