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on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2011‒10‒15
sixty-five papers chosen by |
| By: | Luik, Helis; Omel, Raul; Viira, Ants-Hannes |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to analyse productivity change of Estonian dairy farms during the period 2001-2009. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to estimate the technical efficiency of producers and Malmquist productivity index for analysis of productivity change. Estonian FADN data was used in analysis. Performed analysis indicated that Estonian EU accession in 2004 increased considerably total factor productivity. Farm gate milk prices have considerable effect on total factor productivity change. Number of cows and milk yield has positive and dependence on subsidies, stocking density and capital to working hours ratio have negative effects on total factor productivity change. |
| Keywords: | Malmquist productivity index, technical efficiency, technical change, data envelopment analysis, dairy production, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114583&r=eff |
| By: | Hahlbrock, Konstantin; Hockmann, Heinrich |
| Abstract: | The impact of group affiliation to agroholdings on enterprise performance in terms of productivity and efficiency is controversially discussed in the literature. However, only few papers evaluate the effects of group membership on the productivity and the efficiency of agricultural enterprises in Russia. The underlying research question of this paper is therefore whether farms that belong to agroholdings perform better than independent farms. We calculate partial land and labor productivity, total factor productivity and technical efficiency scores for the two categories of independent farms and members of agroholdings. In this paper a production function approach is estimated in the framework of stochastic frontier analysis. The results are used to decompose total factor productivity into a scale effect, a technological change effect and a technical efficiency effect. The results show a different trend than observed in previous studies. The growth of agroholdings total factor productivity exceeds by far the development of the independent farms and that group affiliation has a positive impact on the performance of the farm. |
| Keywords: | Agroholding, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Efficiency, Total Factor Productivity, Russia, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114579&r=eff |
| By: | Kellermann, Magnus; Salhofer, Klaus |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes technical efficiency and productivity growth of dairy farms in southern Germany. We compare the performance of farms operating on permanent grassland and conventional farms using fodder crops from arable land. Using a latent class stochastic frontier model, intensive and extensive production systems are identified for both types of farms. We estimate stochastic output distance functions to represent the production technology. TFP change is calculated and decomposed using a generalized Malmquist productivity index. Our results show that grassland farms can in general keep up with conventional farms. The productivity on intensive (extensive) grassland dairy farms grew by 1.15% (0.93%) per year, compared to 1.19% (intensive) and 1.0% (extensive) on conventional farms. |
| Keywords: | productivity, dairy farming, stochastic frontier analysis, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114763&r=eff |
| By: | Hahlbrock, Konstantin; Hockmann, Heinrich |
| Abstract: | The impact of group affiliation to agroholdings on enterprise performance in terms of productivity and efficiency is controversially discussed in the literature. However, only few papers evaluate the effects of group membership on the productivity and efficiency of agricultural enterprises in Russia. The underlying research question of this paper is therefore whether farms that belong to agroholdings perform better than independent farms. We calculate partial land and labor productivity, total factor productivity (TFP) and technical efficiency scores for the two categories of independent farms and members of agroholdings. In this paper a production function approach is estimated in the framework of stochastic frontier analysis. The results are used to decompose TFP into a technological change effect and a technical efficiency effect. The results show a different trend than observed in previous studies. We show that the growth of agroholdingsâ TFP exceeds by far the development of the TFP of independent farms and that group affiliation has a positive impact on the performance of farms. |
| Keywords: | Agroholding, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Efficiency, Total Factor Productivity, Russia, Agroholding, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Effizienz, Total Factor Productivity, Russland, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi11:114508&r=eff |
| By: | Tonini, Axel; Matus, Silvia Saravia; Gomez y Paloma, Sergio |
| Abstract: | This paper computes and analyses total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates for tropical agricultural systems in Central-Western Africa and South-East Asia. Two regions that despite sharing common agro-ecological conditions, have pursued different adoption rates of green revolution technology and have reported dissimilar yields per hectare. A panel data set is constructed for the period 1987-2007 from the FAOSTAT database. A Bayesian stochastic frontier model with country specific temporal variation in technical efficiency is estimated. Technical efficiency estimates reveal that there is substantial room for improvement in both continental sub-sets and that TFP estimates show on average larger rates of growth for South-East Asian countries as compared to Central-Western African countries. Results indicate that TFP is mostly driven by technical change and countries such as Benin, and Gambia display catch-up. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian Inference, Stochastic Production Frontier, Time Varying Technical Inefficiency, Total Factor Productivity Growth, Tropical Agricultural Systems, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, C15, D24, O47, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:116088&r=eff |
| By: | Chemak, Fraj |
| Abstract: | In order to cope with the water scarcity, Tunisia has to manage efficiently the water demand of the economic and social sectors mainly that of the agricultural irrigated activities. Within this context, this investigation aims to analyze the technical efficiency, the water use efficiency and the dynamic of the productivity of the irrigated areas in the Sidi Bouzid region. Farm surveys have been carried out during 2003 and 2007 cropping years and technology performance has been assessed using Data Envelopment Analysis approach. Malmquist index has been also computed in order to characterize the productivity change. Empirical findings showed that the technical efficiency of the farms has increased by 17% during this period leading to an improvement of the water use efficiency up to 22%. Both, the technical efficiency change as well as the technical change reveal a positive impact on the productivity change. However, in 2007, the water use efficiency was only 78%. Therefore, farmers have to improve further their irrigated practices in order to save more water. |
| Keywords: | Irrigated Area, Technical Efficiency, Water Use Efficiency, Productivity Change, Data Envelopment Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114311&r=eff |
| By: | Boon Lee (QUT) |
| Abstract: | The current study was motivated by statements made by the Economic Strategies Committee that Singapore's recent productivity levels in services were well below countries such as the US, Japan and Hong Kong. Massive employment of foreign workers was cited as the reason for poor productivity levels. To shed more light on Singapore's falling productivity, a nonparametric Malmquist productivity index was employed which provides measures of productivity change, technical change and efficiency change. The findings reveal that growth in total factor productivity was attributed to technical change with no improvement in efficiency change. Such results suggest that gains from TFP were input-driven rather than from a 'best-practice' approach such as improvements in operations or better resource allocation. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency, productivity; Malmquist indices; Singapore services |
