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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2011‒05‒24
35 papers chosen by |
| By: | Lakoh, Kepifri |
| Abstract: | This paper primarily investigates the contribution of SOM on explaining changes in technical efficiency and agricultural productivity across counties in Nebraska. It also gives an account of the status of inter-county agricultural productivity in Nebraska. An output measure technical efficiency was constructed using data envelopment analysis. Total factor productivity change was estimated using an output Malmquist index approach. Results show that SOM does contribute in explaining variations in technical efficiency and total factor productivity across counties in Nebraska. Also, an average measure of TFP growth of 2.1% was obtained for the 39 year period of which 1.3% was accounted for by technological change while the remaining 0.8% from efficiency change. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103937&r=eff |
| By: | Shee, Apurba; Stefanou, Spiro E. |
| Abstract: | The measurement of productivity fluctuations has been the focus of decades-long interest. In addition to broad structural forces driving productivity changes, there is more recent interest in measuring and identifying the heterogeneous forces driving these changes. A major force is learning-by-doing which is used by economists to describe the phenomenon of productivity growth arising from the accumulation of production experience by a firm. This paper proposes a bounded learning concept with the learning progress function characterized by the degree of efficiency and the specification of the learning progress as a logistic function capturing both the slow start-up and the limit in learning progress. The inter-firm learning inefficiency is defined as the inability of a firm to reach the optimal plateau relative to the âbest practiceâ firm from the set of comparable firms. We further differentiate learning efficiency from the technical efficiency. The key contribution of this research is to provide a measure the firmâs movement along the learning progress curve and explain the existence of firm-level heterogeneity in learning. The time varying technical efficiency is estimated based on stochastic production frontier methods and firm-specific learning efficiency is disentangled using the residual of the production frontier (productivity).The model is then used to decompose the factor productivity growth into components associated with learning, scale, technical efficiency, technological change and change in allocative efficiency. This productivity growth decomposition provides useful information and policy level insight in firm-level productivity analysis. The major econometric issue in production function estimation is the possibility that there are some forces influencing production that are only observed by the firm and not by the econometrician. With firm input use being endogenous, inputs might be correlated with unobserved productivity shocks. The measure of technical efficiency by estimating the production frontier directly in presence of endogeneity of input choice can be biased in the sense that the measure of efficiency favors the firms employing higher levels of inputs. The Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) approach is extended to overcome this simultaneity problem in stochastic production frontier estimation to generate consistent estimates of production parameters and technical efficiency. The model is applied to plant-level panel data on Colombian food manufacturing sector. The dataset is unique longitudinal data on firms in the sense that it has information on both plant-specific physical quantities and prices for both outputs and inputs. In contrast to most of the existing literature which measure productivity by deflating sales by an industry-level price index, these data eliminate a common source of measurement error in production function estimation. Plant-level productivity growth decomposition and the contribution of learning effect are explored by estimating the production frontier and firm-specific learning efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Colombian food manufacturing industry, Bounded learning-by-doing, Learning efficiency, Logistic differential equation, Technical efficiency, Firm-level productivity growth, Decomposition of productivity change, Endogeneity of input choice, Stochastic production frontier, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103898&r=eff |
| By: | Rada, Nicholas; Buccola, Steven |
| Abstract: | Using a sequence of decennial farm censuses, we examine Brazilâs agricultural performance over the last several decades as the economy shifted slowly from a producer-protected to liberalized environment. Those shifts provide the data for investigating Brazilian policyâs implications for agricultural competitiveness and efficiency. We decompose mean-farm total factor productivity into frontier productivity and efficiency change, each of the two influenced independently by government policy. National technology growth is found to have been an exceptionally high 4.5% per annum. Because, however, average farms were unable to keep pace with it, TFP growth has been a much smaller 2.6% per year. Although frontier producers in the south have outperformed their northern counterparts, TFP growth in the south has been lower than in the north. Benefits from Brazilâs agricultural research system have been tilted toward the farming sector's technological leaders, widening the productivity gap between frontier and average producer. Credit, education, and road construction policies have instead narrowed that gap. |
| Keywords: | Brazilian agriculture, Embrapa, input distance function, stochastic frontier, total factor productivity, technical change, efficiency, International Development, Productivity Analysis, O2, O3, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103326&r=eff |
