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on Efficiency and Productivity |
| By: | YAHATA, Tomonori; NAKATANI, Tomoaki; NAKASHIMA, Yasuhiro; SENDA, Tetsuji; FUJIE, Takeshi |
| Abstract: | The objective of this article is to analyze total factor productivity (TFP) change and its components of paddy farming that produces multiple outputs under policies controlling the production of food rice in Japan from 2004 to 2014. Using a parametric estimation technique of the Malmquist productivity index with a stochastic input distance function and farm-level panel data, we measure TFP change and decompose it into technical changes, a technical efficiency change, and scale efficiency changes. Results show that the TFP of paddy farming in Japan stagnated through the period, with moderate technological progress offset by deteriorating technical efficiency. The existence of technological progress and technical inefficiency is also confirmed by statistical testing. Technical change has some bias toward changing the output mix. Moreover, scale efficiency is also deteriorating, but all the farms produce under increasing returns to scale technology. Our results suggest that technical efficiency improvement and exploitation of scale economies are essential, as well as keeping an expansion of the technological frontier for Japanese paddy farming to recover its productivity growth. A historical process of Japanese agriculture would provide beneficial insights for other Monsoon Asian countries likely to experience social and economic transitions similar to those in Japan. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344326 |
| By: | Lambarraa-Lehnhardt, Fatima; Rosati, Adolfo; Hasnain, Syeda Aleena; Turchetti, Luca |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the interaction among potential and revealed resilience capacities, technical efficiency, and total factor productivity (TFP) in Italian olive farms using FADN data from 2013-2019. To achieve this objective, we use principal component analysis for evaluating potential resilience indicators and a stochastic frontier model (SFM) to assess farms' competitiveness and evaluate the impact of resilience measures on farms' efficiency and productivity. Results show that Italian olive farms exhibit higher resilience in transformability, followed by robustness and adaptability. Resilience indicators negatively impact technical efficiency. TFP growth is notably influenced by adaptability. Results suggest that balancing competitiveness and resilience is crucial to achieving a sustainable farming system. To face climate change challenges, policies should facilitate transitions to a climate-resilient farming system by incentivizing investments in climate adaptive technologies and designing careful subsidy programs that emphasize the long-term resilience benefits of sustainable farming practices rather than considering immediate efficiency gains. Farmer support through training and collaborative networks is vital to strengthening farms' adaptability and transformability capacities. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344256 |
| By: | Adebisi, Luke O.; Omotesho, Abayomi O.; Adebisi, Oluwaremilekun A. |
| Abstract: | Prior use of the stochastic frontier model and subsequent measurement of performance of the agricultural produce sector, which relies on the presumption that the underlying technology is the same for all the different agricultural systems is not adequate as heterogeneity does exist in most agricultural production environments and failure to account for this, is likely to result in biased production frontier and efficiency. This study contributed to the existing knowledge, estimating technical efficiency and the technological gap in Nigerian Small Ruminant farms using the stochastic meta-frontier approach. For this study, we classified the farms based on the different production technologies adopted. The result of the analysis shows that farms differ in performance and technology use with the farms engaging both orthodox and traditional animal healthcare technologies having the highest efficiency. Furthermore, the results prove support for specific agricultural policies targeted at increasing the performance of indigenous technology in the livestock industry for better productivity and the prosperity of Nigeria. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344262 |
| By: | Diro, Samuel; Mohammed, Ali; Getahun, Wudineh; Mamo, Tadele |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to estimate the technical efficiency measures of wheat-producing farmers in Ethiopia using the stochastic frontier panel model. Data from 3482 farm households collected in two rounds of panels (2011 and 2014) was used to estimate the Translog stochastic frontier production function and factors influencing technical efficiency with a one-step maximum likelihood estimator. The production frontier function involves land, seed, inorganic nitrogen, pesticide, oxen power, and labor. The model showed that more than 95% of the total variation in output was a result of factors within the control of the farmer. The result also indicated that land, seed, nitrogen, and pesticide had significant positive effects on wheat output. Most sustainable agricultural practices and plot characteristics included in the production frontier had positive effects on wheat production. The covariates such as gender and education of the household head, credit access, and livestock holding were important in reducing the inefficiency of the wheat producers. However, land size was found to increase the inefficiency of wheat producers. The mean technical efficiency of 2011 and 2014 was 65.3 and 65.4 which was not significant implying limited technological and institutional progress in the wheat sector between the study time. Results revealed that on average wheat output can be increased by 35 percent without additional inputs. Improved access to direct inputs and identified environmental and socioeconomic factors are important in attaining a higher frontier in wheat production in Ethiopia. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344277 |
