|
on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2010‒05‒22
twenty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Gregg, Daniel; Rolfe, John |
| Abstract: | Productivity and efficiency improvements in agriculture have recently been targeted as Federal Government priorities in Australia. This research examined a dataset of 116 broad-acre beef enterprises from Queensland who participated in a program, Profit Probe, developed to improve management and profitability of enterprises. The aim of this research was to identify the sources, if any, of productivity growth for this sample of enterprises. Two potential sources of productivity growth were identified: 1. Technological progress involving a contraction (expansion) of the cost (output) frontier, and; 2. Efficiency improvements involving a convergence of the average production function toward the frontier. Given these two potential sources of productivity growth, the Stochastic Frontier Analysis approach was ideally suited to discern and measure technological change and efficiency change. Changes over time were observable due to the unbalanced panel nature of the data with 116 enterprises observed over a range of years from 1999 to 2008. A Cobb-Douglas functional form for the cost function was estimated following testing of the Translog form which showed higher order terms were not significant. An input oriented minimum cost frontier was chosen over the output oriented production frontier approach due to the consideration that output decisions were largely exogenous whilst input decisions were endogenous. Deterministic predictors of inefficiency were included using the panel inefficiency effects frontier of Battese and Coelli. There was no evidence of technological progress in the ten years from 1999 to 2008 for this sample of enterprises. There was however evidence of efficiency improvements despite preexisting high efficiency levels. In particular there was evidence that the Profit Probe program significantly contributed to efficiency improvements for participating firms with improvements continuing with repeated participation in the program. Additionally cost efficiency was shown to be an important component of profit maximisation but most likely was not a sufficient condition with output prices, as a quality and market indicator, being highly significantly related to profit levels. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59083&r=eff |
| By: | Mariano, Marc Jim; Villano, Renato; Fleming, Euan; Acda, Rachelle |
| Abstract: | Rice producers in the Philippines operate in different physical environments that are largely beyond their control, especially in terms of the agroclimatic conditions they face. Each rice area requires a unique set of location-specific technologies to match its location-specific needs. The rice production frontier is expected to vary, depending on the degree of yield-enhancing interventions implemented by the government and adopted by farmers. Understanding differences in specific production frontiers in different production systems should provide better assessments of yield performance across different locations and enable rice scientists to develop location-specific technologies as well as disseminate appropriate technologies to farmers in different climatic zones. A precise analysis of productive efficiencies, technology gaps and technical change among these zones may contribute to a more accurate targeting and effective design of the governmentâs rice program. We measure technical efficiencies and technological gaps in rice production for farmers in four agroclimatic zones in the Philippines who may employ different production technologies according to environmental conditions. Climatic zone 3 is considered most favourable for rice production based on the intensity and distribution patterns of rainfall. A stochastic metafrontier function is used to compare mean technical efficiency and the environmental and technological gap ratio (ETGR) across climatic zones. We estimated four regional stochastic frontiers using the standard stochastic frontier model based on a translog functional form. A deterministic metafrontier production function was then fitted to the regional frontiers. Farm-level panel data were used from a three-round survey covering six cropping periods â the wet seasons of 1996, 2001 and 2006 and the dry seasons of 1997, 2002 and 2007. Results show surprisingly little interzonal variation in productivity. First, the production frontiers are quite stable across the different agroclimatic zones. The mean ETGR is quite high in all zones and varies in a narrow range from 0.83 to 0.87. Farmers operating in agroclimatic zone 3 are the most productive group followed by those operating in agroclimatic zone 2. Mean technical efficiencies of farmers in respect of their group frontiers are also closely grouped, ranging from 0.74 to 0.76. It appears that Philippine rice producers have been able to adapt their crop management strategies well to suit their particular agroclimatic conditions. |
| Keywords: | Technical efficiency, Technology gap, Metafrontier, Stochastic production frontier, Philippine rice farming productivity, International Development, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59099&r=eff |
| By: | Diewert, Erwin |