| By: | Kandilov, Ivan T.; Liu, Xiangping |
| Abstract: | Using detailed plant-level manufacturing Census data from the Colombian Agri-food industries, we show that exports raise plant-level productivity by about 15 to 20 percent. However, the estimates reveal that efficiency in plants that become persistent exporters, i.e. plants that service foreign markets at least 30 percent of the time during our sample years 1981-1991, increases about 30 percent upon their entry into foreign markets, while productivity in plants that become only occasional exporters does not change at all. Hence, the positive impact of exports on productivity for is driven by the large positive impact on persistent exporters. To identify the effect of exports on plant-level productivity we employ the Levinsohn-Petrin (2003) measure of total factor productivity and a difference-in-differences propensity score matching estimator. The estimates reveal that productivity in plants that become persistent exporters, i.e. plants that service foreign markets at least 30 percent of the time during our sample years 1981-1991, rises about 30 percent upon their entry into foreign markets. Productivity in plants that become only occasional exporters, on the other hand, does not change. We perform a number of robustness checks, all of which confirm our baseline results. |
| Keywords: | exports, productivity, difference-in-differences, propensity score matching, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q17, F12, Q12, O33, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103632&r=eff |
| By: | Kabata, Tshepelayi |
| Abstract: | This study aims at assessing the environmental performance the U.S. agriculture with respect to GHG emissions across states. To reach this objective, this paper utilizes alternative non-parametric approaches: a graph measure of technical efficiency under strong disposability and weak disposability and a modified output oriented Malmquist index. The graph measure of technical efficiency accounting for undesirable outputs reveals that regulations of agriculture GHG emission would be effective in all states but Delaware, as they would be binding and impose a âcostâ in terms of reduction of desirable output. Results show also that on average regulations would improve technical efficient for about 3.5%. States operating on the frontier shift from one to seven when the regulation is accounted for. But the opportunity cost of binding to this regulation amounts to 3.7% reduction of agricultural output. The approach Malmquist index and its components reveal that on average the efficiency change has been invariant to the treatment of the undesirable output as input. The average productivity growth is 2.2 percent when GHG emissions are treated as input whereas it is 2 percent when they are complementally ignored. In both cases, the productivity growth is driven by technological change. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Technical Efficiency, environmental performance, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103427&r=eff |
| By: | Lohr, Luanne; Park, Timothy A. |
| Abstract: | We develop measures of technical and allocative efficiency of producers in marketing certified organic products. A stochastic output distance frontier and the associated revenue share equations are estimated using comprehensive U.S. data on certified organic producers. Farm-level measures of technical efficiency are calculated and factors which enhance performance are identified. Factors that systematically influence allocative efficiency are assessed. The revenue mix of organic producers is systematically inefficient as both male and female producers rely too heavily on revenue from organic markets relative to conventional outlets. |
| Keywords: | organic farming, stochastic frontier, technical efficiency, allocative efficiency, Farm Management, Marketing, D21, C31, Q01, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103365&r=eff |
| By: | Lenka Šastná (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Martin Gregor (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | We measure cost efficiency of 202 Czech municipalities of extended scope in period 2003-2008. The study is the first application of overall efficiency measurement of the local governments in the new EU member states, and the second in post-communist countries. We measure government efficiency through established quantitative and qualitative indicators of the provision of education, cultural facilities, infrastructure and other local services. First, we employ non-parametric approach of the data envelopment analysis and adjust the efficiency scores by bootstrapping. Second, we employ the stochastic frontier analysis and control for effects of various demographic, economic, and political variables. We compare scores under our preferred specification, i.e. pseudo-translog time-variant stochastic-frontier analysis with determinants, with alternative scores. The determinants that robustly increase inefficiency are population size, distance to the regional center, share of university-educated citizens, capital expenditures, subsidies per capita, and the share of self-generated revenues. Concerning political variables, increase in party concentration and the voters' involvement increases efficiency, and local council with a lower share of left-wing representatives also tend to be more efficient. We interpret determinants both as indicators of slack, non-discretionary inputs, and unobservable outputs. The analysis is conducted also for the period 1994-1996, where political variables appear to influence inefficiency in a structurally different way. From comparison of the two periods, we obtain that small municipalities improve efficiency significantly more that large municipalities. |