| JEL: | G21 D24 |
| Date: | 2011–09–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:dpaper:269&r=eff |
| By: | Furesi, Roberto; Madau, Fabio A.; Pulina, Pietro |
| Abstract: | Sardinia (Italy) is one of the most important European regions for sheep dairy and sheep milk cheese production. However the Sardinian sheep dairy industry is currently going through a dramatic crisis, and verifying whether it can recover part of its profitability is now a priority. Attention is now focused on estimating whether the sheep dairy firms can improve their productivity by more efficient use of their available technical resources. This paper aims to estimate technical efficiency in the Sardinian sheep dairy industry. A stochastic frontier analysis approach was used on panel data from 36 sheep dairy firms over the period 2004-2009 in order to assess whether there are some margins for technical improvements in productivity, given the existing level of technology. A comparative analysis of private firms and cooperatives was also carried out, in order to establish if there were differences in the technology they used and/or their efficiency in using technical inputs. Our findings suggest that there is technological homogeneity among the firms and between private firms and cooperatives. Technical efficiency is equal to 0.905 and it is significantly different between private firms (0.933) and cooperatives (0.877). Our findings have certain implications for what policies should be implemented in order to improve efficiency in the sector and on the orientation of decision makers strategies. |
| Keywords: | Sheep dairy industry, technical efficiency, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), private firms and cooperatives, Sardinia, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114348&r=eff |
| By: | Dhehibi, Boubaker |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to measure productive efficiency of irrigation water efficiency based on the concept of technical efficiency and compared among different sizes farms in Tunisia. The proposed methodology is applied to a randomly selected sample of 144 citrus growing farms and differentiated by size (small, medium and large farms). A stochastic production frontier approach, based on Battese and Coelliâs (1995) inefficiency effect model, is used to obtain farm-specific estimates of technical and irrigation water efficiency. The last step of the analysis consists on the identification of the factors influencing irrigation water efficiency differentials across citrus growing farms. Empirical results show that estimated mean technical efficiency ranges from a minimum of 12.82% to a maximum of 90.69% with an average estimate of 67.73%. This result means that 32.3% increase in production is possible with the present state of technology and unchanged input uses, if technical inefficiency is completely removed. Thus, improving technical efficiency will result to significant increases in framerâs revenue and profit. On the other hand, mean irrigation water efficiency is found to be 53%, which is much lower than technical efficiency and also exhibits greater variability ranging from 1.6% to 98.87%. Estimated mean irrigation water efficiency implies that the observed quantity of marketable citrus could have been maintained by using the observed values of other inputs while using 47.0% less of irrigation water. This means that farmerâs can achieve significant savings in water use by improving irrigation system technologies. |
| Keywords: | Water Efficiency, stochastic frontier production function, small, medium and large citrus farms, Tunisia, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114441&r=eff |
| By: | Latruffe, Laure; Bravo-Ureta, Boris E.; Moreira, Victor H.; Desjeux, Yann; Dupraz, Pierre |
| Abstract: | The major objective of this paper is to examine the association between agricultural subsidies and farm efficiency using data from the European Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for operations specializing on dairy. The analysis covers the 18 year period going from 1990 to 2007 and includes the following seven countries: Denmark; France; Germany; Ireland; Spain; the Netherlands; and the United Kingdom. Separate translog stochastic input distance frontiers are estimated for each country. The key results show high average technical efficiency (TE) ranging from 91.8% to 94.9%, average rates of technological change going from -0.6% to 1.4%, and increasing returns to scale (1.24 to 1.44) across all seven countries. In addition, higher subsidy and hired labor dependence are found to be significantly associated with higher technical inefficiency across all seven countries. Moreover, the latest Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) regime introducing fully decoupled payments has reduced TE in all countries considered except Denmark. |
| Keywords: | Subsidies, CAP, technical efficiency, technological progress, returns to scale, Europe, dairy production, input distance frontiers, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114396&r=eff |
| By: | Nivievskyi, Oleg |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114609&r=eff |
| By: | Schmidt-Ehmcke, Jens; Zloczysti, Petra |
| Abstract: | This paper identifies the leading country-industry combinations that define the world technology frontier in manufacturing. Using a unique industry dataset compiled from EU KLEMS and PATSTAT, it explores which countries and industries reveal the most efficient innovation processes. We combine a traditional nonparametric frontier approach with super-efficiency and tests for return to scale properties using bootstrap procedures to derive consistent and robust efficiency estimates. Our analysis of 17 OECD countries and 13 industries between 2000 and 2004 shows that Germany, the United States, and Denmark have the highest R&D efficiency on average in total manufacturing. However, sector-specific efficiency scores reveal substantial variation across countries. The principal industries determining the technology frontier are electrical and optical equipment, machinery, and chemical and mineral products. Our results suggest that in case of limited resources, priority should be given to the industries that promise the largest output for the available amount of investment. Instead of generally increasing the R&D-to-GDP ratio--as suggested in the Lisbon Agenda--policymakers might target future R&D efforts to those industries that are economically important and reveal excellent performance. |
| Keywords: | data envelopment analysis; manufacturing; patents; R&D efficiency; technology frontier |
| JEL: | C14 L60 O31 O57 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8579&r=eff |
| By: | de Mey, Yann; Vancauteren, Mark; Van Passel, Steven |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114448&r=eff |
| By: | Blasejczyk-Majka, Lucyna; Kala, Radoslaw; Maciejewski, Krzysztof |
| Abstract: | data contained in the Farm Accounting Data Network (FADN). Analyses covered the first four years following the extension of the European Union in 2004. The adopted units comprised average farms representing 80 regions belonging to eleven countries of EU-15 and four new EU member states. Estimation of the Malmquist total factor productivity (TFP) and its components was conducted using data envelopment analysis, separately for each of the two types of farms taking into consideration their economic size. The main findings concerning the pure technical efficiency change indicate that in the units from the old regions there was a slight improvement for field crop farms and stagnation for mixed farms, and a decrease in the units from the new regions, being bigger for mixed farms and smaller for field crop farms. The biggest effect was observed for the technical change index, with a bigger increase for crop farms from old regions than those from the new member states. The estimated Malmquist index confirms a conjecture that the more specialized farms more effectively improve overall productivity than mixed farms, where modernization efforts are more scattered. At the same time the average growth rate of TFP in crop farms from the EU-15 regions in the analyzed period was much faster that in analogous farms from the new regions. For mixed farms the difference in the rate of change was similar, but at a much lower level. |
