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This study analyzes how regional public transport facilities and medical services affect the efficiency of international tourist hotels (ITHs). First, we adopt data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the cost efficiency of international tourist hotels in Taiwan during 1998 to 2009. Next, we use the truncated regression to estimate the effect of traffic convenience and medical services on cost efficiency. The distance to international airports and distance to MRT station have significantly negative effects on cost efficiency of international tourist hotels, while the distance to the freeway exit, distance to bus station, and pickup service, chain system, and shorter operating year have significantly positive impacts on their cost efficiency. The shorter distance to the hospital and more hospitals in a region significantly improve cost efficiency of ITHs in Taiwan.

This study examines the Granger causality between Taiwan's aggregate and disaggregate energy consumption and trade variables, including total imports (IM), total exports (EX), total energy consumption (ENERGY), oil and petroleum products consumption (OIL), coal and coal products consumption (COAL), natural gas consumption (GAS), export value of the industrial sector (EX_I), export value of heavy-chemical industrial products (EX_HI), and export value of non-heavy-chemical industrial products (EX_NHI) with monthly data during 1998–2009. Via applying Hsiao's version of the Granger causality method, the results find causality running from ENERGY to IM, EX, EX_I, and EX_HI. The impulse-response simulations show that the above relations have positive responses at the initial period. OIL Granger causes all trade variables. The impulse directions to IM and EX_NHI are negative, whereas others are positive. On the other hand, COAL responds to impulses in all trade variables. The impulse-response simulations show that these relations have positive responses at the initial period except for causality running from EX_HI and EX_NHI to COAL. GAS positively responds to impulses in EX, EX_I, and EX_HI at the initial period. The bidirectional Granger causality between pairs of variables (such as GAS and EX_NHI as well as GAS and EX_HI) is found.