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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2015‒08‒01
25 papers chosen by |
| By: | Wang, Sun Ling; Newton, Doris J. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), productivity, technical efficiency, stochastic input distance function, U.S. field crop farm, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, Q12, Q16, |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205344&r=eff |
| By: | Pieralli, Simone |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of changes in stochastic climatic variables on a sample of French agricultural farms between 1990 and 2000. We quantify the productivity impact by decomposing productivity changes over time via nonparametric productivity accounting. This method provides an empirical nonparametric measure of the impact of climate variables on production, a measure of technological change and a measure of efficiency change. |
| Keywords: | climate change, France, productivity, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D20, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205892&r=eff |
| By: | Plastina, Alejandro; Liu, Fangge |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205372&r=eff |
| By: | Namonje-Kapembwa, Thelma; Black, Roy; Jayne, Thomas S. |
| Abstract: | Late delivery of subsidized farm inputs (seed and fertilizer) |
| Keywords: | Farm Input Subsidy Program, Late Delivery of Inputs, Technical Efficiency, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205288&r=eff |
| By: | Parman, Bryon; Featherstone, Allen; Coffey, Brian |
| Abstract: | Nonparametric cost frontier estimation has been commonly used to examine the relative efficiency of firms without critically examining the shape of the cost frontier. To examine the shape of the cost frontier has required additional estimation using parametric methods to recover potential cost savings from multi-product and product-specific economies of scale. This paper develops and tests a method for estimating multi-product and product-specific economies of scale using the nonparametric approach by evaluating the difference between scale calculations from an assumed cost frontier and those estimated using data envelopment analysis. The results demonstrated that the nonparametric approach is able to accurately estimate multi-product economies of scale and product-specific economies of scale under alternative inefficiency distributional assumptions. |
| Keywords: | Cost Function, Efficiency Analysis, Multi-Product Economies of Scale, Product Specific Economies of Scale, Nonparametric Estimation, Economies of Scope, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C13, C14, D20, |
| Date: | 2015–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:misswp:197532&r=eff |
| By: | Koirala, Krishna H.; Mishra, Ashok K.; Mohanty, Samarendu |
| Abstract: | Agricultural production determines the efficiency level of households in their farming activities. In the developing countries farmers do not use all potential technological resources, thus making inefficient decisions in their agricultural activities. So, this paper focuses to measure the technical efficiency of rice production and identified determinants of technical efficiency of rice farmers in Philippines. The Loop Survey of the Institute of Rice Research Institute (2007-2012) was analyzed using stochastic frontier production method in the Cobb-Douglas functional form. Result shows that fuel, fertilizer, land rent, planting season, and land area are the factors that affect both production and technical efficiency of rice production. We found mean technical efficiency score of 0.54. |
| Keywords: | Food security, technical efficiency, Stochastic Frontier Production, Philippines, Production, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162501&r=eff |
| By: | Ancev, Tiho; Azad, Samad Md. |
| Abstract: | The study proposes a new way of measuring productivity and efficiency, with and without considering environmental effects from a production activity, by modifying the conventional Luenberger productivity indicator. The Luenberger approach has so far been applied in productivity and efficiency measurement in time-varying contexts. It has been mainly used in comparisons of international productivity growth and efficiency over a period of time. This study proposes the use of the Luenberger approach in an alternative way by constructing two new indicators: the Luenberger environmental indicator and the Luenberger spatial indicator. These two indicators take a spatial orientation, as opposed to the temporal orientation of the traditional Luenberger indicator. The Luenberger environmental indicator is employed to measure relative performance of productive units across space by incorporating environmental impacts in the production model. The Luenberger spatial indicator does not include environmental impacts. To compare the performance of a unit of observation to a meaningful reference, a new concept of a reference frontier, an infrafrontier, is proposed. An empirical application of these indicators is to the Australian irrigation agriculture sector taking place in eleven natural resource management regions within the Murray-Darling Basin. These newly developed indicators can be widely used in any sector of the economy to measure relative productivity and environmental efficiency. |
| Keywords: | environmentally adjusted productivity, environmentally adjusted efficiency, infrafrontier, Luenberger indicators, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, D24, Q50, Q55, Q57, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204912&r=eff |
| By: | Chang, Ching-Cheng; Chen, Chi-Chung; Tseng, Wei-Chun; Hu, Wu-Yueh |