| Keywords: | data envelopment analysis, technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change, Malmquist index, Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114254&r=eff |
| By: | Boon Lee (QUT); Andrew Worthington (Griffith University) |
| Abstract: | Between 2001 and 2005, the US airline industry faced financial turmoil. At the same time, the European airline industry entered a period of substantive deregulation. This period witnessed opportunities for low-cost carriers to become more competitive in the market as a result of these combined events. To help assess airline performance in the aftermath of these events, this paper provides new evidence of technical efficiency for 42 national and international airlines in 2006 using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) bootstrap approach first proposed by Simar and Wilson (J Econ, 136:31-64, 2007). In the first stage, technical efficiency scores are estimated using a bootstrap DEA model. In the second stage, a truncated regression is employed to quantify the economic drivers underlying measured technical efficiency. The results highlight the key role played by non-discretionary inputs in measures of airline technical efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Data envelopment analysis, efficiency, airlines, bootstrap truncated regression, non-discretionary inputs. |
| JEL: | D24 L93 |
| Date: | 2011–09–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:dpaper:271&r=eff |
| By: | Sumelius, John; Islam, K.M. Zahidul; Sipilainen, Timo |
| Abstract: | This paper measures profit efficiency and examines the effect of access to microfinance on the performance of rice firms in Bangladesh. An extended Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier profit function was used to assess profit efficiency and profit loss of rice farmers in Bangladesh in a survey data of 360 farms throughout the 2008-2009 growing seasons. Model diagnostics reveal that serious selection bias exists that justifies the uses of sample selection model in stochastic frontier models. After effectively correcting for selectivity bias, the mean profit efficiency of the microfinance borrowers and non-borrowers were estimated at 68% and 52% respectively, thereby suggesting that a considerable share of profits were lost due to profit inefficiencies in rice production. The results from the inefficiency effect model show that householdsâ age, extension visits, off-farm income, region and the farm size are the significant determinants of inefficiency. Some indicative policy recommendations based on these findings have been suggested. |
| Keywords: | Stochastic frontier function, Profit efficiency, Selection bias, Bangladesh, Microfinance, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:116067&r=eff |
| By: | Jan, Pierrick |
| Abstract: | In view of a probable free trade agreement between Switzerland and the European Union in the agricultural and food sector and as a consequence of their actual low competitiveness in international comparison, Swiss dairy farms are under pressure to increase their productivity. In the present contribution I assess the total factor productivity (TFP) change in the period 1999-2008 of a balanced panel of 118 dairy farms located in the mountain region using the Malmquist productivity index. Particular attention is paid thereby to the issue of deflation quality for monetary input and output variables, and to the consideration of direct payments. The yearly average TFP growth rate of the sample of farms investigated amounts to 1% and is very close to the levels observed in European countries showing some similarities with Switzerland from an agricultural perspective. There seems thus to be some initial evidence that Swiss dairy farms located in the mountain region can keep up with their European counterparts in terms of TFP growth. However, due to the actual productivity gap existing between Swiss farms and their European counterparts, higher TFP growth would be necessary for the Swiss farms to increase their competitiveness in a European comparison. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114455&r=eff |
| By: | Verschelde, Marijn; D'Haese, Marijke F.C.; Vandamme, Ellen; Rayp, Glenn |
| Abstract: | We use a nonparametric estimation of the production function to investigate the relation- ship between farm productivity and farming scale in poor smallholder agricultural systems in the north of Burundi. Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a predominant small scale subsistence farming sector. A Kernel regression is used on data of mixed cropping systems to study the determinants of production including dierent factors that have been identied in literature as missing variables in the testing of the inverse relationship such as soil quality, loca- tion and household heterogeneity. Household data on farm activities and crop production was gathered among 640 households in 2007 in two Northern provinces of Burundi. Four production models were speci ed each with dierent control variables. For the relatively small farms, we nd clear evidence of an inverse relationship. The relatively large farms show a dierent pattern. Returns to scale are found to be farm scale dependent. Parametric Cobb-Douglass models tend to over-simplify the debate on returns to scale because of not accounting for the dierent eects of large farms. Other factors that signicantly positively aect production include the soil quality and production orientation towards banana or cash crop production. Production seems to be negatively aected by eld fragmentation. |
| Keywords: | inverse relationship, farm size, nonparametric, Burundi, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:115550&r=eff |
| By: | Fernandez-Haddad, Zaira; Quiroga, Sonia |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we assess the output-oriented technical efficiency of agricultural production functions in order to compare, over time, economic and environmental production processes in the different regions of the Spanish Ebro basin, in a climate change context. The measurement of technical efficiency in agriculture can provide useful information about the competitiveness of farms and their potential to increase its productivity moreover can help in the crops adaptation to water pressure by improving the management of scarce resources. Here, we generate an agricultural water efficiency index to evaluate the adaptation of some Mediterranean crops to the water pressures in this area. We estimate frontier production functions and technical efficiency measures, using panel data models. This will allow us to observe changes in production due to individual specific effects and those that are time specific. To characterize our model, we use historical data, about crop yields, water requirements and climate as well as socio-economic and geographical aspects of the most representative crops in the provinces of the Ebro basin during 1976-2007. Then we generate a ranking of the most efficient crops across geographical areas, given their water use and other inputs, to evaluate policy scenarios with adjustments in water supply. |
| Keywords: | water efficiency index in agriculture, Ebro basin, climate change adaptation, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114358&r=eff |
| By: | Pardey, Philip G. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar11:114719&r=eff |
| By: | Satoshi Honma (Faculty of Economics, Kyushu Sangyo University); Jin-Li Hu (Institute of Business and Management, National Chiao Tung University) |
| Abstract: | This study computes and analyzes the total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of 11 industries in 14 developed countries during the period of 1995-2005 using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. There are four inputs: labor, capital stock, intermediate inputs other than energy, and energy. The value added is the only output. The most inefficient industry is the metal industry, which has an average TFEE of 40.6%. Australia is the most inefficient country, with the lowest weighted TFEE in every year except for 1996 and 1998. The most efficient countries are the United States from 1995 to 1998, Denmark from 1999 to 2002, and Netherlands from 2003 to 2005. Given that the number of efficient industries decreases over time, it is clear that most industries have room to improve their energy efficiency as time goes by. Moreover, based on the total-factor framework, this study finds no support for the convergence of energy efficiency levels. |