| Keywords: | Public spending efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, local governments |
| JEL: | D24 H72 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2011_14&r=eff |
| By: | Hengyun Ma; Les Oxley (University of Canterbury); Shanmin Guo; Huacang Tang; Yiping Wu; Jikun Huang; Allan Rae; Scott Rozelle |
| Abstract: | China has significantly expanded its dairy cow numbers and increased its dairy processing capacity over the last five year in an attempt to meet increased demand for dairy products. China’s net imports of dairy products, however, has expanded at a growth rate in excess of 30% during the same period. To consider why China is still struggling to meet rising dairy product demand in China in the new millennium, this paper employs a new set of farm-level survey data and stochastic input distance functions to empirically estimate Total factor Productivity (TFP) on China’s dairy farms. The results show that the TFP growth has been positive on and this rise in productivity has been mostly driven by technological change. However, the new results show that on average, the same farms have been behind the advancing technical frontier. We also find one of the drivers of the dairy farms’ productivity advances is the relatively robust rate of technological change. The results suggest that efforts to achieve increased adoption of new technologies and better advice on how to use the technologies and manage production and marketing within the dairy farm sector, will likely further increase TFP growth in China. |
| Keywords: | Distance Function; Total Factor Productivity; Technical Inefficiency; Dairy Farms |
| JEL: | D24 Q10 Q16 |
| Date: | 2011–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:11/21&r=eff |
| By: | Kyoji Fukao; Tomohiko Inui; Keiko Ito; YoungGak Kim; Tangjun Yuan |
| Abstract: | Focusing on Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese firms in the manufacturing sector, this paper examines productivity catch-up at the firm level using the distance from the technology frontier as a direct measure of the potential for catch-up. We also examine the role of absorptive capacity for technological catch-up by including variables such as R&D expenditure and foreign ownership in our empirical estimation. We find that the national frontier has a stronger pull on domestic firms than the regional frontier, which is in line with findings by Bartelsman, Haskel and Martin (2008). This result indicates that policies to raise the technology level of national frontier firms are beneficial for all firms in that country. |
| Keywords: | productivity, catch-up, absorptive capacity |
| JEL: | D24 O47 O53 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd10-168&r=eff |
| By: | Dang, Trang; Leatham, David J. |
| Abstract: | The paper measures the U.S. Farm Credit Systemâs technical efficiency from 2000 to 2009 using a stochastic frontier production function model with quarterly unbalanced panel data. The paper's results suggest that the FCS has not efficiently utilized their inputs. On an average, the system realizes only 9.7% of their technical abilities in raising their loans, leases and investment. The efficiency of the whole system is estimated to slightly increase over time even during financial crisis period from 2007. Among the system, a significant difference in efficiency between the 5 Banks and the Associations has been found. On average, the Banks have higher technical efficiency of 62.4% compared to that of 7.7% of the associations. The efficiency of the latter increases by a small rate over time during 2004-2009 periods while efficiency of the former is more time-varying and experiences the opposite pattern. No evidence about the impact of financial crisis on the system efficiency was found. |
| Keywords: | Farm Credit System, agricultural lenders, technical efficiency, financial crisis, stochastic frontier production function, financial reform, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:104006&r=eff |
| By: | Theriault, Veronique |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of institutional environments on cotton farmer technical efficiency scores in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali using a stochastic frontier production approach. First, the key institutional changes that have occurred with the recent market-oriented reforms are discussed. Then, farm efficiency per country is measured using cross-sectional data collected by the Cotton Sector Reform Project of the Africa, Power, and Politics Programme in 2009. Results from a one-stage estimation procedure suggest that while no technical inefficiency exists in Benin, an average technical efficiency of 69% and 46% is found in Burkina Faso and Mali, respectively. Agricultural development policies focusing on reducing the inefficiency at the farm level in Mali and Burkina Faso should be adopted; whereas policies designed to shift outward the production frontier seem more appropriate in Benin. Interestingly, institutional environment factors explaining variations in efficiency scores differ across countries. In Mali, farms that are food secure and that cultivate more hectares of cereals are more technically efficient in producing cotton. In contrast, Burkinabe farmers who are dissatisfied with the management of their producer organizations are more technically efficient. To be successful, efforts to promote efficiency would have to work in concert with the local realities in each country. |
| Keywords: | Cotton, Technical Efficiency, Institutional Changes, Reforms, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103436&r=eff |
| By: | Kibonge, Aziza |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:104001&r=eff |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine; Babu, Suresh C.; Abdullahi, Aliyu Sabi |