| Abstract: | Profitability at a period of time is defined as the value of outputs produced by a production unit divided by the corresponding cost. Using some earlier work by O’Donnell, the paper provides a decomposition of profitability growth over two periods into various explanatory factors. The explanatory factors are: the change in the production unit’s cost efficiency, an index of output price growth, returns to scale, technical progress and an index of input price growth. If output prices for the production unit are not available, the paper suggests that marginal costs could be used as prices to weight outputs in each period. Using marginal or average costs to weight outputs leads to a methodology for evaluating the productivity performance of nonmarket production units that is similar to the methodology suggested in the Atkinson report. |
| Keywords: | Measurement of output, input and productivity, nonmarket sector, cost functions, duality theory, marginal cost prices, technical progress, returns to |
| JEL: | C43 D24 D61 E23 H44 O47 |
| Date: | 2010–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:bricol:erwin_diewert-2010-16&r=eff |
| By: | Sheng, Yu; Mullen, John Denis; Zhao, Shiji |
| Abstract: | Agricultural productivity growth has been strong relative to other sectors in the Australian economy, and relative to the agricultural sectors of other developed countries. However, as commonly observed among other developed economies, growth in productivity in the broadacre sector of Australian agriculture seems to have slowed in the past decade. This paper uses the adjusted cumulative sum square (CUSQ) index to examine the trend stability of total factor productivity in Australian broadacre agriculture over the period 1952-53 to 2006-07. The results show that a significant slowdown occurred around the mid-1990s. Further analysis shows that the slowdown in productivity growth is driven by a longterm decline in public R&D investment in addition to poor seasonal conditions in the past decade. |
| Keywords: | Total factor productivity, structural change analysis, CUSUM index, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59266&r=eff |
| By: | Kazukauskas, Andrius; Newman, Carol |
| Abstract: | The recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have exposed the European agricultural sector to a new set of constraints and challenges. The decoupling of direct payments from production is expected to make production decisions more market-oriented as farmers move from mainly subsidy revenue maximization objectives toward profit maximizing behaviour. However, ex-post analyses of the productivity of farms have yet to uncover any evidence of a positive effect of the decoupling policy on farm productivity. Using the Irish, Danish and Dutch farm level data, we identify the extent to which both system and product switching after the introduction of decoupling has occurred and to what extent these changes have contributed to productivity growth in the agriculture. We find some evidence that the decoupling policy had positive significant effects on farm productivity but the product switching behaviour associated with the changes in farm decoupling rates have not led to productivity improvements. |
| Keywords: | productivity, semiparametric estimation, farming, decoupling, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, D24, Q12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa114:61103&r=eff |
| By: | Falkowski, Jan; Ciaian, Pavel; Kancs, dâArtis |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses how farm access to credit affects farm input allocation and farm efficiency in the CEE countries. Drawing on a unique farm level panel data with 37,409 observations and employing a matching estimator we are able to control for the key source of endogeneity â unoberserved heterogeneity. We find that farms are credit constrained both in the short-run as well as in the long-run, but that credit constraint is asymmetric between inputs. Our estimates suggest that farm access to credit increases TFP up to 1.9% per 1000 EUR of additional credit. The use of variable inputs and capital investment increases up to 2.3% and 29%, respectively, per 1000 EUR of additional credit. Due to credit-financed investment in labour-saving farm equipment, labour use reduces for low level of credit Farms are found not to be credit constrained with respect to land. |
| Keywords: | Access to credit, investment, factor allocation, productivity, transition countries, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Q12, P14, |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa114:61347&r=eff |
| By: | Aye, Goodness C.; Mungatanga, E.D. |
| Abstract: | The study evaluates the technical, allocative and cost efficiencies of maize farmers and analyses the impact of technological innovations on these efficiency measures. The investigation of farm efficiency is of vital importance from both microeconomic and macroeconomic points of view. It indicates the potentials there is to improve productivity, household welfare, overall economic growth and poverty reduction by improving efficiency. It also assists policy makers in better targeting and priority setting. Policy conclusions may vary with the approach used for analysis. A number of efficiency studies in Nigeria employed the stochastic production or cost function approach. While the former may suffer from simultaneous equation bias, the later may not be practical when there is limited input price variation among farms as is evidenced in the study area or when there is a systematic deviation from cost minimizing behaviour. This study contributes methodologically by employing a parametric stochastic input distance function approach that avoids all of these problems. Results show that there is considerable inefficiency among the maize farmers and that technological innovations have significant positive impact on efficiency. Thus there is need for further public investment in maize technology development and other policy factors expected to bring about efficiency improvement of the farmers. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:58882&r=eff |
