Consulta: subjectFacets:"D24"
Registros recuperados: 98
Data/hora: 09/06/2024 01:34:00

Buyback Programs: Goals, Objectives, and Industry Restructuring in Fisheries
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Kirkley,   James E.; Walden,   John B.; Waters,   James R.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries has conducted several buyback programs to reduce harvesting capacity in fisheries.  These programs have attempted to maximize capacity reduction given a fixed budget.  However, restructuring issues have not been considered.  We explore the possibility of satisfying three different buyback objective  We examine the black sea bass trap fishery and determine the number of vessels given different allowable catch levels and objectives of maximizing technical efficiency, capacity utilization, and vessels in the fishery.  We find considerable variation in the number of vessels allowed to remain in the fishery given the different objectives.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Capacity utilization; Data Envelopment Analysis; Fishery buyback programs; Fishing capacity; C61; D24; Q22; Q28.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43422

A META-ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ogundari,   Kolawole.
This study sheds light on how study specific-characteristics impact mean technical efficiency (MTE) in Nigerian agriculture.  Also the paper extracts consensus message about MTE and its drivers in Nigerian agriculture based on studies covering the period 1999-2008. A meta-analysis using truncated regression was employed on a total of sixty four studies which yield eighty six observations for the econometric analysis. The regression results show that MTE in Nigerian agriculture increased significantly over the years. Study specific-characteristics such as sample size, number of inputs used as well as studies with focus on crop and livestock production were found to significantly impact MTE. Further analyses show that studies in the Northcentral, Southwest,...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Meta-regression; Technical Efficiency; Truncated Regression; Agriculture; Nigeria; Agricultural and Food Policy; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50327

Applying regression quantiles to farm efficiency estimation
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Kaditi,   Eleni A.; Nitsi,   Elisavet I.
This article is concerned with the methodological question of frontier production functions estimation for agriculture, and the appropriateness of regression quantiles, as a useful semi-parametric approach. Better insights are reached using the proposed methodology that provides robust farm efficiency scores estimates. Using the 2007 Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data for Greece, analysis shows that the distribution of efficiency scores is closer to normality when employing regression quantiles, while underestimation of efficiency obtained by other parametric or deterministic methods based on the conditional mean can be avoided. The results further suggest that government support aimed at enhancing farms viability should be directed towards payments...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Quantile Regression; Agriculture; Agricultural and Food Policy; Productivity Analysis; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; C14; D24; Q18.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61081

Capital Use Intensity and Productivity Biases
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Andersen,   Matthew A.; Alston,   Julian M.; Pardey,   Philip G.
This is a substantially revised version of “Capital Use Intensity and Productivity Biases.” Andersen, Matt A.; Alston, Julian M.; Pardey, Philip G., St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics; University of Minnesota, International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP), 2007. (Staff paper P07-06; InSTePP paper 07-02)
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: U.S. agriculture; Pro-cyclical productivity; Capital utilization; Primal productivity bias; Productivity Analysis; D24; C51; Q1; O4; O47.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93143

Technical Efficiency Effects of Technological Change: Another Perspective on GM Crops
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Weaver,   Robert D.; Curtiss,   Jarmila; Brümmer,   Bernhard.
An important approach to reducing persistent technical inefficiency is through technical change. This paper considers the case of genetically modified crop production. A stochastic frontier approach is used to examine how a drastic change from non-GM to GM technology effects the position of the production frontier as well as the extent and nature of technical inefficiency. A one-step method is applied to consider firm-level effects on technical inefficiency. Using soybean production from the U.S. we find that GM technology improves productivity and reduces technical inefficiency though these effects vary across farm characteristics.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Technical efficiency; Technical change; Genetically-modified; Soybean; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; D24; O33.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24528