| By: | Hilary Devine; Finn Smith (The Treasury) |
| Abstract: | New Zealand has experienced a significant and persistent slowdown in productivity growth over the last decade. While many advanced economies have experienced this slowdown, New Zealand has been more adversely affected due to consistently lower than OECD-average labour productivity. Treasury (2024) looked at the drivers of New Zealand’s productivity slowdown, but did not examine the industry sources of our slowing productivity growth. This paper fills a gap by quantifying the productivity slowdown through shift-share decomposition to examine the sources by industry. The analysis captures the shift of firm productivity within each industry, the shift of labour between low and high labour productivity industries, and the shift of labour between low and high labour productivity growth industries. This type of analysis has not been published in New Zealand for over a decade (see Meehan, 2014). The updated analysis includes a more up-to-date data set which captures the effect of two significant shocks – the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and COVID-19 pandemic. We find that New Zealand’s labour productivity slowdown is broad based across industries. Overall our results are similar to Meehan (2014), showing that New Zealand’s slowing labour productivity growth is primarily due to low within-industry labour productivity growth, where the distribution of firm productivity plays a significant role in explaining within-industry effects (Syverson, 2011). The across industry effect is small and has mixed effects, but shows on average stronger reallocation towards low labour productivity industries over the period, resulting in a drag on overall labour productivity growth. We also look at the reallocation trends across the OECD to see if they reflect similar dynamics, particularly in light of large economic shocks (eg, GFC and COVID-19). Other OECD countries have seen a gradual increase in aggregate labour productivity growth since the GFC in contrast to New Zealand’s slowing growth over this period. Between 2012 and 2021, 18 of the 27 sample countries exhibit an increasing trend, including 6 of the 8 Small Advanced Economies (SAE’s). Much like New Zealand, the within-industry effect dominates for the OECD. However, the OECD average also has positive across-industry effects, which appear to be consistent among individual sample countries. Some caution is needed when interpreting these results due to data and comparability issues. Differences in structural reforms, their timing, and the extent of industry changes across countries complicate cross-economy comparisons. But the results suggests that overall, OECD countries are on average seeing a movement of labour into relatively higher labour productivity industries in contrast to New Zealand. Both New Zealand and the OECD average show evidence of the shift towards a services-based economy, with labour moving out of the Agriculture and Manufacturing industries, and into industries such as Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, Information Media and Telecommunications, and Healthcare. However there is considerable heterogeneity of labour productivity across industries in the service sector. Firm-level analysis would provide richer insights into the within-industry component, as it captures micro-level reallocations including firm entry and exit, labour reallocation between firms, and productivity changes. This approach would reflect reallocation dynamics at the firm level, offering a more granular perspective. Similar analysis in other countries has shown this heterogeneity at the firm level, particularly between frontier and laggard firms (ECB, 2021). Due to data availability, this paper is constrained to industry level insights. Better understanding of these industry and firm dynamics could enhance our knowledge of productivity drivers, particularly how reallocation within industries might align with firms that engage in exporting, innovation, and increased capital investment. The interplay between tradeable and non-tradeable sectors and our ongoing transition to services also deserves attention, as the propensity to export may differ for New Zealand compared with other OECD countries. These are all areas for further work. |
| JEL: | D22 L16 O4 O56 O57 |
| Date: | 2025–10–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzt:nztans:an25/11 |
| By: | Dam, Adrita; Chatterjee, Soumitra; Kumar, Pramod |