| Abstract: | Purpose - Contract farming has been proposed as an avenue for private sector to take over the roles previously served by the government in the provision of information, inputs or credit for small-scale farmers in the developing countries (World Bank, 2001). Increasing attention has been given to whether contract farming can provide small farmers with improved income or sufficient protection from incurring losses due to price fluctuations. In the literature, the positive relationship between the use of contracts and the increasing productivity is found (Cochrane, 1993, and Ahearn et al., 2005). A fair amount of effort has been directed at assessing the relative efficiency of contract farming over independent production. Knoeber (1989) showes that the use of production contracts in the hog and broiler industry help the diffusion of the new technologies and lead to the improvement of productivity. Key and McBride (2003) provide evidence that contracts are associated with high productivity performance in hog production in the U.S. Morrison et al. (2004) shows that smaller operations are in general less efficient than larger and more contract-intensive entities. This finding not only suggests competitive pressures on smaller farms but also point out the barriers for smaller growers to participate in contract farming scheme. For developing countries, Ramaswami et al. (2006) evaluate how the efficiency gains of poultry contracts are shared between growers and processors in India. Cost reduction from better technology and production practices is counted as efficiency gain for the processors, while average return is viewed as efficiency gain for the growers. However, there is little direct evidence regarding the potential of contract farming to increase profitability through increases in profit efficiency. Setboonsarng et al. (2005) use a stochastic profit frontier model to examine the profit efficiency of organic rice contract farming in the north and northeastern regions of Thailand. They identify a significant profit margin for contract farms across all scale of operations as compared to the non-contract farms, but efficiency gain is not as significant for the largest farm sizes. In our study by using a very special survey data from Taiwan, besides the technology/productivity efficiency, we will be able to compare the profit efficiency between contract and non-contact farms. Design/Methodology/approach - The profit inefficiency is defined as loss of profit from not operating on the profit frontier (Ali and Flinn, 1989). It can be measured by the following Rahman (2003)’s approach in which both technical and allocative inefficiency are simultaneously taken into account. Technical inefficiency is defined as the loss of profits from failing to meet the production efficient frontier. Allocative inefficiency is the loss of profits from failing to observe or respond to the relative prices of inputs and outputs. The stochastic profit frontier is defined as , where π is the vector of profit defined as gross revenue minus variable cost; p and w are the vectors of output and input prices, respectively; and Z is the vector of fixed inputs. A meta-frontier methodology of Battese et al (2004) is adopted to estimate simultaneously the efficiencies and the technological gaps for productions under different technologies relative to the potential technology available as a whole as well. Another approach that is based on Cummins et al (1999) is also applied to estimate the cross-frontier profit efficiency. Findings - The estimation result indicates that an average contract farms is 20 percent more efficient than an average non-contract farm under a comparable operating environment. We also find that the contract decision is determined not only by a profit comparison between contract and independent producers but also by other demographic determinants like age, education level, employment status and geographical locations. Finally, we find that contract rice farmers have more profit efficiency than non-contract rice farmers given a profit meta-frontier function. Originality/value/discussion - Contract farming has become an attractive policy instrument for many developing countries to assist small family farms to gain access to markets, information, credits, and necessary services to manage their risk. This study uses a very special survey data from Taiwan, including more than 300 rice farmers. Besides the technology/productivity efficiency, we compare the profit efficiency between contract and non-contact farms, which is not commonly seen in the literature. Our results imply that the contract arrangement can indeed be an effective institutional mechanism to increase profitability and competitiveness for small family farms. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: Contract farming, Rice, Profit frontier, Meta-frontier, Switching regression., Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Q12, Q13, D24, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205445&r=eff |
| By: | Khan, Farid; Salim, Ruhul |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the role of research and development (R&D) in Australia's broadacre farming by using the semi-parametric smooth coefficient model proposed by Hastie and Tibshirani (1993) and Li et al (2002) and a state-level dataset covering the period 1995 to 2007. While the conventional production function approach only captures the direct effects of R&D, this methodology captures both the direct impact of a change in R&D on output and the indirect impact through changes in efficiency of use of factor inputs in the production process. The empirical results show that once both the direct and indirect effects are taken into consideration, R&D investments significantly increase outputs. The results also show that there are substantial variations in the effects of R&D on output across the states. Such variations need to be taken into account when designing policies for investing public R&D in agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Broadacre Agriculture, Semi-parametric smooth coefficient model, Productivity, Research and Development, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, C14, C23, D24, |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204255&r=eff |
| By: | Miriam, Katunze; Francis, Mwaura |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcpb:206180&r=eff |
| By: | Jasmin Thomas |
| Abstract: | The Quebec forest products sector has had an above-average productivity performance in the 2000-2013 period, driven in particular by the forestry and logging subsector. While the wood product manufacturing subsector has also benefited from strong productivity gains, the productivity performance of the paper manufacturing subsector has been far from impressive. This report provides a detailed analysis of output, input and productivity trends in the Canadian forest products sector. It also looks at the key drivers of productivity in the sector, investigating potential barriers to productivity growth and discussing policies that could enable faster growth. Given the increasing role of countries with low-labour costs in several forest product markets, maintaining robust productivity growth is an imperative for the Quebec forest products sector if it wants to remain competitive internationally. In this vein, the report recommends a renewed focus on human and physical capital investment, as well as on R&D spending and the introduction of new innovative products. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Growth, Forestry, Canada, Research and Development, Capital Intensity, Human Capital, Physical Capital, Wood Product Manufacturing, Paper Manufacturing, Forest Products Sector, Quebec |