| Abstract: | Organizations offer employees with opportunities to cultivate their innovativeness and facilitate greater productivity. In this paper we analyze preconditions for individual productivity of agricultural researchers in Nigeria, measured in terms of the self-reported number of scholarly publications and technologies produced; presence of external collaborators; number of dissemination events for publications produced; and perceived adoption level of technologies developed. It utilizes a multilevel analysis to systematically examine what characteristics of individual scientists and organizations promote greater individual productivity. The statistically significant random-effect estimates show that there is considerable variance across the 47 organizations after adjusting for the effects of differences in individual characteristics. Moreover, several measures of organizational characteristics are statistically significant in explaining variations in individual productivity. This paper contributes to limited studies that systematically analyze the influence of organizational factors and the organization headâs characteristics on individual researcherâs performance. |
| Keywords: | organizational culture, multilevel analysis, poisson, productivity, research, motivation, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q16, L32, D23, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103723&r=eff |
| By: | Curtiss, Jarmila; Jelinek, Ladislav |
| Abstract: | Increasing worldwide energy demand and diminishing supplies of fossil fuels have necessitated the development and increasing use of new sustainable energy sources, as well as more parsimonious energy use. In the context of agriculture, research has focused predominantly on the production of bio-energy, while only a limited number of studies have investigated the energy use and possible energy saving in conventional agricultural production. In response to this lack in empirical research this study aims (i) to measure the farm-level energy and cost efficiency of conventional agricultural (wheat) production, (ii) to identify the potential for energy saving in conventional agriculture and quantify its shadow cost, (iii) to identify production technologies and managerial practices that reduce total energy use. We adjusted the method by Coelli, Lauwers, Van Huylenbroeck (2007) introducing analogy between cost and nutrient minimization to measure energy use reduction potential and its costs. The analysis was carried out on survey data for 95 farms for production year 2007/08. Energy coefficients for individual non-renewable inputs were derived from the PLANETE methodology (Méthode Pour L'Analyse EnergéTique de l'Exploitation) developed by SOLAGRO. We applied data envelopment analysis to estimate energy and cost optima and efficiencies, and truncated regression to identify statistically significant determinants of energy efficiency. We found significant differences in energy consumption per unit of wheat production among Czech farms - best producers consume 46% less energy per unit of production than average producers, however, from that ca. 30% is due to variation in production conditions. Marked share of energy inefficiency (over 50% of potential energy savings) originates in technical efficiency, which offers simultaneous cost savings. Producing wheat in energy optimum would increase costs by 9% when compared to cost optimum. The largest potential of energy savings was found in fuel, and fertilizers and other chemicals. Regression analysis implies that use of more fuel-efficient machinery or machinery with other energy-saving technical parameters (e.g., higher utility weight) and optimizing material transport could increase energy efficiency, while some commonly applied technological practices (such as conventional soil preparation) have a negative energy efficiency effects. |
| Keywords: | Energy efficiency, cost efficiency, shadow cost of energy saving, agriculture, Czech farm, wheat production, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D24, |
| Date: | 2011–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103410&r=eff |
| By: | Singla, Rohit; Naseem, Anwar |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103824&r=eff |
| By: | Gracious, Diiro M.; Abdoul, Sam G.; David, Kraybill |
| Abstract: | The study analyzed the impact of adoption of improved groundnut varieties on farm inputs demand and productivity using instrumental variables approach. The data was collected from a simple random sample of 161 groundnut farmers in Eastern Uganda. Econometric results show significant increase in expenditure on improved seed and labor among adopters relative to the non-adopters. Adoption of improved varieties significantly increased groundnuts yield, by about 1688kg per hectare. Thus, more effort is needed to increase farmersâ access to improved varieties. The Government and partners should facilitate the development of local seed multiplication systems to reduce the cost of improved seed.. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103848&r=eff |
| By: | Lichtenberg, Erik; Minegishi, Kota; Hanson, James; Johnson, Dale |
| Abstract: | Dairy production in the US has experienced a marked increase in the size of dairy operations over time. Even as total production has grown over time, smaller operations have been disappearing. Consequently, the viability of smaller dairy farms has become an important policy concern in regions like the Mid-Atlantic where small dairy farms account for a significant share of farm enterprises. Previous studies suggest that dairy farming based on intensive (rotational) grazing, as opposed to traditional confined-feeding operations, may make it possible for smaller operations to remain economically viable. However, the short term nature of the data used in these studies limits the robustness of these findings. We utilize a unique panel of financial data collected during a 15-year-long extension program in Maryland, which allows us to investigate relative performances of intensive grazing