Probabilistic Models of Yield, Price, and Revenue Risks for Fed Cattle Production
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Belasco,   Eric J.; Taylor,   Mykel R.; Goodwin,   Barry K.; Schroeder,   Ted C.
Cattle feeding enterprises operate amid variability originating in prices and production. This research explicitly models yield risks related to cattle feeding by relating the mean and variance of yield performance factors to observable conditioning variables. The results demonstrate that pen characteristics, such as entry weight, gender, placement season, and location influence the mean and variability of yield factors, defined as dry matter feed conversion, average daily gain, mortality, and animal health costs. Ex ante profit distributions, conditional on cattle placement characteristics, are derived through simulation methods to evaluate the effects of price or yield shocks on the distributional characteristics of expected profits.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Conditional variance; Production risk; Cattle feeding; Yields; Agribusiness; Livestock Production/Industries; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Risk and Uncertainty; D24; D81; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/48761

Joint Estimation of Risk Preferences and Technology: Flexible Utility of Futility?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lence,   Sergio H.
The present study sets up a thought experiment calibrated to represent risks of a high-risk production activity (farming), and investigating whether the structure of risk aversion (i.e., the changes in absolute or relative risk aversion associated with changes in wealth) can be estimated with reasonable precision.  Findings strongly suggest that typical production data are unlikely to allow identification of the structure of risk aversion.  A flexible utility parameterization is found to worsen technology parameter estimates.  Findings also indicate that even under a restricted utility specification, the quality of utility parameters estimated from small samples is very poor.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Expected utility; Risk preferences; Production analysis; Risk attitudes.; Risk and Uncertainty; C13; D24; D81; Q12.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/9980

Technical Efficiency and Adoption of Soil Conservation in El Salvador and Honduras
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Solis,   Daniel; Bravo-Ureta,   Boris E.; Quiroga,   Ricardo E.
A household-level switching regression model is implemented to examine potential selectivity bias for rural households under high and low levels of investments in soil conservation in El Salvador and Honduras. In the presence of selectivity bias, separate stochastic production frontiers are estimated for low and high adopters. The main results indicate that households with higher levels of investments in soil conservation show higher average TE than those with a lower level of investments. Constrains in the rural land and credit markets are likely explanations for these differences. The results also indicate that for farms with lower levels of investments in soil conservation access to credit is a significant factor explaining the sources of inefficiency....
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Stochastic Frontiers; Technical Efficiency; Switching Regression; Central America; Soil Conservation; Land Economics/Use; D24; Q12; O13; C21.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25784

Accounting for agronomic rotations in crop production: A theoretical investigation and an empirical modeling framework
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Carpentier,   Alain; Gohin,   Alexandre; Letort,   Elodie.
As far as crop acreage choices are concerned, a consensus seems to exist among agricultural scientists and extension agents: crop rotation effects and the related constraints are major determinants of farmers’ crop choices. Crop rotation effects are inherently dynamic. They are generally ignored in multicrop models with land as an allocable input found in the literature since most of these models are developed within a static framework. The aim of this paper is twofold (i) to propose a new approach and tools for investigating dynamic crop acreage choices accounting for crop rotation benefits and constraints and (ii) to illustrate the impacts of crop rotation effects and constraints on farmers’ acreage choices through simulation examples. The models...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Crop rotation; Dynamic programming; Acreage choice; Crop Production/Industries; Land Economics/Use; Q12; D21; D24; D92.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103431

Decomposition of Total Factor Productivity Change in the U.S. Hog Industry
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Key,   Nigel D.; McBride,   William D.; Mosheim,   Roberto.
The U.S. hog industry has experienced dramatic structural changes and rapid increases in farm productivity. A stochastic frontier analysis is used to measure hog enterprise total factor productivity (TFP) growth between 1992 and 2004 and to decompose this growth into technical change and changes in technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and allocative efficiency. Productivity gains over the 12-year period are found to be explained almost entirely by technical progress and by improvements in scale efficiency. Differences in TFP growth rates in the Southeast and Heartland regions were found to be explained primarily by differences in farm size growth rates.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Hog production; Scale efficiency; Stochastic frontier; Technical change; Total factor productivity growth; Livestock Production/Industries; Production Economics; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/45512