| Abstract: | In India large proportion of population (54.6%) depends on agriculture for their livelihood contributing 17.4% of the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA). The study presents a comprehensive evaluation of the long-term performance of the Rice-Wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India over five decades (1970-71 to 2019-20). Assessing Total Factor productivity (TFP) across major states, the study reveals a troubling stagnation and decline in TFP for Rice, Wheat and the combined cropping system. Factors such as rising input costs, changing labour dynamics, ground water depletion and state-specific practices significantly impact productivity. Punjab benefits from progressive labour and mechanization, while Haryana faces declining productivity due to groundwater depletion. Uttar Pradesh realizes positive impacts from fertilizer use, while Bihar and west Bengal’s reliance on traditional practices hampers productivity. Socio-economic factors like Net National Income and rural electrification affect TFP, highlighting complex influences on agricultural productivity. The study recommends institutional and structural changes, suggesting privatization through contract farming to enhance efficiency and knowledge among cultivators. Addressing these challenges is crucial for revitalizing agricultural productivity in the region, demanding a multifaceted approach encompassing technological innovation, sustainable practices and inclusive policy interventions. |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344317 |
| By: | Paudel, Gokul P.; Chamberlin, Jordan; Nguyen, Trung Thanh |
| Abstract: | Sustainable intensification (SI) has been promoted within smallholder farming systems to improve agricultural productivity and reduce negative environmental externalities associated with agri-food systems. However, existing studies are concentrated towards the productivity effects of SI and input use efficiency impacts of SI are scant. This study assesses the impact of early sowing of wheat on productivity, nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, and combined fertilizer use efficiency in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. We use the two-stage least squares instrumental variable approach to control the potential endogeneity that arises from both observed and unobserved sources of heterogeneity. We find that early sowing improves all resource use efficiency measures, as well as productivity. However, these impacts are unevenly distributed. Early sowing of wheat on large farms and farms applying doses of fertilizers exceeding the state recommendations are weakly associated with productivity and fertilizer use efficiency. Our findings suggest that while SI has potential to boost wheat productivity and fertilizer use efficiency, significant policy initiatives are required to minimize the over-application of fertilizers and mitigate the negative environmental externalities associated with agri-food systems in India. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344263 |
| By: | Alulu, Joseph; Muendo, Kavoi; Mbeche, Robert; Mithöfer, Dagmar |
| Abstract: | Rapidly expanding population, increasing urbanization, climate change and declining arable land pose a threat to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Efficiency in agricultural production thus becomes an integral aspect. Seed is a fundamental input, however, seed systems in SSA, more so in underutilized crops such as African Indigenous Vegetables (AIV) remain to be constraining. Using household-level data from 445 AIV producing households in Kenya, this study sought to assess the association between seed innovations and performance, as measured by efficiency and income. The study employs bias-corrected Stochastic Meta-Frontier Approach to estimate technical efficiency (TE), allocative efficiency (AE), economic efficiency (EE) and technology gap ratios (TGRs) while accounting for potential technological heterogeneity as well as self-selection bias. We also implement Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA) for association between seed innovations and income. Results suggest that adopters of seed innovations outperform their non-adopter counterparts on average in both meta-technical, allocative and economic efficiencies and income. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344235 |
| By: | Palathingal, Deepa |
| Abstract: | The Kerala government's decision to convert the state to organic farming following a disastrous experience with chemical farming has been met with approval from both farmers and the consumer community, who appreciate the benefits of this approach. However, the significant opportunity cost of the conversion period and the low yield during this time pose a significant challenge. Despite the state's reliance on organic vegetable production, its limited output is a cause for concern. To address this issue, the present study identified and examined influencing factors of technical efficiency of organic vegetable farmers. Employing a stochastic production frontier with a truncated normal distribution, the Cobb-Douglas stochastic production frontier analysis revealed that farmers are operating at an average of 75% below their potential level of output. This finding is significant as it underscores the need for interventions to improve technical efficiency in organic farming, which is crucial for the sustainability and profitability of the sector. Factors such as Experience, age and education play a imparative role in determining farmers' technical efficiency. As a result, the study proposes strategies such as providing better farmers' training programs and extension services, increasing the education level of farmers, and promoting higher technological inventions in organic farming methodologies to reallocate resources and improve technical efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes025:356760 |
| By: | Mantey, Vida; Bosch, Christine; Missiame, Arnold; Birner, Regina; Birkenberg, Athena; Yameogo, Viviane Guesbeogo; Mburu, John |