operations with more robustness and more in depth than previous studies. We compare technical efficiency, profitability, and risk in intensive grazing and confinement dairy operations. Using year-by-year data envelopment analysis, we assess returns to scale and compare intensive grazing and confinement systems in terms of technical efficiency. A test of returns to scale suggested by Simar and Wilson (2002) shows that constant returns to scale cannot be rejected, indicating that smaller farms are not necessarily at disadvantage at least in the observed range of operation scale in our data. A comparison of technical efficiency using non-parametric tests and regression indicates that grazers are as technically efficient as conventional confinement operators. A test of second order stochastic dominance suggested by Barrett and Donald (2003) shows that profitability is less risky in intensive grazing than in confinement operations. Overall, these results indicate that intensive (rotational) grazing is a promising approach for improving both the economic and environmental sustainability of dairy farming in regions like the Mid-Atlantic where the climate allows a relatively lengthy grazing season. |
| Keywords: | dairy, intensive grazing, rotational grazing, technical efficiency, stochastic dominance, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, Q12, Q16, |
| Date: | 2011–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103700&r=eff |
| By: | Carlsson, Mikael (Research Department, Central Bank of Sweden); Messina, Julián (Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean); Nordström Skans, Oskar (Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU), UCLS, and IZA) |
| Abstract: | We study how workers’ wages respond to TFP-driven innovations in firms’ labor productivity. Using unique data with highly reliable firm-level output prices and quantities in the manufacturing sector in Sweden, we are able to derive measures of physical (as opposed to revenue) TFP to instrument labor productivity in the wage equations. We find that the reaction of wages to sectoral labor productivity is almost three times larger than the response to pure idiosyncratic (firm-level) shocks, a result which crucially hinges on the use of physical TFP as an instrument. These results are all robust to a number of empirical specifications, including models accounting for selection on both the demand and supply side through worker-firm (match) fixed effects. Further results suggest that technological progress at the firm level has negligible effects on the firm-level composition of employees. |
| Keywords: | matched employer-employee data; sorting; wage; labor productivity; TFP |
| JEL: | J23 J31 J33 |
| Date: | 2011–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0253&r=eff |
| By: | Nora Elbialy (University of Hamburg); Miguel A. García-Rubio (University of Granada) |
| Abstract: | Egypt started a recent judicial reform program in 2007, which can be considered the first ever since the establishment of the National Egyptian Judicial System in 1952. It focuses mainly on solving organizational problems within First Instance Courts (FIC), as they form the active cell of the Egyptian judicial system. However the efficiency of FICs is still doubtable to a large extent. This paper provides for the first time an efficiency analysis of 22 FICs in Egypt using the technique of Data Envelop Analysis (DEA). The main strength of this study is to consider the number of computers per court, as none of the previous papers on court efficiency has included a capital variable when defining their court production function before. Our results show that there are no significant differences observed in terms of management efficiency between the civil and criminal FICs, however criminal FICs districts are superior with respect to their corresponding civil districts in terms of program efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Egyptian Judicial System; Efficiency; Data envelopment analysis |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201119&r=eff |
| By: | Serrao, Amilcar |
| Abstract: | The studies of performance and production efficiency have ignored additional products of most transformation processes classified as undesirable outputs. Without the inclusion of the undesirable outputs, the efficiency measurement is a purely technical measure, and it does not account for the interaction of the system with the environment and the impact of policy decisions on the system. Moreover, there are technological dependencies between the desirable and the undesirable outputs which have to be included in the analytical tools used to measure efficiency. The relationships between the desirable and the undesirable outputs motivate the exploration of new areas of the measurement of efficiency to incorporate policy decisions and address new issues. This research develops a formulation that uses goal programming in conjunction with Data Envelopment analysis â known as GoDEA approach â to deal with the conflict between the desirable and the undesirable outputs. This approach is used to assess the environment impact of the Agenda 2000 and the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy reform on agricultural production in fifteen European countries. Model results show that the 2003 CAP reform strengthens environmental policies and has a better performance than the Agenda 2000 for some European countries. The North and Central European countries have been dealing better with environmental issues than the Mediterranean countries. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis, Performance Measurement, Undesirable Outputs, Technological Dependence, Goal Programming, Common Agricultural Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, CO2, DO1, Q15, Q58, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103409&r=eff |
| By: | Trindade, Federico J. |