Productivity Growth and Convergence in Crop, Ruminant and Non-Ruminant Production: Measurement and Forecasts
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ludena,   Carlos E.; Hertel,   Thomas W.; Preckel,   Paul V.; Foster,   Kenneth A.; Nin Pratt,   Alejandro.
There is considerable interest in projections of future productivity growth in agriculture. Whether one is interested in the outlook for global commodity markets, future patterns of international trade, or the interactions between land use, deforestation and ecological diversity, the rate of productivity growth in agriculture is an essential input. Yet solid projections for this variable have proven elusive – particularly on a global basis. This is due, in no small part, to the difficulty in measuring historical productivity growth. The purpose of this paper is to report the latest time series evidence on total factor productivity growth for crops, ruminants and non-ruminant livestock, on a global basis. We then follow with tests for convergence amongst...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Malmquist index; Productivity; Convergence; Projections; Crops; Livestock; Productivity Analysis; D24; O13; O47; Q10.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25392

Is There a Link between the Changing Skills of Labor Used in U.S. Processed Food Trade and Rural Employment?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Schluter,   Gerald E.; Lee,   Chinkook.
Between the 1970s and the 1990s, processed food exports switched from using more skilled labor per unit of output than imports to the opposite.  Processed food trade also expanded during this period.  More meat and poultry products in processed food trade could explain this switch in skill intensity.  Growing meat trade paralleled an urban-to-rural shift in meat processing.  Although this could have been a win-win situation for rural areas, many of the jobs related to expanded meat trade benefited commuter and migrant workers because late-1990s jobs slaughtering livestock and processing meat did not appeal to domestic rural workers.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Consolidation in the meat industry; Factor content of trade; Input-output analysis; International meat trade; Processed food trade; Rural development; Rural labor demand; Skill intensity; C67; D24; F14; F16; J61; L66; O18; Q17; R15.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43465

THE PRODUCTION THEORY APPROACH TO IMPORT DEMAND ANALYSIS: A COMPARISON OF THE ROTTERDAM MODEL AND THE DIFFERENTIAL PRODUCTION APPROACH
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Washington,   Andrew A.; Kilmer,   Richard L.
Results indicate that, when comparing the unconditional derived-demand elasticities to the unconditional consumer demand elasticities, significant differences emerge due to the differences in the first-stage estimation procedure between the differential production approach and the Rotterdam model.  In comparing the consumer demand price/corss-price elasticities to the derived-demand price/cross-price elasticities, it is clear that use of the Rotterdam model when a production approach should be used can lead to overestimation, underestimation, and incorrect signs in deriving unconditional price effects.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Dairy; Demand; Imports; International; Production; Rotterdam; Trade; Demand and Price Analysis; D12; D24; F10; F14; Q17.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15070

RURAL WATER SUPPLIERS AND EFFICIENCY - EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM EAST AND WEST GERMANY
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Sauer,   Johannes.
ABSTRACT This discussion paper attempts the investigation of inefficiency with respect to water suppliers in rural areas of East and West Germany. This is done by using a nonradial measure of input-specific allocative inefficiency based on the demand system derived from a flexible cost function for the variable inputs labour, energy and chemicals. Distributional dependency with respect to the composed error term is reduced. The cost structure is modelled by applying a modified symmetric generalized McFadden functional form and the imposition of concavity restrictions as required by economic theory. Data on 47 rural water suppliers was collected by a written survey in 2002/2003. The applied second order flexible functional form performs well in the...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Rural water supply; Flexible functional form; Input-specific allocative efficiency; Ländliche Wasserversorgung; Flexible funktionale Form; Inputspezifische allokative Effizienz; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; C31; D24; Q25.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14866