| Abstract: | Dairy production is an important contributor to food security and poverty reduction, but it is also a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The development of smallholder agricultural carbon projects, such as the Mt. Elgon project, provides an opportunity for farmers to receive benefits for adopting sustainable practices that not only potentially increase farm productivity but also reduce GHG emissions. While there is growing evidence that agricultural cooperatives in conventional development projects improve the adoption of agricultural technologies and the economic performance of smallholder farms, there is a research gap on the role that dairy cooperatives can play in smallholder agricultural carbon projects. This study examines the role of dairy cooperatives in smallholder agricultural carbon projects and assesses the impact of cooperative membership on the technical efficiency of smallholder dairy carbon farmers in Western Kenya. The study used a mixed methods approach. A participatory and visual mapping tool, Net-Map, was used to identify key actors and their linkages. Stochastic frontier and endogenous switching regression models were used to estimate technical efficiency and assess the impact of cooperative membership on the technical efficiency of smallholder dairy carbon farmers, respectively. The results show that dairy cooperatives in carbon projects play an important role in project design and implementation, as well as in carbon monitoring and reporting. On average, smallholder farmers are 35.3 percent technically efficient, and cooperative members have lower technical efficiency than non-members. This finding can be attributed to the way these dairy cooperatives were set up and the fact that some farmers joined the cooperatives to participate in the project. Furthermore, an average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) and an average treatment effect on the untreated (ATU) of 0.311 and 0.251 respectively was observed. In general, the study concludes that without critical sources of heterogeneity, dairy cooperatives can support smallholder carbon farmers not only to improve their efficiency but also to promote sustainable dairy farming. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344343 |
| By: | Paul Winter; Hilary Devine; John Janssen; Chris Thompson (The Treasury) |
| Abstract: | New Zealand has not seen the same growth in productivity as comparable countries. Increased capital intensity and higher levels of innovation are pathways to greater productivity growth that are closely connected. Investment in more technologically sophisticated capital could contribute to productivity improvements along both pathways at once. New Zealand has relatively low capital intensity, with the high cost of capital a contributing factor. Though New Zealand’s investment rate has tracked with other advanced economies, it has not kept pace with rising labour utilisation, leaving the country capital shallow. Innovation increases an economy’s productivity by allowing for a more efficient mix of capital and labour. Improved technology is one route to greater innovation. Technology can be created anew or adopted from elsewhere. Neither creation nor adoption is unambiguously preferable from a productivity perspective. The optimal combination of creation and adoption in supporting productivity depends on context. We set out a number of reasons why adoption through capital investment may be an important path to innovation in New Zealand. New Zealand creates technology at a lower rate than comparable economies, in part because its Research and Development (R&D) expenditure is lower. New Zealand also struggles to convert R&D activity into outputs and broader productivity benefits. Although some business R&D appears an exception to this rule, New Zealand-specific evidence is limited, which makes it difficult to be definitive about the productivity benefits of R&D. Adopting and adapting new technologies, including through capital investments, typically costs less than creating them. Adopting new technologies is shown to have strong positive effects on productivity, and could potentially benefit a large share (up to 95%) of New Zealand firms. Given New Zealand’s struggle to create technology, greater adoption from overseas could form a crucial part of the country’s optimal approach to innovation. At the same time, a dynamic and, to some extent, complementary relationship may exist between creation and adoption – suggesting stronger adoption of new technology may enhance domestic scientific activity. Despite adopting some general-purpose digital technologies at a pace similar to comparable countries, there are signs that technology diffusion (the aggregate economy-wide rate of firm-level technology adoption) is low and slowing. To better understand opportunities for increasing diffusion, we capture in a framework the key factors that affect diffusion and their links to capital investment. We organise the framework around three firm-level factors: exposure and access to new technology, incentives to adopt new technology, and capacity to adopt new technology. We find there are four common channels that directly affect technology diffusion and capital intensity: importing, foreign investment, input costs, and access to finance. New Zealand appears, based on initial assessment, to be weaker than the OECD average across all four channels. Improvements on these channels and across framework settings (such as, competition), could boost productivity growth by lifting both capital intensity and innovation. The fundamental implication is that policy focussing exclusively on technology creation may miss a key pathway to greater innovation: diffusion through new capital investment. Equally, policies exclusively focussed on capital intensity may miss the role of investment in increasing innovation and lifting the technological sophistication of the capital stock. |