| Abstract: | I studied the impact that high temperatures have over the agricultural performance for countries in Nebraska. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103416&r=eff |
| By: | Sergio, Colin-Castillo |
| Abstract: | The analysis of technical efficiency (TE) on the small-scale fishery is relevant for several reasons. While this type of fishery is highly common in developing countries like Mexico, there are a very limited number of analyses assessing their efficiency. Indeed, there is no precise information on the contribution of the small-scale fisheries to livelihoods and economies in developing nations. Exploring this gap in the research would be relevant for the decision making policy. On the one hand, small-scale fisheries can generate significant profits and be more resilient to shocks and crises; two important elements to poverty alleviation and food security. But on the other hand, small-scale fisheries may overexploit stocks, harming the environment and generating low profits. Certainly, it is desirable the preservation of resources of common access like lakes or reservoirs, at the same time it is desirable an efficient use of the fishery. The question is what factors constrain the efficiency? Aiming for a contribution on the knowledge of the small-scale fisherâs performance; this research applies âdirected acyclic graphsâ, an innovative technique to explore the causal relationship on the variables to explain the TE. To assess the fisherâs TE, this research uses âstochastic frontier analysisâ, a method commonly used to estimate the efficiency. This study explores the causal pattern among the production function variables to corroborate, by estimating the TE, the hypothesis that: fisherâs skills favor the fisher performance. Compared to previous research, the results show an improvement on the assessment of the variables that constrain the efficiency. Getting a more precise TE assessment is valuable information. It would help to define the strategies for the assistance of the fishing communities; in a search for a policy to remedy the production inefficiencies and increase the competitiveness in small-scale fisheries. |
| Keywords: | Stochastic frontier analysis, technical efficiency, directed acyclic graph, causality analysis, small-scale fishery, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103822&r=eff |
| By: | Ulimwengu, John; Badiane, Ousmane |
| Abstract: | The importance of health in promoting economic development has been forcefully stated by the World Health Organizationâs Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. In this paper, we look at the impact of own household health expenses on malaria incidence and ultimately on agricultural efficiency. We use a non-parametric method to estimate agricultural efficiency, therefore avoiding the issue of identification of the proper household agricultural production function. In addition the simar-wilson approach followed in this paper accounts for bias induced by serial correlation among farmers. A Tobit model with endogenous health production function is used to estimate the impact of malaria incidence on agricultural efficiency. Data come from the 2006 National Ugandan Household Survey. Estimation results suggest that marginal increase in the index of malaria incidence is expected to reduce agricultural efficiency by 0.07; in other words, ten percent increase in malaria incidence will decrease efficiency by 1.5 percent. We also found evidence of female farmers being more efficiency than male by 39.5 percent. Moreover, farmers who have been visited at least once by an extension agent appear more efficiency by 13.9 percent than those who were not. |
| Keywords: | Malaria, Efficiency, Tobit, Health, Agriculture, Expenses, Household, Production, Agricultural and Food Policy, Health Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103839&r=eff |
| By: | Wang, Ye; Wang, Chenggang; Pan, Suwen |
| Abstract: | Although evidence abounds that the development of rural non-farm activities have increased rural household income and contributed to rural development, the underlying structure and mechanism of the linkage between agricultural productivity and non-farm activities is poorly understood. Using a unique panel dataset of Chinese villages, this article examines the mechanism by which non-farm activities influence agricultural productivity. I find that Chinese villagesâ non-farm revenue has a significant positive effect on agricultural land productivity. Although non-farm activities do withdraw labor out of agriculture and therefore dampen land productivity, that negative effect is negligible in comparison with the land productivity improvement brought by nonfarm revenue-financed infrastructure capital investment. |
| Keywords: | Rural non-farm activities, labor migration, agricultural productivity, infrastructure capital., Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, O13, Q18, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103605&r=eff |
| By: | Paudel, Krishna P.; Pandit, Mahesh; Poudel, Biswo N. |
| Abstract: | We tested for club convergence in U.S. agricultural total factory productivity using a sigma convergence test. We used the same club of states as used by McCunn and Huffman as well as different states within 10 clubs identified by the cluster analysis. Results showed convergence was evident only in a few club groups. Clusters group identified using a statistical method identified only converging clubs. Variables affecting total factor productivity among states were identified using parametric, semiparametric and nonparametric methods. Semiparametric and nonparametric methods gave a better fit than a parametric method as indicated by the specification test. Our results indicated that health care expenditure, public research and extension investment, and private expenditure are important variables impacting total factor productivity differences across states. |