The Need for Theoretically Consistent Efficiency Frontiers
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Sauer,   Johannes; Hockmann,   Heinrich.
The availability of efficiency estimation software –freely distributed via the internet and relatively easy to use –recently inflated the number of corresponding applications. The resulting efficiency estimates are often used without a critical assessment with respect to the literature on theoretical consistency, flexibility and the choice of the appropriate functional form. The robustness of policy suggestions based on inferences from efficiency measures nevertheless crucially depends on theoretically well-founded estimates. This paper addresses stochastic efficiency measurement by critically reviewing the theoretical consistency of recently published technical efficiency estimates. The results confirm the need for a posteriori checking the regularity of...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Functional form; Stochastic efficiency analysis; Theoretical consistency; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; C51; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24497

Technical Efficiency of the Dual-Purpose Cattle System in Venezuela
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ortega,   Leonardo E.; Ward,   Ronald W.; Andrew,   Christopher O.
A stochastic production frontier model was estimated to provide standard measurement of technical efficiency of the dual-purpose cattle system located in Zulia State, Venezuela.  This system is based on local and low-cost inputs, but has been considered to be inefficient because of its low partial productivity indices when compared with those used in developed countries.  Results indicate that the efficiency of this system is reasonably high, downplaying the general idea of inefficiency.  Likewise, the efficiency of this system has the potential for improvement through public policies and managerial decisions based on the determinants of technical efficiency.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Dual-purpose cattle; Production frontier; Technical efficiency; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37058

Investing in Biogas: Timing, Technological Choice and the Value of Flexibility from Inputs Mix
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Di Corato,   Luca; Moretto,   Michele.
In a continuous-time framework we study the technology and investment choice problem of a continuous co-digestion biogas plant dealing with randomly fluctuating relative convenience of input factor costs. Input factors enter into the productive process together mixed according to a given initial rule. Being inputs relative convenience stochastically evolving, a successive revision of the initial rule may be desirable. Hence, when the venture starts the manager may or may not install a flexible technology allowing for such option. Investment is irreversible and flexibility is costly. The problem is solved determining in the light of future prospects the optimal revision and then playing backward fixing the investment timing rule.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Factor Proportions; Technological Choice; Flexibility; Real Options; Alternative Energy Source; Environmental Economics and Policy; C61; D24; Q42.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55283

Input Substitution in the Spanish Food Industry
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Alarcón,   Silverio.
Firm panel data sets over the period 1993 to 2002 are used to estimate translog production functions with labour, capital and material inputs for 9 Spanish food industries. To tackle the endogeneity of the regressors, the generalized method of moments estimations is employed. The specification tests reject the instrument variables only for 1 out of 9 estimates. The remaining 8 industries show evidence of homogeneity and constant returns to scale. Only one industry exhibits complete separability of all pairs of factors and thus translog is preferred to Cobb-Douglas specification for 7 industries. Substitutability and complementarity between production factors in response to price changes are studied through Morishima and Shadow elasticities....
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Translog; Elasticity of substitution; Generalized method of moments; Returns to scale; Agribusiness; C23; D24; L66.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24487

An Examination of the Tradeoff between Net Return, Risk, and Water Quality for Crop Rotations in South Central Kansas
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Langemeier,   Michael R.; Nelson,   Nathan; Parajuli,   Prem; Perkins,   Seth.
This paper determined the optimal crop rotation in South Central Kansas.  The model incorporated net return, risk, and water quality.  In general, water quality improved as tillage was reduced within a rotation type and by adding an alfalfa rotation.  The optimal crop rotation mixes included wheat, grain sorghum, soybeans, and alfalfa.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Water quality; Optimal crop rotation; Risk and return; Farm Management; D24; D81.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/56407

Estimating Farm Efficiency in the Presence of Double Heteroscedasticity Using Panel Data
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Hadri,   Kaddour; Guermat,   Cherif; Whittaker,   Julie.
The accuracy of technical efficiency measures is important given the interest in such measures in policy discussions. In recent years the use of stochastic frontiers has become popular for estimating technical inefficiency, but estimated inefficiencies are sensitive to specification errors. One source of such errors is heteroscedasticity. This paper addresses this issue by extending the Hadri (1999) correction for heteroscedasticity to stochastic production frontiers and to panel data. It is argued that heteroscedasticity within an estimation can have a significant effect on results, and that correcting for heteroscedasticity yields more accurate measures of technical inefficiency. Using panel data on cereal farms, it is found that the usual technical...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Stochastic frontier production; Heteroscedasticity; Technical efficiency; Panel data; Farm Management; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; C23; C24; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43994