| Keywords: | Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Total-factor energy efficiency; Industry-level analysis |
| JEL: | Q40 Q30 Q32 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyu:dpaper:51&r=eff |
| By: | Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj (University of Southern Denmark); Munch, Jakob Roland (University of Copenhagen); Skaksen, Jan Rose (Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | While most countries welcome (and some even subsidise) high-skilled immigrants, there is very limited evidence of their importance for domestic firms. To guide our empirical analysis, we first set up a simple theoretical model to show how foreign experts may impact on the productivity and wages of domestic firms. Using matched worker-firm data from Denmark and a difference-indifferences matching approach, we then find that firms that hire foreign experts – defined as employees eligible for reduced taxation under the Danish "Tax scheme for foreign researchers and key employees" – both become more productive (pay higher wages) and increase their exports of goods and services. |
| Keywords: | foreign experts, export, immigrants, productivity, difference-in-differences matching |
| JEL: | F22 J24 J31 J61 L2 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6001&r=eff |
| By: | Barnes, Andrew P.; Revoredo-Giha, Cesar |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114807&r=eff |
| By: | Boon Lee (QUT) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs the industry of origin approach to compare value added and productivity of Singapore and Hong Kong's Distribution Trade Sector for the period 2001-2008. The direct comparison between these two economies was motivated by the statements of the Singapore government: Its services sector, especially in Retail Trade, lags behind Hong Kong's productivity levels. The results show that since 2005, Singapore's Distribution performance in terms of labour productivity was below Hong Kong's level, which was largely due to poor performance in its Retail Trade sector arising from an influx of foreign workers. Results from total factor productivity (TFP) between these two economies also suggest that Hong Kong's better performance (since 2005) was largely due to its ability to employ more educated and trained workers with limited use of capital. The results suggest that polices that worked in Hong Kong may not work for Singapore because its population is more diverse which poses a challenge to policy-makers in raising its productivity level. |
| Keywords: | purchasing power parities; distribution trade; wholesale trade; retail trade; total factor productivity; labour productivity |
| JEL: | C43 D24 L81 O47 |
| Date: | 2011–09–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:dpaper:270&r=eff |
| By: | Bojnec, Stefan; Ferto, Imre |
| Abstract: | Impact of Off-farm Income on Farm Efficiency in Slovenia |
| Keywords: | Off-farm income, Stochastic frontier analysis, Panel regression, Quantile regression, Slovenia, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114258&r=eff |
| By: | Paolo VENERI (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali); David BURGALASSI (Universit… di Pisa, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche) |
| Abstract: | This work is an investigation of how spatial structure affects labour productivity in Italian provinces. The analysis draws on agglomeration theories, and analyzes whether agglomeration benefits are dependent on the way activities are spatially organized within regions. Urban spatial structures have declined in terms of size, dispersion and polycentricity. Using instrumental variables and spatial econometric techniques, we assess the effects of spatial structure for the 103 Italian NUTS-3 regions. The findings include negative impacts of both polycentricity and dispersion and a positive impact of size. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration externalities, Dispersion, Polycentricity, Productivity, Spatial structure |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R14 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:364&r=eff |
| By: | Viet-Ngu Hoang (QUT) |
| Abstract: | This article presents a two-stage analytical framework that integrates ecological crop (animal) growth and economic frontier production models to analyse the productive efficiency of crop (animal) production systems. The ecological crop (animal) growth model estimates "potential" output levels given the genetic characteristics of crops (animals) and the physical conditions of locations where the crops (animals) are grown (reared). The economic frontier production model estimates "best practice" production levels, taking into account economic, institutional and social factors that cause farm and spatial heterogeneity. In the first stage, both ecological crop growth and economic frontier production models are estimated to calculate three measures of productive efficiency: (1) technical efficiency, as the ratio of actual to "best practice" output levels; (2) agronomic efficiency, as the ratio of actual to "potential" output levels; and (3) agro-economic efficiency, as the ratio of "best practice" to "potential" output levels. Also in the first stage, the economic frontier production model identifies factors that determine technical efficiency. In the second stage, agro-economic efficiency is analysed econometrically in relation to economic, institutional and social factors that cause farm and spatial heterogeneity. The proposed framework has several important advantages in comparison with existing proposals. Firstly, it allows the systematic incorporation of all physical, economic, institutional and social factors that cause farm and spatial heterogeneity in analysing the productive performance of crop and animal production systems. Secondly, the location-specific physical factors are not modelled symmetrically as other economic inputs of production. Thirdly, climate change and technological advancements in crop and animal sciences can be modelled in a "forward-looking" manner. Fourthly, knowledge in agronomy and data from experimental studies can be utilised for socio-economic policy analysis. The proposed framework can be easily applied in empirical studies due to the current availability of ecological crop (animal) growth models, farm or secondary data, and econometric software packages. The article highlights several directions of empirical studies that researchers may pursue in the future. |
| Keywords: | agro-economic efficiency, agronomic efficiency, crop growth model, frontier production model, farm heterogeneity, spatial heterogeneity |
| JEL: | D24 Q12 Q16 |
| Date: | 2011–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:dpaper:268&r=eff |
| By: | Martinovska-Stojcheska, Aleksandra; Surry, Yves R. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the production and productivity growth of Macedonian agriculture. Furthermore, having in mind the distinctive dual structure of Macedonian agriculture, this study investigates the differences in productivity surplus between family farms and agricultural companies. In the period from 1998 to 2008, the sector experienced an increase in terms of volume with an average annual rate of 0.8%, and a productivity or growth rate of 0.7% per annum. The partial productivity of the production factors generally increased throughout the whole period. The productivity growth mainly originated from the increase in agricultural output prices and was distributed to the input suppliers. Additionally, an important benefit was received by family labour with 1.5% of the surplus. Family farms proved to be more consistent in production and productivity growth, despite their small and heterogenic features. In contrast, the production and productivity levels at agricultural companies seem to follow a decreasing trend. The decision makers should consider the source and allocation of productivity gains when formulating the agricultural and rural development policy. This approach also provides ground for monitoring and assessment of the policy, through measurement of the distribution of the increasing governmental support and the EU pre-accession funds. |