| JEL: | O13 O30 O51 J00 E23 Q20 D24 J08 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sls:resrep:1505&r=eff |
| By: | Watkins, K. Bradley; Henry, Christopher G.; Mazzanti, Ralph; Schmidt, Lance; Hardke, Jarrod T. |
| Abstract: | Arkansas rice production is highly dependent on energy related inputs such as water and nitrogen. This analysis uses Data Envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate non-radial technical efficiency scores and quantifies input overuse for rice fields enrolled in the University of Arkansas, Rice Research Verification Program (RRVP), with special emphasis placed on estimation of water and nitrogen input overuse. The results reveal technical inefficiency exists in both water and nitrogen application, but other inputs may play more of a role in the overall technical inefficiency on rice fields. Average estimated overuse of water and nitrogen was 27.9% and 14.7%, respectively. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162593&r=eff |
| By: | Alexander Klein; Nicholas Crafts |
| Abstract: | WWe investigate the role of industrial structure in labor productivity growth in U.S. cities between 1880 and 1930 using a new dataset constructed from the Census of Manufactures. We find that increases in specialization were associated with faster productivity growth but that diversity only had positive effects on productivity performance in large cities. We interpret our results as providing strong support for the importance of Marshallian externalities. Industrial specialization increased considerably in U.S. cities in the early 20th century, probably as a result of improved transportation, and we estimate that this resulted in significant gains in labor productivity. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies; Jacobian externalities; manufacturing productivity; Marshallian externalities; industrial structure |
| JEL: | N91 N92 R32 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:1514&r=eff |
| By: | Haley, Stephen |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2015–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usao14:205066&r=eff |
| By: | Khan, Farid; Salim, Ruhul |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the nexus between research and development expenditure and productivity growth in Australian broadacre agriculture using country-level time-series data for the period 1953 to 2009. Using standard time-series econometrics data are analysed to examine the dynamic relationships between research and development expenditure (R&D) and total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Findings here provide econometric evidence of a co-integrating relationship between R&D and productivity growth, and a unidirectional causality emergent from R&D to TFP growth. Moreover, employing variance decomposition and impulse response function the dynamic properties of the model are explored beyond the sample periods. Findings suggest that R&D can be readily linked to the variation in productivity growth beyond the sample periods. Further, forecasting result suggests a significant out-of-sample relationship exists between the public R&D and productivity in broadacre agriculture. We used a novel method MIRR which is conceptually superior than the conventional IRR to obtain a credible estimate of returns on public research investment. We found MIRR of 10.06% per year for the reinvestment rate of 3% per year. Therefore, results establishing long run relationship between productivity and R&D in Australian agriculture shed light on the future policies in R&D investments in Australia. |
| Keywords: | Public Research & Development (R&D), Productivity, Australian Broadacre Agriculture, Cointegration, Internal Rates of Return, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare15:204432&r=eff |
| By: | Pede, Valerien O.; McKinley, Justin; Singbo, Alphonse; Kajisa, Kei |
| Abstract: | We investigate spatial dependency among technical efficiency levels of rice producers on the Central Visayan island of Bohol, Philippines in two separate ecosystems: rainfed and irrigated. Results revealed evidence of spatial correlation in technical efficiency levels for both residential and plot neighborhood. There is a stronger spatial dependency among farmers in the rainfed ecosystem and particularly in the farm plot neighborhood structure. These results are most likely a result of producers facing similar environments with less control over their fields than producers in the irrigated ecosystem. This study also used spatial panel econometrics techniques to investigate spatial dimension in farmers’ technical efficiency in regression models. Results strongly show evidence of spatial dependence in household and farm plot neighborhood. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency analysis, rice, spatial dependency, technical efficiency, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, International Development, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205456&r=eff |
| By: | Pieralli, Simone; Ritter, Matthias; Odening, Martin |
| Abstract: | This article examines the efficiency of wind energy production. Using non-convex efficiency analysis, we quantify production losses for 19 wind turbines in four wind parks across Germany. In a second stage regression, we adapt the linear regression results of Kneip, Simar, and Wilson (2014) to explain electricity losses by means of a bias-corrected truncated regression analysis. The results show that electricity losses amount to 27% of the maximal producible electricity. Most of these losses are from changing wind conditions, while 6% are from turbine errors. |
| Keywords: | wind energy, efficiency, free disposal hull, bias correction, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, D20, D21, Q42, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205415&r=eff |