UK Sugar Beet Farm Productivity Under Different Reform Scenarios: A Farm Level Analysis
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Renwick,   Alan W.; Revoredo-Giha,   Cesar; Reader,   Mark A.
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect that the imminent reform in the European Union (EU) sugar regime may have on farm productivity in the United Kingdom (UK). We perform the analysis on a sample of sugar beet farms representative of all the UK sugar beet regions. To estimate the changes in productivity, we estimate a multi-output cost function representing the cropping part of the farm, which is the component that would be mostly affected by the sugar beet reform. We use this cost function to compute the new allocation of outputs and inputs after the changes in the sugar beet quota and price support. This are subsequently used to compute measures of total factor productivity. Our results show slight decreases in the productivity at the...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: EU sugar reform; UK agriculture; UK sugar beet production; Multi-output cost function; Total factor productivity; Agricultural and Food Policy; Productivity Analysis; Q00; D24.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24665

DETERMINANTS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND VARIETAL-GAP OF RICE PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA: A META-FRONTIER MODEL APPROACH
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ayinde,   Opeyemi Eyitayo; Adewumi,   Matthew Olaniyi; Ojehomon,   Vivian E.T.
This study uses the concept of meta-frontier function to examine the technical efficiency and varietal-gap of rice production in Nigeria. A random sample of 675 farmers was selected from three out six geographical zones in Nigeria. The farmers in this study were classified into three groups according to the variety of rice they planted. The three main varieties of rice planted are local (Ofada), improved (Mai-Nasara) and New Rice for African (NERICA). The technical efficiency indices were computed using the meta-frontier approach because production varieties and technologies were expected to differ between the three varieties. This method allows the measure of the varietal-differences which is the Technology Gap Ratio (TGR). Estimates of the frontier were...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Nigeria agriculture; Rice; Production Function; Meta-Frontier; Technical Efficiency and Varietal Technology gap; Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51563

Analisis Malmquist y DEA intertermporal de las agriculturas de la Union Europea
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Aldaz,   Natalia; Millan,   Joaquin A.
En este trabajo se realiza un análisis comparado de dos métodos no paramétricos de medida de productividad total de los factores con datos de panel basados en programación: índices de Malmquist y un modelo DEA intertemporal que permite acotar las medidas de eficiencia y progreso técnico, suponiendo cambio técnico no regresivo. La aplicación se realiza sobre las agriculturas de los países de la Unión Europea, encontrándose algunas diferencias importantes entre ambos enfoques. Los resultados sugieren menor crecimiento de productividad agraria y, sobre todo, una ordenación  distinta de países en relación con dichos crecimientos que los encontrados en otros trabajos.  Palabras clave: Productividad, DEA, Agricultura, Europa, Datos de panel.  SUMMARY This paper...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Productivity; DEA; Agriculture; Europe; Panel data; Agricultural and Food Policy; D24; O47; Q10.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28796

A metafrontier approach to measuring technical efficiencies across the UK dairy sector
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Barnes,   Andrew Peter; Revoredo-Giha,   Cesar; Sauer,   Johannes.
A regional approach is applied to measure technical efficiencies on dairy farms which employs the deterministic metafrontier approach. We construct six super regions for the UK, i.e. Eastern, Western, Northern England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Data are collected through three different administrative systems, all be it under the same FADN guidance. We find for dairy farming comparative indicators of performance in all three data sets. The stochastic frontier approach is applied to construct 6 regional frontiers and a pooled (UK) dataset for comparison. A likelihood ratio test rejects the null hypothesis that these regions operate under a common frontier which may indicate bias in previous attempts to measure dairying efficiency at the country...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Stochastic Production Frontiers; Metafrontiers; UK Farm Account Data; Dairy farming.; Agricultural and Food Policy; Q12; D24; C23; C51.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/99369