| Keywords: | productivity gains, surplus accounts, Macedonian agriculture, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114667&r=eff |
| By: | Rasmussen, Svend |
| Abstract: | This paper uses representative farm account data for 1985-2007 to estimate stochastic production frontiers in the form of input distance functions for Danish crop, dairy and pig farms. The objective is to study and compare scale economies for the three farm types. The estimated technical efficiency is relatively constant over time for all three farm types, but the elasticity of scale differs. Although the size of all farm types has increased considerably during the last 20 years, more than 95 % of the crop farms and 85 % of the dairy and pig farms are still below the estimated technical optimal scale of production. The results support the hypothesis that the restrictions concerning the amalgamation of farms and the purchase of farm land have seriously prevented Danish farmers, and especially cash crop farmers, from taking full advantage of scale economies. |
| Keywords: | Scale economies, agriculture, SPF, input distance function, technical optimal scale, elasticity of scale, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114790&r=eff |
| By: | Kumbhakar, Subal C.; Lien, Gudbrand; Hardaker, J. Brian |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114673&r=eff |
| By: | Bakhsh, Khuda |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114234&r=eff |
| By: | Bakucs, Lajos Zoltan; Ferto, Imre; Latruffe, Laure; Desjeux, Yann; Soboh, Rafat; Dolman, Mark |
| Abstract: | Technical efficiency has long been analysed as a measure of farm performance, however most studies are restricted to a single country case. This paper presents a comparative analysis of field crop and dairy farm performance across eight EU countries, including two New Member States (NMS), focusing on long run stability and mobility patterns. The main research question is how relative performance of farms fluctuates over time, i.e. whether poorly performing farms remain always inefficient whilst some farms are always very efficient. Results show that on average 60% of farms maintain their efficiency ranking in two consecutive years, whilst 20% improve and 20% worsen their positions, for all countries. Due to the unstable economic conditions, farms in NMS are more mobile than those in EU15. |
| Keywords: | Farm technical efficiency, SFA, FADN, stability analysis, Farm Management, P52, Q12, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114235&r=eff |
| By: | Wang, Xiaobing; Yu, Xiaohua |
| Abstract: | Using a panel dataset from Zhejiang province in China over the period 1995-2002, we propose a two-step estimation procedure to investigate the links between land lease activity and production efficiency. We find that the output elasticity with respect to land, the scale effect and the technical efficiency are higher for farmers involved in land-lease activities. In addition, technical efficiency and land-lease activity are endogenous, and farmers with higher technical efficiency are more likely to lease more land and adopt advanced technologies to achieve higher profits, which in turn alters the technical efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Land Lease, Land Use Rights, Technical Efficiency, Scale Effect, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Q15, P23, D50, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:115736&r=eff |
| By: | Lambarraa, Fatima |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114408&r=eff |
| By: | Ozgen, Ceren (VU University Amsterdam); Nijkamp, Peter (VU University Amsterdam); Poot, Jacques (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | Due to the growth in international migration in recent decades, the workforce of firms in host countries has become considerably more diverse, both demographically and culturally. It is an important question for firms and for governments to ask whether there are some productivity-enhancing externalities gained from this growing diversity within firms. In recent years migration research has demonstrated positive economic impacts of cultural diversity on productivity and innovation at the regional level. However, there is a dearth of research on the links between innovation and migrant diversity at the firm level. In this paper we construct and analyse a unique linked employer-employee micro-dataset of 4582 firms, based on survey and administrative data obtained from Statistics Netherlands. Excluding firms in the hospitality industry and other industries that employ low-skilled migrants, we use the local number of restaurants with foreign cuisines and the historical presence of migrant communities as valid instruments of endogenous migrant settlement. We find that firms in which foreigners account for a relatively large share of employment are somewhat less innovative. However, there is strong evidence that firms that employ a more diverse foreign workforce are more innovative, particularly in terms of product innovations. |
| Keywords: | immigration, innovation, cultural diversity, knowledge spillovers, linked employer-employee data, Netherlands |
| JEL: | F22 O31 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6000&r=eff |
| By: | Blanchard, Pierre; Huiban, Jean-Pierre; Mathieu, Claude |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114526&r=eff |
| By: | Andries De Grip (Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn); Jan Sauermann (Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of work-related training on worker productivity. To identify the causal effects from training, we combine a field experiment that randomly assigns workers to treatment and control groups with panel data on individual worker performance before and after training. We find that participation in the training programme leads to a 10 percent increase in performance. Moreover, we provide experimental evidence for externalities from treated workers on their untreated teammates: An increase of 10 percentage points in the share of treated peers leads to a performance increase of 0.51 percent. We provide evidence that the estimated effects are causal and not the result of employee selection into and out of training. Furthermore, we find that the performance increase is not due to lower quality provided by the worker. |
| Keywords: | Training, field experiment, peer effects, productivity |
| JEL: | J24 M53 C93 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0067&r=eff |
| By: | Bontemps, Christophe; Nauges, Celine; Requillart, Vincent; Simioni, Michel |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114262&r=eff |
| By: | Hasanov, Shavkat |
| Abstract: | Water scarcity and land degradation increases led to a sharp rise in input resourceâs costs. These developments make it increasingly difficult for agricultural farms to produce according to the demand for food and other commodities, especially owing a rapid population growth. The present study aims to focus on scarce resource use in the agricultural production of the Zarafshan valley by means of the efficiency analysis. A DEA model is estimated to investigate the farm level efficiency levels with respect to the use of the limited resources available to the farmers. By the application of linear programming methods a âbest practice frontier is estimatedâ, classifying farms on the frontier as efficient and others as inefficient with respect to different scales. Technical and allocative efficiencies are calculated relative to the frontier. Results shows input resources are not used efficiently and a great majority of farms could effectively reduce considerable amounts of input use by still producing the same output. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114563&r=eff |
| By: | Mondelaers, Koen; Kuosmanen, Timo; Van Passel, Steven; Buysse, Jeroen; Lauwers, Ludwig H.; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido |
| Abstract: | There is a high potential for simultaneously increasing sustainability of the earth system and economic development by removing inefficiencies currently present both at the production input and output side. In this paper a static view on sustainability is employed, by introducing capacity constraints as the boundaries above (or below) which the system cannot maintain its stable state. Currently these capacity constraints are often not respected. In this paper it is shown how the efficiency improvement pathway of an industry and the firms within it can be calculated to come to a sustainable, profit maximizing state, given the existence of these capacity constraints. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency analysis, sustainability, DEA, directional distance vectors, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114633&r=eff |
| By: | Czekaj, Tomasz; Henningsen, Arne |
| Abstract: | Econometric estimation of production functions is one of the most common methods in applied economic production analysis. These studies usually apply parametric estimation techniques, which obligate the researcher to specify the functional form of the production function. Most often, the Cobb-Douglas or the Translog production function is used. However, the specification of a functional form for the production function involves the risk of specifying a functional form that is not similar to the âtrueâ relationship between the inputs and the output. This misspecification might result in biased estimation resultsâincluding measures that are of interest of applied economists, such as elasticities. Therefore, we propose to use nonparametric econometric methods. First, they can be applied to verify the functional form used in parametric estimations of production functions. Second, they can be directly used for estimating production functions without specifying a functional form and thus, avoiding possible misspecification errors. We use a balanced panel data set of farms specialized in crop production that is constructed from Polish FADN data for the years 2004-2007. Our analysis shows that neither the Cobb-Douglas function nor the Translog function are consistent with the âtrueâ relationship between the inputs and the output in our data set. We solve this problem by using non-parametric regression. This approach delivers reasonable results, which are on average not too different from the results of the parametric estimations but many individual results are rather different. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114280&r=eff |
| By: | De Blander, Rembert; de Frahan, Bruno Henry |
| Abstract: | This paper provides some evidence on the evolution of marginal and average costs of dairy farms in Belgium between 1990 and 2007. It investigates the effect of the 2003 Mid-Term Review by adding time trends and linear splines to an augmented multi-input multi-output symmetric generalized McFadden cost function and estimating it using a panel of Belgian dairy farms. Existence of size, scale and scope economies in the dairy sub-sector is also examined. This exercise increases our understanding of dairy farm responses to reforms and helps envision the possible effects of ending the milk quota system as it is now planned for 2015. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114546&r=eff |
| By: | Heshmati, Almas (Korea University); Kumbhakar, Subal C. (Binghamton University, New York) |
| Abstract: | In the neoclassical production functions model technical change (TC) is assumed to be exogenous and it is specified as a function of time. However, some exogenous external factors other than time can also affect the rate of TC. In this paper we model TC via a combination of time trend (purely non-economic) and other observable exogenous factors, which we call technology shifters (economic factors). We use several composite technology indices based on appropriate combinations of the external economic factors which are indicators of different aspects of technology. These technology indices are embedded into the production function in such a way that they can complement to different inputs. By estimating the generalized production function, we get estimates of TC which is decomposed TC into a pure time component as well as several producer specific external economic factors. Furthermore, the technology shifters allow for non-neutral and biased shifts in TC. We also consider a simple model in which the technology shifters are aggregated into one single index. The empirical model uses panel data on OECD, accession and enhanced engagement countries observed during 1980-2006. |
| Keywords: | technical change, total factor productivity growth, technology indicator, technology shifter, OECD countries |
| JEL: | C33 C43 D24 O33 O47 O57 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6004&r=eff |
| By: | Henningsen, Geraldine; Henningsen, Arne; Henning, Christian H.C.A. |
| Abstract: | All business transactions as well as achieving innovations take up resources, subsumed under the concept of transaction costs (TAC). One of the major factors in TAC theory is information. Information networks can catalyse the interpersonal information exchange and hence, increase the access to nonpublic information. Our analysis shows that information networks have an impact on the level of TAC. Many resources that are sacrificed for TAC are inputs that also enter the technical production process. As most production data do not separate between these two usages of inputs, high transaction costs are unveiled by reduced productivity. A cross-validated local linear non-parametric regression shows that good information networks increase the productivity of farms. A bootstrapping procedure confirms that this result is statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114547&r=eff |
| By: | Casasnovas, Valero L.; Aldanondo, Ana Maria |
| 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 our 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. Our work 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, panel data, milk, animal feed, dairy farms, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114316&r=eff |
| By: | Amiri, Arshia; Ventelou, Bruno |
| Abstract: | This paper integrates data envelopment analysis (DEA) and artificial neural networks (ANN) to forecast the role of public expenditure in economic growth in OCDE countries. The results show that this approach is a powerful and appropriate method to forecast this role. DEA method allows us to develop a neutral evaluation, unbiased a priori by any type of criteria, of the proportions in which the goal of productive spending is pursued, for any expenditure. Then we apply ANN to forecast economic growth by using input data taken at frontier. At the end of the DEA-ANN chain, prediction-power tests appear positive: best structures of multiple hidden layers indicate more ability to forecast according to best structures of single hidden layer but the difference between those is not much. |
| Keywords: | DEA method; Economic growth; Public expenditure; Artificial neural network; OCDE countries |
| JEL: | C53 G18 G38 H5 |
| Date: | 2011–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33955&r=eff |
| By: | Henningsen, Arne; Kumbhakar, Subal C.; Lien, Gudbrand |
| Abstract: | The effect of subsidies on farm production has been a major topic in agricultural economics for several decades. We present a new approach for analyzing the effects of different types of coupled and decoupled subsidies on farm production with econometric methods. In contrast to most previous studies, our approach is entirely based on a theoretical microeconomic model, explicitly allows subsidies to have an impact on input use, and takes linkages between the farm and the farm household into account. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114548&r=eff |
| By: | Sipilainen, Timo; Huhtala, Anni |
| Abstract: | Targeted environmental policies for farmlands may improve the cost-efficiency of conservation programs if one can identify the farms that produce public goods, or environmental outputs, with the least cost. We derive shadow values of producing crop diversity on conventional and organic crop farms to examine their opportunity costs of conservation. Non-parametric distance functions are estimated by applying data envelopment analysis to a sample of Finnish crop farms for the period 1994 â 2002. Our results show that there is variation in the shadow values between farms and the technologies adopted. The extent of cost heterogeneity and farmsâ potential for specialization in the production of environmental outputs determine whether voluntary programs such as auctions for conservation payments are economically reasonable. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, Shannon index, DEA, distance functions, shadow values, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, C21, D24, H41, Q12, Q24, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114527&r=eff |