| By: | Lopez, Jose; Rojas, Kandy; Teresa, Duch-Carvallo; Heitholt, Jim; Swart, James |
| Keywords: | winter wheat, foliar fungal diseases, fungicides, net returns, profitability, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q120, |
| Date: | 2014–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:161889&r=eff |
| By: | Suh, Dong Hee |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205264&r=eff |
| By: | Xiang, Cheng; Huang, Jikun |
| Abstract: | Wheat is one of the most important crops in China. This study examines the contributions of wheat germplasm from different sources to wheat total factor productivity (TFP). Based on a unique dataset on planted area, pedigree and agronomic traits by variety for 17 major wheat-growing provinces from the past three decades, the results show that wheat TFP has grown steadily in the past three decades. On average, existing varieties are replaced by new ones in less than four years. Chinese wheat breeders have increasingly used CIMMYT breeding stocks to generate new wheat varieties, with CIMMYT germplasm contributing about 7% of the genetic material in Chinese wheat varieties during the past three decades and about 9% in recent years. More than 26% of all major wheat varieties released in China after 2000 contain CIMMYT germplasm. The use of CIMMYT gemplasm has resulted in an increase in TFP of 5% to 14% in the past three decades, depending on the measurement used. This represents from 3.8 million to 10.7 million tons of added grain. The paper concludes with policy implications for plant breeders and policy makers in China, as well as for international donors. |
| Keywords: | Wheat, Germplasm, Productivity, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205284&r=eff |
| By: | Ang, Frederic; Mortimer, Simon; Areal, Francisco; Tiffin, Richard |
| Abstract: | Using a nonparametric framework, we analyse the impact of dynamic profit maximization on biodiversity for a sample of UK cereal farms for the year 2007. Recognizing the drawbacks of directly implementing biodiversity as an output or input in a distance function framework, we only consider inputs and outputs that are clear choice variables from the firm’s perspective. We use a dynamic, intertemporal profit function to take into account adjustment costs. We assess how dynamic profit maximization may shift land use allocation and, as a consequence, the Shannon index for crop diversification. Doing so allows us to calculate the shadow prices of crop diversification in a novel way that is consistent with the dynamic theory of the firm. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, Shannon index, network DEA, dynamic optimisation, shadow value, United Kingdom, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, D22, D24, D92, Q15, Q51, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205857&r=eff |
| By: | Abdul-Salam, Yakubu; Phimister, Euan |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc15:204302&r=eff |
| By: | Zhang, Wei |
| Abstract: | California dairy farms have experienced hard times in recent years. In addition to changes in market conditions in both input and output markets, the burden of environmental regulations has been mentioned as a culprit. This research estimates the costs of a practice-based air quality regulation for dairy farms in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Using farm-level cost data on a panel of dairy farms, I estimate the effects of the regulation on the costs of milk production with a difference-in-differences method. Different from ex ante analyses, my econometric results indicate that the air quality regulation has not significantly affected the total costs of milk production. Estimates from different specifications indicate that the regulation may have reduced feed costs, perhaps because some pollution-mitigation practices can reduce feed fermentation. The regulation has increased the costs of hired labor by about $0.15 per hundredweight of milk, which is equivalent to an 11% increase in the costs of hired labor for dairy farms facing the regulation. Moreover, unlike previous analyses of the effects of environmental regulations on agricultural production, I am able to observe the realized operational changes associated with abiding by this regulation. Calculated adoption rates of different pollution-mitigation practices using administrative data reveal that dairy farms have mainly adopted labor-intensive practices to comply with the air quality regulation. |
| Keywords: | dairy, environmental regulation, production cost, farm practice, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, D24, Q15, Q58, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205304&r=eff |
| By: | Kawasaki, Kentaro; Lichtenberg, Erik |
| Abstract: | While the capacity of pesticides to protect output from losses is well established, the contribution of pesticides to prevention of quality damage has been less extensively documented. The relative importance of the quality and quantity effects of pesticides has received even less attention. We investigate the relative effects of the three major classes of pesticides—insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides—on the quantity and quality of output. To do so, we build on our previous work to develop a new econometric estimator for estimating quality and quantity of output simultaneously when quality is measured in terms of discrete grades. We apply that estimator using a panel of data from Japanese wheat production for the period 1995-2006. The estimated parameters of the model indicate that the quality effects of fungicides and fertilizer are substantial: Increases in quality account for two-fifths of the overall marginal revenue product of fertilizer and close to a fifth of the overall marginal revenue product of fungicides. The magnitude of the effect of fertilizer on wheat quality attests to the importance of kernel size and weight in determining grade. Similarly, the magnitude of the effect of fungicides on wheat quality speaks to the importance of disease control in wheat production. |
| Keywords: | grading standards, pesticides, fertilizers, productivity, climate change, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C33, C35, Q10, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204848&r=eff |
| By: | Sonoda, Tadashi; Mishra, Ashok |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205308&r=eff |