| By: | Serra, Teresa; Stefanou, Spiro; Oude Lansink, Alfons |
| Abstract: | This research proposes a parametric estimation of the structural dynamic efficiency measures proposed by Silva and Oude Lansink (2009). Overall, technical and allocative efficiency measurements are derived based on a directional distance function and the duality between this function and the optimal value function. The applicability of the parametric proposal is illustrated by assessing dynamic efficiency ratings for a sample of Dutch dairy farms observed from 1995 to 2005. |
| Keywords: | structural dynamic efficiency, dairy farms, parametric approach, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, D21, D24, D61, D92, |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa114:61107&r=eff |
| By: | George Symeonidis |
| Abstract: | Using a comprehensive dataset on the incidence of price-fixing across British manufacturing industries in the 1950s, I compare collusive and competitive industries and find evidence of a negative relationship between collusion and the labour productivity of larger firms relative to smaller firms. In particular, collusion is associated with a reduction or even a reversal of the productivity gap between larger and smaller firms. This result is robust to controlling for the potential endogeneity of collusion. |
| Date: | 2010–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esx:essedp:690&r=eff |
| By: | Kramol, Prathanthip; Villano, Renato; Fleming, Euan; Kristiansen, Paul |
| Abstract: | "Clean and safe" agricultural products are an important issue among consumers, farmers and governments. Many developing countries develop their produce at various points along the âcleanâ continuum based on production practices related to use of synthetic chemicals. Organic farming is applied to technologies with no chemicals or synthetic fertilisers used during production or processing. It was initially developed by farmers and non-government organisations in Thailand, and subsequently implemented by the Thai government through a series of policies on clean produce to meet international standards. Safe-use and pesticide-free practices lie between organic and conventional practices, and are possible steps when converting conventional farms to organic farms. We compare the technical efficiencies and technology gaps of the four farming systems in northern Thailand of which three - organic, pesticide-free and safe-use - are designated âclean and safeâ. Farm-level data on vegetable production were collected from random samples of farms using these technologies. A metafrontier model was estimated, enabling the estimation of technical efficiencies and technology gap ratios (TGRs) for vegetable farms operating under the different production systems. Conventional farms were expected to have the highest mean TGR (smallest distance from the metafrontier) as they are least constrained in the way they farm, and results bear out this expectation. The mean TGR for conventional farms is 0.80, significantly higher than that for organic farms at 0.45. But all production systems have farms lying on the metafrontier. In contrast to the TGR results, conventional farms have the lowest mean technical efficiency relative to their group frontier (0.33) and pesticide-free vegetable farms the highest (0.47), most likely reflecting the different degrees of technical assistance provided to farmers in these groups. Organic farming is that farmers in this group did not perform markedly worse than farmers in other groups in terms of productivity. There are numerous organisations and projects providing assistance for âclean and safeâ vegetable farming in northern Thailand. Scope exists to improve the performance of farmers in all groups as technical efficiencies and TGRs of farms vary widely in all groups. Improvements are needed for agronomic technology, supply chains, farmer capacity in production and marketing, and effectiveness of technology transfer strategies. |
| Keywords: | organic, technical efficiency, stochastic frontier, metafrontier, northern Thailand, Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59092&r=eff |
| By: | Fleming, Euan; Hadley, David; Holloway, Garth |