| By: | Anthony Hannagan (Boston College); Hideo Konishi (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | Diamond and Mirrlees (1971) and Dasgupta and Stiglitz (1972) show that production efficiency is achieved under the optimal commodity tax when profit income is zero. Here, we consider the simplest possible model to analyze production efficiency in the presence of profit income: a tax reform problem in an economy with a representative consumer, two goods, and two firms with decreasing returns to scale technologies. We show that differentiating a uniform producer tax according to the inverse elasticity rule, while keeping government revenue constant, reduces additional distortions caused by the presence of profit income and improves social welfare. |
| Keywords: | production efficiency, inverse elasticity, profit income |
| JEL: | H21 |
| Date: | 2011–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:778&r=eff |
| By: | Jia, Lili; Petrick, Martin |
| Abstract: | Research on agricultural development in China has increasingly paid attention to the potentially negative effects of highly fragmented farm structures. This study provides a deeper theoretical understanding of the linkages between land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply and investigates this relationship empirically in a more direct and robust way than in the existing literature. Drawing upon a rural household panel dataset collected in Zhejiang, Hubei and Yunnan provinces from 1995-2002, we estimate the effects in two steps. First, we estimate the effect of land fragmentation on labor productivity using a time-demeaned translog production function. Second, we estimate the effect of land fragmentation on off-farm labor supply using Wooldridgeâs (1995) panel data sample selection model. The production function results show that land fragmentation indeed leads to lower agricultural labor productivity. It implies that land consolidation will make on-farm work more attractive and thus decrease off-farm labor supply. This conclusion is supported by a direct estimation of the off-farm labor supply function, but only for the group of farmers with the least involvement in off-farm labor. Our analysis suggests that, if more liberal land market policies and hardened property rights will allow more consolidated farmland in the future, this will not trigger a flood of former farmers leaving rural areas in search for alternative incomes. As it makes farm work more productive, it will rather provide an incentive to continue farming and raise agricultural productivity. |
| Keywords: | Land fragmentation, off-farm, labor supply, China, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi11:114522&r=eff |
| By: | M. Burker; C. Franco; G. A. Minerva |
| Abstract: | It is well established in the literature that foreign affiliates are subject to a series of governance and assimilation costs that deteriorate their performance. This is particularly relevant for firms which have been recently acquired by foreign investors. We employ the variation in civic capital across Italian provinces as an exogenous determinant of these governance costs. We derive the testable implication that there should be a clean evidence of a negative effect of foreign ownership on performance in areas where civic capital is low. As the level of local civic capital increases, this reduces the scope for internal transaction costs, and makes the governance of foreign affiliates easier, and their performance better. We take this prediction to the data and find confirmation of our conceptual framework. Our analysis underlines the importance of the geographic heterogeneity of informal institutions when analyzing the effect of foreign ownership on firm performance. |
| JEL: | F21 F23 D21 D23 R30 Z13 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp782&r=eff |
| By: | Cechura, Lukas; Hockmann, Heinrich |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114314&r=eff |
| By: | Hess, Sebastian; Surry, Yves R. |
| Abstract: | While the single- output Constant Difference of Elasticities (CDE) cost function has been applied several times, its profit counterpart called âthe Constant Difference of Elasticities of Transformationâ (CDET) profit frontier has not yet been applied econometrically. It is an indirect, implicit, non-homothetic and non-separable frontier that may be viewed as more flexible than the commonly used CES and Cobb-Douglas specifications, while demanding less parameters to be estimated than fully flexible functional forms commonly do. We therefore introduce the CDET profit function and illustrate its potential usefulness as a parsimonious econometric model of agricultural production in Switzerland. Results indicate plausible elasticities and a satisfactory fit to the data; however, successful estimation requires that certain theoretical characteristics of the CDET are exactly obeyed. |
| Keywords: | CDE, Profit function, Agricultural Sector, Functional Form, Switzerland, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114539&r=eff |
| By: | Anis Bouzouita (Faculté de Droit et des Sciences Economiques et Politiques de Sousse, Tunisie); Valérie Vierstraete (Département d'économique, GREDI, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada) |
| Abstract: | Dans cet article, nous évaluons l’efficience des instituts supérieurs des études technologiques tunisiens (ISET) avec la méthode non paramétrique du Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Il ressort des résultats empiriques que le fonctionnement de ces établissements se caractérise par une inefficience technique de l’ordre de 20%, pouvant s’expliquer à la fois par des problèmes de taille des établissements (inefficience d’échelle de 11% environ) et par des problèmes de gestion (inefficience pure de l’ordre de 10%). Les résultats montrent également qu’une majorité des ISET de notre échantillon fonctionnerait de façon optimale si leur échelle de production augmentait, ce qui peut se révéler des pistes de solutions pour les pouvoirs politiques voulant promouvoir le système éducatif supérieur en Tunisie. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis, enseignement supérieur, efficience technique, Tunisie |
| JEL: | D24 I22 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shr:wpaper:11-14&r=eff |
| By: | EDAMURA Kazuma; Laura HERING; INUI Tomohiko; Sandra PONCET |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether previous findings of only limited effects of investing abroad on the performance of parent firms can be explained by the aggregation of heterogeneous effects depending on the motive for foreign direct investment (FDI), sector, and location. Our results suggest, in line with previous work, that on average outward Japanese FDI has limited effects (either positive or negative) on the activity of internationalizing firms at home in the initial years after investment. However, our empirical findings confirm previous insights that the effect of moving abroad is heterogeneous depending on the affiliate sector (manufacturing versus non-manufacturing) and region of location (in USA or Europe versus in Asia). For FDI in the non-manufacturing sector located in USA or Europe, we find a positive impact on parent firm productivity. Further, we find a negative impact on parent firm employment from FDI in Asia. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:11069&r=eff |
| By: | José Falck-Zepeda; Siwa Mangi; Timothy Sulser; Patricia Zambrano; César Falconi |
| Abstract: | This report analyzes the current state of R&D in agricultural biotechnology in Latin America and the Caribbean in the context of development of the sector. The objectives of this report where first to estimate biofuel production potential based on current land use, productivity patterns and available technologies, examine the determinants of energy and biofuel supply and demand, and finally, develop a forward looking analysis of the long term impact of biofuel expansion in Latin America and its effects on prices, trade, food security, malnutrition and other indicators. The analysis of the current feedstock production possibilities show that most countries in Latin America continue to lag behind in terms of productivity, with a few exceptions. This conclusion leads to the need to further support strengthening the agricultural sector by improving input and output markets and value added chains. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture & Food Security :: Agricultural Policy, Agriculture & Food Security :: Agricultural Research & Extension, Science & Technology :: Research & Development |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:37798&r=eff |