| Keywords: | Clubs, sigma convergence, cluster analysis, semiparametric and nonparametric methods, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:104025&r=eff |
| By: | Key, Nigel; Sneeringer, Stacy |
| Abstract: | Climate change could affect the costs and returns of livestock production by altering the thermal environment of animals thereby affecting animal health, reproduction, and the efficiency by which livestock convert feed into retained products (especially meat and milk). In the United States, concentrated livestock operations are located in a variety of climatic regions, suggesting that the industry could adapt to future changes in temperature and weather patterns resulting from global warming. However, this adaption could be costly. We use nationally representative data on dairy producers coupled with finely-scaled climate data to empirically examine how producersâ costs, returns, and production systems vary across U.S. regions as a function of the local climate. |
| Keywords: | climate change, dairy, temperature humidity index, economics, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Q5, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103461&r=eff |
| By: | Slade, Peter; Hailu, Getu |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103866&r=eff |
| By: | Kyoji Fukao; Tsutomu Miyagawa; Hak K. Pyo; Keun Hee Rhee |
| Abstract: | The purpose of our study is to identify the sources of economic growth based on a KLEMS model for Japan and Korea. We also identify the growth contribution of ICT assets and resource reallocation effects in the two economies. Both Japan and Korea enjoyed high TFP growth in ICT-producing sectors but suffered low TFP growth in ICT-using sectors. For Japan, we find that the main factor underlying the Lost Decade is the slow-down in TFP growth. We also found that Korea's TFP growth was slow until the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1999 but then accelerated after the crisis. It seems that before the crisis, Korea was following a catch-up process with developed economies that was predominantly input-led and manufacturing-based, as documented by Timmer (1999) and Pyo (2001). However, through the drastic economic reform undertaken during the crisis, Korea seems to have shifted to a new phase of economic growth since the end of the 1990s. TFP growth rates, especially those in manufacturing sectors, have substantially increased in post-crisis Korea. Both in Japan and Korea, productivity in service sectors is much lower than in manufacturing. The reason probably is excessive regulation and a lack of competition in service sectors. And these factors seem to have impeded introduction of ICT in service industries. As for ICT capital accumulation, the ICT investment/GDP ratio of Korea is higher than that of Japan. Especially, the speed of ICT accumulation in the ICT sector in Korea is much faster than that in Japan. Both in Japan and Korea, the largest component in ICT investment is computing equipment. In the case of resource reallocation across sectors, the reallocation effect of capital input was negligible or negative for most periods both in Korea and Japan. After the financial crisis of 1997-99, the resource allocation effect of capital in Korea remained negative, although the size of the negative effect declined. On the other hand, the reallocation effect of labor input was positive for most periods both in Korea and Japan. |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd10-177&r=eff |
| By: | Schuring, Jessica; Huffman, Wallace E.; Fan, Xing |
| Keywords: | Aggregate production, Midwestern agriculture, elasticties of supply and demand, public agricultural research, GM- crop varieties, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q11, Q16, Q41, |
| Date: | 2011–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103493&r=eff |
| By: | Deininger, Klaus; Jin, Songqing; Yadav, Vandana |
| Abstract: | Land reforms were successfully implemented in the state of West Bengal through a special program undertaken in 1978 by the then state government. These reforms brought large amount of land under permanent and inheritable tenancy. We use a survey data of nearly 9000 plots from 2000 households in 142 villages in West Bengal to ascertain that both productivity and long-term investments on such land are significantly lower than the land under ownership. We also find evidence for lower levels of input usage on the tenancy plots as compared to those which are fully owned by the cultivator. Programs to allow land reform beneficiaries to acquire full ownership could thus have significant benefits |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103966&r=eff |
| By: | Chang-Tai Hsieh; Ralph Ossa |
| Abstract: | We revisit a classic question in international economics: how does a country's productivity growth affect worldwide real incomes through international trade? We first identify the channels through which productivity shocks transmit in a model featuring inter-industry trade as in Ricardo (1817), intra-industry trade as in Krugman (1980), and firm heterogeneity as in Melitz (2003). We then estimate China's productivity growth at the industry level and use our model to quantify what would have happened to real incomes throughout the world if nothing but China's productivity had changed. We find that average real income in the rest of the world increased by a cumulative 0.48% from 1992-2007 due to China's productivity growth. This represents 2.2% of the total income gains to the world. |
| Keywords: | Productivity growth, China |
| JEL: | F1 F4 O4 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd10-166&r=eff |
| By: | Khong, Tien Dung; Pede, Valerien O.; Sumalde, Zenaida M.; McKinley, Justin D.; Mohanty, Samarendu |