| Abstract: | Interest has been growing in the nature of synergies in agroecosystems, prompted in part by growing concerns about the effects of environmental degradation on agricultural productivity and interrelations between agricultural outputs and ecosystem outputs. Most productivity analyses focus on technology, technical inefficiency and scale effects on productivity; yet scope economies derived from synergies can also have substantial effects that are likely to increase in the future. Scope economies take on special importance when farms diversify to halt declining biodiversity and other forms of environmental degradation. We present results of an empirical case study based on panel data on farms in England and Wales. A stochastic input distance function is estimated using Bayesian methods that enable economies of scope to be calculated between pairs of outputs based on the derivatives of the input distance function. Results confirm the presence of scope economies from diversity, providing prima facie evidence that diversity is beneficial in farming systems in England and Wales. But a number of challenges lie ahead to improve the data set and method of measuring scope economies for further substantiation of this evidence. Chief among them is the need to obtain a better measure of ecosystem outputs. The complexity of agroecosystems, with their diverse elements and numerous interactions between elements, presents a major challenge for data collection. |
| Keywords: | Biodiversity, ecosystem outputs, scope economies, synergy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59076&r=eff |
| By: | Tozer, Peter R. |
| Abstract: | Using stochastic frontier analysis, efficiency of production of wheat in Western Australia was studied. The production function model used was a relatively simple input model, consisting of wheat yield, effective rainfall, fertilizer application rates and year of study. Inefficiency was captured in a second model that incorporated machinery capital investment, opening equity level, and year of study. Data covered the production years 2004 through to 2007. The results demonstrated that inefficiency was present in wheat production in Western Australia and that inefficiency increased over the period from 18% in 2004 to 29% in 2007. Higher machinery investment per hectare and opening equity levels reduced inefficiency, due to producers having sufficient capacity, mechanical or financial, to adapt to variability within the production season. The results demonstrated the stochastic nature of efficiency and that for some firms improving efficiency may not be possible or feasible due to limitations within the firm. This also holds for firms that are relatively efficient in some years and that the reasons for the inefficiency are not necessarily production related, hence, programs targeted to improve efficiency may not be very successful. On the other hand firms that are consistently inefficient provide an ideal target audience for programs to improve efficiency. However, these programs must be conditioned on adequately identifying the source(s) of inefficiency and the producer having access to resources to increase efficiency. Similar analyses could be undertaken in different crops or different geographic locations, to identify if and why inefficiencies are present in other production systems. |
| Keywords: | Wheat production, efficiency, fertiliser, rainfall., Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59168&r=eff |
| By: | Daskovska, Alexandra; Simar, Léopold; Van Bellegem, Sébastien |
| Abstract: | The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) suggests a convenient way of measuring the productivity change of a given unit between two consequent time periods. Until now, only a static approach for analyzing the MPI was available in the literature. However, this hides a potentially valuable information given by the evolution of productivity over time. In this paper, we introduce a dynamic procedure for forecasting the MPI. We compare several approaches and give credit to a method based on the assumption of circularity. Because the MPI is not circular, we present a new decomposition of the MPI, in which the time-varying indices are circular. Based on that decomposition, a new working dynamic forecasting procedure is proposed and illustrated. To construct prediction intervals of the MPI, we extend the bootstrap method in order to take into account potential serial correlation in the data. We illustrate all the new techniques described above by forecasting the productivityt index of 17 OCDE countries, constructed from their GDP, labor and capital stock. |
| Keywords: | Malmquist Productivity Index, circularity efficiency, smooth bootstrap |
| Date: | 2009–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:22150&r=eff |
| By: | Rosario Crinò; Paolo Epifani |
| Abstract: | We study how firm and foreign market characteristics affect the geographic distribution of exporter' sales. To this purpose, we use export intensities (the ratio of exports to sales) across destinations as our key measures of firms'relative involvement in heterogeneous foreign markets. In a representative sample of Italian manufacturing firms, we find a robust negative correlation between revenue-TFP and export intensity to low-income destinations and, more generally, that the correlations between export intensities and TFP are increasing in per capita income of the foreign destinations. We argue that these (and other) empirical regularities can arise from the interplay between (endogenous) cross-firm heterogeneity in product quality and cross-country heterogeneity in quality consumption. To test this conjecture, we propose a new strategy to proxy for product quality that allows to exploit some unique features of our dataset. Our results strongly suggest that firms producing higher-quality products tend to concentrate their sales in the domestic and other high-income markets. |