| By: | Hess, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | The global trend of industrializing agriculture increasingly transforms farms and firms into specialized component suppliers within a multi-stage food processing chain, which creates intraindustry trade between- and within geographical regions. This can be analyzed within the framework of a hypothetical multiregional food-processing firm that benefits from outsourcing various âtasksâ to other sub-contracting regions, in order to utilize lower production cost there. This is modeled as a multi-output cost minimization problem of the processing firm, and it is argued that with respect to agriculture, the outsourcing opportunities for the firm are determined by economies of diversification. Trade is implicitly reflected as the movement of intermediate factors towards the processing firm, and firm-level specialization of the sub-contractors is an observable outcome. This framework is applied to pig production in 1150 municipalities in southern Germany. The estimated multi-output production frontier is decomposed according to a primal measure of diversification economies. Results show that pig farms located closer to slaughterhouses tend to specialize more in one of the tasks âpiglet productionâ, ârearingâ or âfatteningâ, while farms in regions distant from slaughterhouses tend to in-source all of these tasks. Future research may extend the framework towards comparative static analyses of relevant policies. |
| Keywords: | Outsourcing, Trade of Tasks, Economies of Diversification, Pig Production, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114537&r=eff |
| By: | Gerdessen, Johanna C.; Pascucci, Stefano |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114627&r=eff |
| By: | MacDonald, James M. |
| Abstract: | Agricultural production continues to shift to larger farms in the U.S. I show that the shift is persistent over time, large, and ubiquitous across commodities. I review theories of farm size, and classify three channels for analysis: 1) scale effects, through technological economies and managerial diseconomies; 2) the roles of relative factor prices and factor shares; and 3) policy and institutions. Finally, I evaluate the empirical evidence on the forces driving structural change, distinguishing between crops and livestock because of important differences in the role of scale economies and coordination, and I offer some directions for the future. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi11:115361&r=eff |
| By: | Bahta, Sirak Teclemariam; Berner, Anja; Offermann, Frank |
| Abstract: | A central problem in estimating per unit costs of production originates from the fact that most farms produce multiple outputs and standard farm-accounting data are only available at the whole-farm level. The seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) approach is used to estimate per unit production costs based on German farm accountancy data. Special emphasis is put on outlier detection prior to the estimation of production costs to increase the robustness of the results. Outlier observations are identified based on the Mahalanobis distance for each observation on the data set. It was observed that less negative cost coefficients are estimated after the exclusion of the outliers. The time series analysis of cost estimation based on SUR regression shows the costs of arable crops after 2004, affected by rising prices of fertilizer, seeds and energy, while the increase of livestock production costs after 2006 is attributed to feed costs. |
| Keywords: | Multi-output, outlier detection, production costs, Seemingly Unrelated Regression, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114233&r=eff |
| By: | Gomez, Carlos Mario; Gutierrez, Carlos |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the conditions under which increasing technical efficiency of water use in the agricultural sector might not reduce water demand and pressures on water ecosystems. Departing from this basic problem we discuss how policy measures performed to enhance water productivity in the agriculture might be transformed into effective alternatives to improve the conservation of water resources and then guarantee the successful implementation of the Water Framework Directive. A preference revelation model is presented in the third section of the paper and one empirical application to an irrigation district in southern Spain is used in the fourth section to discuss the effectiveness of water savings measures. |
| Keywords: | Water Framework Directive, Water Economics, Agricultural Economics, Simulation Models, Preference Revelation., Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114622&r=eff |
| By: | Perekhozhuk, Oleksandr; Hockmann, Heinrich; Bakucs, Lajos Zoltan; Ferto, Imre |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to provide an alternative model which can be used to test for oligopsony market power applying plant-level data. For this purpose, we took into account empirical studies and specific developments in the Hungarian dairy industry and specified a model that provides useful benchmarks for an econometric test of market power. The results of the econometric analysis show that the effects from policy changes in Hungary, as well as from plant specific issues are highly statistically significant, and produce evidence suggesting the exercise of oligopsony market power in the Hungarian dairy industry. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114768&r=eff |
| By: | Bamiere, Laure; David, Maia; Vermont, Bruno |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to compare different policy instruments for cost-effective habitat conservation on agricultural lands, when the desired spatial pattern of reserves is a random mosaic. We use a spatially explicit mathematical programming model which studies the farmers' behavior as profit maximizers under technical and administrative constraints. Facing different policy measures, each farmer chooses its land-use at the field level, which determines the landscape at the regional level. A spatial pattern index (Ripley L function) is then associated to the obtained landscape, indicating on the degree of dispersion of the reserve. We compare a subsidy per hectare of reserve with an auction scheme and an agglomeration malus. We find that the auction is superior to the uniform subsidy both for cost-efficiency and for the spatial pattern of the reserve. The agglomeration malus does better than the auction for the spatial pattern but is more costly. |
| Keywords: | agri-environmental policies, biodiversity, mathematical programming, spatial optimization, reserve design, cost-eciency, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, H23, Q57, Q12, Q28, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114239&r=eff |
| By: | Matyukha, Andriy; Perekhozhuk, Oleksandr; Saraykin, Valeriy; Uzun, Vasilii |
| Abstract: | This study conveys the impact of corporate ownership on economic performance of agroholdings â integrated agricultural, processing, marketing, financial and industrial business units in Russiaâs agro-food sector. Using a unique database of the All-Russian Nikonov-Institute of Agrarian Problems and Informatics, we investigate 151 agroholdings in Russia and evaluate their economic performances for 2006. Applying the multiple linear regression analysis we were able to quantify corporate ownership and analyze a priori unobserved factors. The results of the econometric estimation reveal that state ownership exerts negative influence on the economic performance of agroholdings. |
| Keywords: | Agroholding, Corporate Ownership, Performance, Russia, Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi11:115535&r=eff |
| By: | Renner, Swetlana; Hockmann, Heinrich; Glauben, Thomas |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114797&r=eff |