| Abstract: | This study aimed to evaluate the technical efficiency of farmers engaged in rice-wheat cropping systems in India using Resource Conserving Technologies (RCTs) such as zero-tillage and direct seeding, under the intervention of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project primarily funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal of the project is to alleviate hunger and malnutrition as well as increase income and food security for poor farmers living in South Asia. The Resource Conserving Technologies (RCTs) are being promoted as part of conservation agriculture supported by the project. These technologies are designed to reduce the strain agricultural production has on two critical natural resources: water and soil. The RCT technologies are being promoted by the CSISA project in several locations in India, and the main ones are direct seeded rice, reduced-tillage, and zero-tillage. The farmers participating in the study are part of the CSISA project and are located in Eastern Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar in Northeastern India. The data used in this study was derived from a socio-economic survey conducted in these two regions during the Kharif season of 2009 and Rabi season of 2010. A Stochastic frontier Analysis, using the Cobb-Douglas or Translog function form, was performed to investigate and compare the determinants of technical efficiency among farmers receiving intervention and those who are not. Farmers receiving intervention from the CSISA project tend to be more technically efficient than those without intervention. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103652&r=eff |
| By: | John P. Conley; Mario J. Crucini; Robert A. Driskill; Ali Sina Onder |
| Abstract: | We investigate how increases in publication delays have affected the life-cycle of publications of recent Ph.D. graduates in economics. We construct a panel dataset of 14,271 individuals who were awarded Ph.D.s between 1986 and 2000 in US and Canadian economics departments. For this population of scholars, we amass complete records of publications in peer reviewed journals listed in the JEL (a total of 368,672 observations). We find evidence of significantly diminished productivity in recent relative to earlier cohorts when productivity of an individual is measured by the number of AER equivalent publications. Diminished productivity is less evident when number of AER equivalent pages is used instead. Our findings are consistent with earlier empirical findings of increasing editorial delays, decreasing acceptance rates at journals, and a trend toward longer manuscripts. This decline in productivity is evident in both graduates of top thirty and non-top thirty ranked economics departments and may have important implications for what should constitute a tenurable record. We also find that the research rankings of the faculty do not line up with the research quality of their students in many cases. |
| JEL: | A11 J0 J11 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17043&r=eff |
| By: | Vincent VANDENBERGHE (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we explore a matched employer-employee data set to investigate the presence of gender wage discrimination in the Belgian private economy labour market. Contrary to many existing papers, we analyse gender wage discrimination using an independent productivity measure. Using firm-level data, we are able to compare direct estimates of a gender productivity differential with those of a gender wage differential. We take advantage of the panel structure to identify gender-related differences from within-firm variation. Moreover, inspired by recent developments in the production function estimation literature, we address the problem of endogeneity of the gender mix using a structural production function estimator (Olley & Pakes, 1996; Levinsohn & Petrin, 2003) alongside IV-GMM methods where lagged value of labour inputs are used as instruments. Our results suggest that there is no gender wage discrimination inside private firms located in Belgium, on the contrary. |
| Keywords: | gender wage discrimination; labour productivity; structural production function estimation; IV-GMM; firm-level panel data |
| JEL: | J24 C52 D24 |
| Date: | 2011–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2011016&r=eff |
| By: | Casasnovas, Valero L.; Aldanondo, Ana M. |
| Abstract: | Determining the competitive position of dairy farms depends on several technological, economic and institutional variables. Among them, are remarkable those related to animal feeding in the current context of high variability on prices. In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze the effects on milk supply and the competitiveness of dairy farms with different models of land intensification, with greater reliance on market purchases or self-production of livestock feed. This study is based on an econometric approach to a variable cost function, in a fixed effects model for unbalanced panel data of specialized dairy farms in Navarre (Spain). From this region, we use 3 geographical areas in relation to the availability of grazing land. It has been tested the absence of sample selection bias and satisfaction of regularity conditions. The study shows a flexible milk farm supply with respect to the price of milk and very dependent on the evolution of feed prices. This aspect has been emphasized by the restructuring of farms, characterized by strong size increases and productivity gains based on a greater reliance on purchases of animal feed. The provision of grazing land has an important role in determining the average costs and farm profitability. In addition, grazing land use permits greater exploitation of economies of scale present in the dairy sector. |
| Keywords: | multiproduct cost function, unbalanced panel data, milk supply, animal feed, dairy farms., Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Q12, D24, L25, |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103727&r=eff |