The Effect of Climate Change, CO2 Fertilization, and Crop Production Technology on Crop Yields and Its Economic Implications on Market Outcomes and Welfare Distribution
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Attavanich,   Witsanu; McCarl,   Bruce A.
Many studies have done econometric estimates of how climate alters crop yields and or land rents in an effort to gain information on potential effects of climate change.  However, an important related factor, the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, and in fact a driver of climate change is ignored.  This means the prior econometric estimates are biased as they infer what will happen under climate change from observations in the recent past, but without consideration of CO2 effects.  Furthermore although CO2 has been varying, it has proceeded at a very linear pace and cannot be disentangled from technological progress using historical crop yield data.  This paper is designed to overcome this issue and estimate the consequences that CO2 has and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Carbon Dioxide Fertilization; Crop Yield; Yield Variability; Climate Change; Crop Production Technology; Welfare Distribution; Market Outcomes; Stochastic Production Function; The Agricultural Sector Model; Feasible Generalized Least Squares; Crop Production/Industries; Land Economics/Use; Production Economics; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; C61; C13; Q16; Q54; D69; D24.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103324

A Bayesian Total Factor Productivity Analysis of Tropical Agricultural Systems in Central-Western Africa And South-East Asia
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Tonini,   Axel; Matus,   Silvia Saravia; Gomez y Paloma,   Sergio.
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...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Bayesian Inference; Stochastic Production Frontier; Time Varying Technical Inefficiency; Total Factor Productivity Growth; Tropical Agricultural Systems; Farm Management; Productivity Analysis; C15; D24; O47.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/116088

Romanian Maize - Distorted Prices and Producer Efficiency
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Sauer,   Johannes; Balint,   Borbala.
This research aims at shedding empirical light on the relative efficiency of small-scale maize producers in Romania. Farmers in transition countries still face heavily distorted price systems resulting from imperfect market conditions and socioeconomic and institutional constraints. To capture such distortions we formulate a stochastic shadow-cost frontier model to investigate the systematic input-specific allocative inefficiency. We further adjust the underlying cost frontier by incorporating shadow price corrections and subsequently reveal evidence on farm specific technical inefficiency. Different models are estimated due to the imposition of curvature correctness and the effects on the individual efficiency estimates are shown. The empirical results...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Shadow Cost Frontier; Functional Consistency; Maize; Romania; Crop Production/Industries; C40; D24; O33.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25597

Determining Optimal Levels of Nitrogen Fertilizer Using Random Parameter Models
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Tumusiime,   Emmanuel; Brorsen,   B. Wade; Mosali,   Jagadeesh; Johnson,   Jim; Locke,   James; Biermacher,   Jon T.
The parameters of yield response functions can vary by year. Past studies usually assume yield functions are nstochastic  ‘‘limited’’ stochastic. In this study, we estimate rye– ryegrass yield functions in which all parameters are random. The three functional forms considered are the linear response plateau, the quadratic, and the Spillman-Mitscherlich. Nonstochastic yield models are rejected in favor of stochastic parameter models. Quadratic functional forms fit the data poorly. Optimal nitrogen application recommendations are calculated for the linear response plateau and Spillman-Mitscherlich. The stochastic models lead to smaller recommended levels of nitrogen, but the economic benefits of using fully stochastic crop yield functions are small because...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Cereal rye–ryegrass; Monte Carlo; Nitrogen; Random parameters; Stochastic plateau; Production Economics; Q10; C12; D24.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117949