| Keywords: | Heterogeneous Firms; Export Intensities; Quality; Technical Efficiency; Total Factor Productivity (TFP) |
| JEL: | F1 |
| Date: | 2010–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aub:autbar:824.10&r=eff |
| By: | Christian Daude; Eduardo Fernández -Arias |
| Abstract: | This paper combines development and growth accounting exercises with economic theory to estimate the relative importance of total factor productivity and the accumulation of factors of production in the economic development performance of Latin America. The region’s development performance is assessed in contrast with various alternative benchmarks, both advanced countries and peer countries in other regions. We find that total factor productivity is the predominant factor: low and slow productivity, as opposed to impediments to factor accumulation, is the key to understand Latin America’s low income relative to developed economies and its stagnation relative to other developing countries that are catching up. While policies easing factor accumulation would help improving productivity somewhat, for the most part, closing the productivity gap requires productivity-specific policies.<BR>Afin d’estimer les rôles respectifs joués par la productivité totale des facteurs et l’accumulation des facteurs de production sur la performance de développement économique de l’Amérique latine, cet article combine des exercices comptables de développement et de croissance avec la théorie économique. La performance de la région est évaluée en comparaison avec différents benchmarks issus à la fois de pays riches et de pays en développement d’autres régions. Les résultats montrent que la productivité totale des facteurs est l’élément prédominant pour comprendre le faible revenu de l’Amérique latine par rapport à celui des pays développés, et sa stagnation par rapport à d’autres pays en développement qui sont en train de les rattraper. L’explication repose ainsi sur la faible productivité dans les économies de la région, et sa lente croissance,, et non sur l’existence d’un quelconque obstacle à l’accumulation de facteurs. Même si les politiques publiques facilitant l’accumulation de facteurs pourraient dans une certaine mesure améliorer la productivité globale, l’important est de s’orienter vers des politiques publiques centrées spécifiquement sur la productivité, et ce afin de diminuer les écarts de performance entre l’Amérique latine et les pays développés. |
| Keywords: | development, Latin America, economic growth, total factor productivity, croissance économique, développement, Amérique latine, productivité totale des facteurs |
| JEL: | O10 O47 |
| Date: | 2010–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:devaaa:290-en&r=eff |
| By: | Deblitz, Claus |
| Abstract: | The agri benchmark Beef Network is a unique association of economists, scientists, farmers and advisors, as well as scientific and agribusiness partners from more than 30 organisations across 23 countries. The Network benchmarks 'typical' beef finishing and cow-calf farms from participating countries, which are generated from panel meetings of farmers and advisors and collated using a standard operating procedure. Once data are entered and processed using a series of Excel spreadsheet tools, it is broken down to the enterprise and animal level for performing unit cost analyses. The complexity of the data recorded enables detailed analyses and international comparisons on farm demographics (land size, stocking numbers, daily weight gain, prices), cost breakdowns by composition and per 100 kg carcass weight, physical and economic labour productivity (kg beef per hour, return per unit of labour cost), land productivity (carcass weight per hectare), short and medium term profitability (per 100 kg carcass weight) and whole farm profitability ($AUD '000). This paper discusses the approach and benefits of the agri benchmark model and network and presents key findings and results from the 2009 partner countries, as well as new developments, including sheep and emission analyses, from the agri benchmark Beef Network. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:59096&r=eff |
| By: | Revoredo-Giha, Cesar; Leat, Philip; Milne, Catherine |
| Abstract: | One of the aims of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is to increase the competitiveness of farmers through increasing their exposure to markets. An aspect of competitiveness is the gains in economic efficiency. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to estimate indicators of farm efficiency for the period 1989 to 2008 by farm type and to analyse what the effect on efficiency of changes in the CAP has been. In terms of the methodology, the information used comes from the Scottish Farm Account Scheme (FAS) survey, which allows us to assemble panel dataset and to construct cost efficiency indicators. The results indicate while mixed farms and lowland farms have maintain their levels of efficiency. LFA farms have seen their efficiency reduced since approximately 2004 or 2005 (especially LFA sheep farm specialists). Also, the analysis shows that there seems to be an increase in the dispersion of farmers in terms of efficiency for some farm types in periods of change in agricultural policy. |
| Keywords: | Farm efficiency, stochastic cost frontier, Scottish agriculture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa114:61106&r=eff |