| JEL: | D24 E22 O3 O4 O56 O57 |
| Date: | 2025–10–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzt:nztans:an25/12 |
| By: | Papathanasopoulos, Athanasios; Varoutas, Dimitris |
| Abstract: | This study evaluated the regulatory efficiency and performance of Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming platforms across ten European countries—France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, UK, Norway, Serbia, Greece, Italy, and Turkey—using a two-stage Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) framework. It also compared Europe to a global dataset that included countries from North America, South America, the Middle East & North Africa, and Asia-Pacific. The results from Stage revealed that European countries with modernized legislation, such as the UK, Germany, and France, demonstrated superior regulatory efficiency compared to those with outdated frameworks, such as Serbia. This highlighted the importance of up-to-date regulations, including net neutrality and data protection policies like GDPR, in fostering a strong regulatory environment. In Stage and the overall efficiency rankings (θoverall), the UK emerged as the top performer in Europe with a score of 0.5454, driven by its coherent regulatory framework, effective taxation policies, and robust market competition. Germany (0.5171) and Italy (0.4449) followed, benefiting from structured regulations and diverse OTT offerings. However, countries like Serbia (0.0484), Greece (0.1527), Ireland (0.1243) and the Netherlands (0.1710) lagged, reflecting inconsistencies in translating regulatory strengths into market success. Globally, Europe achieved a mean regulatory efficiency score of 0.7823, surpassing other regions in Stage 1 except North America, but its overall efficiency (θoverall = 0.3059) trailed North America (0.5631) and Asia-Pacific (0.3746). Europe's fragmented regulatory frameworks across countries and inconsistent implementation of taxation of international OTT platforms and OTT-specific policies hindered its ability to achieve unified market performance, despite its regulatory strengths. The findings underscored the need for European countries to adopt cohesive taxation frameworks for international streaming platforms, modernized OTT-specific regulations, and a more integrated regulatory approach to enhance the overall market efficiency. |
| Keywords: | OTT, OTT regulation, Network DEA, EU, Europe, Media policy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse25:331297 |
| By: | Rene-Ojas Woltering; David Downs; Seong Wook Park |
| Abstract: | As the real estate sector grapples with its substantial environmental footprint, quantifying the economic value of sustainability has become imperative. In fact, hospitality is the segment of the real estate industry with the highest carbon footprint. Yet, there is scant evidence assessing the presence of a “green premium” for hotels. Our paper is the first to address this shortcoming. Utilizing a dataset of 811 UK hotel transactions from 2007 to 2022, we estimate a hedonic regression model to quantify the price differentials attributed to Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) ratings. We find a significant price premium for hotels with higher EPC ratings: a 16% premium for A and B ratings (i.e., the two highest ratings), and a 10% premium for C and above ratings, and a nearly 10% discount for D through G (i.e., the lowest ratings). These findings are indicative of the tangible economic value associated with higher degrees of energy efficiency and, perhaps more importantly, suggest increased investor attention to energy efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Energy Efficiency; Green premium; Hedonic valuation; sustainability |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2025–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2025_158 |
| By: | Abarike, Mercy Apuswin; Liebenehm, Sabine; Weyori, Alirah Emmanuel; Akuriba, Margaret Atosina; Dittoh, Saa; Kasei, Raymond Abudu |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore whether and to what extent there are disparities in vegetable productivity among female and male farmers practicing small-scale irrigation systems in the Upper East Region of Ghana, and what factors seem to drive the disparities. To do so, we use a cross-sectional data set that comprises 58 women and 192 men from 24 communities, gathered between September 2022 and February 2023 and employ Ordinary Least Square regression with community fixed effects, Oaxaca-Blinder and Recentered Influence Function decomposition analyses. Results show a statistically significant gender gap across the entire productivity distribution, except for the 80th and 90th productivity percentile, whereby the gender difference ranges between 56.9% to even 103.3% to the detriment of women producers. On average, this disadvantage amounts to approximately $987.42 per ha. The decomposition analyses further suggest that the gender gap is rather due to differences in the level than in the returns to resources. The gender gap could, hence, be significantly reduced if women would be able to operate the same size of cultivated land as men. Furthermore, overcoming structural disadvantages in terms of labor, knowledge, and liquidity may help women generate the same returns from the factors as men. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344281 |