| By: | Chowdhury, Nanzeen Kawshar; Kompas, Tom; Kalirajan, Kaliappa |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effectiveness of different management tools, particularly input and quality controls on Bangladeshâs industrial trawl fishery. Results show that the efficiency of industrial trawl fishery comes from multiple owner managed vessels, export oriented vessels and registered vessels that are mainly engaged in double rigger trawling. Results also indicate that freezer vessels with small storage capacity, using small gear are relatively less efficient. This study shows that there is no depletion or reduction in marine fish stock over the period and shrimp vessels are technically more efficient than fish vessels. |
| Keywords: | Industrial trawl fishery, input and quality control, efficiency, Bangladesh, Production Economics, Q22, Q28, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare10:58888&r=eff |
| By: | Weaver, Robert D. |
| Abstract: | The architecture of the firm involves determination of a boundary that encompasses the functions managed by the firm. The past decade has seen substantial reorganization of firms where vertical or horizontal integration has been unbundled into weaker forms of collaborations including value chains and networks. This observation has forced a re-conceptualization of the boundaries of the firm to incorporate such collaborations. These collaborations are virtual and highly dynamic. They emerge and persist when two conditions are met. First, they must enable generation of greater value than might be attained through independent operation and anonymous transactions through markets. Second, the resulting growth must be shared with members in a way that retains their participation. Each of these conditions can be verified only if performance of the collaboration can be established. This paper recognizes the need for such âmetrics of performanceâ. While conceptual approaches have been studied in the management literature, this paper considers from theoretic perspectives these issues and derives measures of the performance of the overall collaboration as well as of the participating enterprises. The paper presents a framework that can be applied to both vertical and horizontal collaborations as found in supply chains and networks. The paper offers suggestions on empirical methods for estimation of measures derived. |
| Keywords: | Networks, Collaboration, metrics, productivity, efficiency, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi09:59183&r=eff |
| By: | Tara Deelchand (ICMA Centre, University of Reading); Carol Padgett (ICMA Centre, University of Reading) |
| Abstract: | The risk-capital positions of Japanese banks have been under tension throughout the 1990s. However, existing theory on the determinants of bank risk-taking still remains limited and the evidence is conflicting. Most studies concentrate on US and European banks, while empirical evidence has remained scarce for Asian banks. Added to that, to our knowledge, there are almost no papers on this subject for cooperative banks in Japan. Thus, the main contribution of this study is to shed some light on the determinants of bank risk-taking and analyse its relationship with capital and efficiency in Japanese cooperative banking (namely shinkin and credit cooperatives banks). This paper focuses on Japanese cooperative banks as they constitute an important segment of the Japanese banking sector. We employ a simultaneous equation model in which the relationships between, risk, capital and cost inefficiency are modelled. Two stage least squares with fixed effects estimation procedure are applied to a panel data set of 263 Japanese cooperative banks over the period 2003 through 2006. The results confirm the belief that risk, capital and inefficiency are simultaneously determined. The empirical model shows a negative relationship between risk and the level of capital for Japanese cooperative banks. Inefficient Japanese cooperative banks appear to operate with larger capital and take on more risk. These arguments may reflect the moral hazard problem that exists in the banking system through exploitation of the benefits of deposit insurance. We also assess the size effects and find that larger cooperative banks holding less capital take on more risk and are less efficient. |
| Keywords: | Risk; Capital; Efficiency; Japanese cooperative banks |
| JEL: | C23 D24 E44 E5 E52 G21 N25 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:icmadp:icma-dp2009-12&r=eff |
| By: | Serra, Teresa; Stefanou, Spiro; Oude Lansink, Alfons |
| Abstract: | In this paper we assess how production costs and capital accumulation patterns in agriculture have evolved over time, by paying special attention to the influence of risk. A dynamic state-contingent cost minimization approach is applied to assess production decisions in US agriculture over the last century. Results suggest the relevance of allowing for the stochastic nature of the production function which permits to capture both the differences in the costs of producing under different states of nature, the differences in the evolution of these costs over time, as well as the differential impacts of different states of nature on investment decisions. |
| Keywords: | risk, state-contingent, dynamic model, investment decisions, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, D21, |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa114:61353&r=eff |