Tart Cherry Yield and Economic Response to Alternative Planting Densities
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Me-Nsope,   Nathalie Mongue.
The study investigates the economic response of tart cherry yields to planting density using an unbalanced longitudinal yield data from tart cherry orchards in Northwest Michigan. The relationship between tart cherry yield and tree age is specified as a linear spline function and planting density interacts with tree age. A random effect method, treating block as random, is used to estimate the spline function. Stochastic simulation was used to estimate the mean and variance of the product of two random variables (price and yield), and the coefficient of variation was used as a measure of how much risk is involved in corn/soybeans production relative to tart cherries production. Estimates of the variance provided the discount factor (10%) and with yields...
Tipo: Thesis or Dissertation
Palavras-chave: Tart cherries; Pricing; Planting density; Crop Production/Industries; Risk and Uncertainty; D4; D24; L11.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/54502

Productividad total de los factores en la agricultura chilena: 1961-1996
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Olavarria,   Jaime A.; Bravo-Ureta,   Boris E.; Cocchi,   Horacio.
Resumen: El objetivo de este trabajo es medir el cambio de la productividad en la agricultura chilena durante el período 1961-96. La Productividad Total de los Factores (PTF) fue calculada mediante índices Törnqvist.  Los datos utilizados para estimar estos índices incluyen precios y cantidades de 51 cultivos, de la mano de obra, de la tierra, del capital y de factores intermedios.  El análisis revela que mientras los productos crecieron un 2,69% anual, el uso de factores de producción bajó un 0,09%; por lo tanto, la PTF creció a una tasa promedio anual del 2,78% entre 1961 y 1996.  Se realizó además un análisis para siete períodos correspondientes a diferentes regímenes políticos. La PTF creció a un promedio anual de 1,83% con Alessandri (1961-64), 3,12%...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Total Factor Productivity; Törnqvist Index; Agriculture; Chile; Productivity Analysis; D24; O33.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28774

How Can We Use the Result from a DEA Analysis? Identification of Firm-relevant Reference Units
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mansson,   Jonas.
Two types of guidelines can be obtained from a DEA (data envelopment analysis) analysis. Firstly, the firm can reduce input or increase production according to the DEA results. Secondly, an inefficient firm might be able to identify reference units. This makes it possible for the inefficient firm to, on site, study production that is more efficient, and thereby get information on e.g. efficient organisational solutions. In this study, we focus on how to detect these firm-relevant reference units. While applying the existing methods for identification of reference units, i.e. the intensity variable method and the dominance method, on a data set concerning booking centres in the Swedish taxi market, shortcomings in these methods were identified. This...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Reference units; Firm-relevant; DEA; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; D24; L25.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/44072

The Impact of Consulting Services on Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Mexico
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Bruhn,   Miriam; Karlan,   Dean S.; Schoar,   Antoinette.
We test whether managerial human capital has a first order effect on the performance and growth of small enterprises in emerging markets. In a randomized control trial in Puebla, Mexico, we randomly assigned 150 out of 432 small and medium size enterprises to receive subsidized consulting services, while the remaining 267 enterprises served as a control group that did not receive any subsidized training. Treatment enterprises were matched with one of nine local consulting firms and met with their consultants once a week for four hours over a one year period.  Results from a follow-up survey, conducted after the intervention, show that the consulting services had a large impact on the performance of the enterprises in the treatment group: monthly sales went...
Tipo: Working Paper
Palavras-chave: Enterprise growth; Entrepreneurship; Managerial capital; Labor and Human Capital; D21; D24; L20; M13; O12.
Ano: 2012
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/121675

Methodological innovations in estimating the (inverse) relationship between farm productivity and farm size in a developing economy: a case study of Burundi
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Verschelde,   Marijn; Vandamme,   Ellen; D'Haese,   Marijke F.C.; Rayp,   Glenn.
We use a nonparametric estimation of the production function to investigate the relationship 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 different factors that have been identified in literature as missing variables in the testing of the inverse relationship such as soil quality, location 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...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Inverse relationship; Farm size; Nonparametric; Burundi; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Environmental Economics and Policy; D24; O13; Q12; Q18.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/99359

Productivity and Quality-Environmental Changes in Marketing Co-operatives: An Analysis on the Horticultural Sector
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Galdeano-Gomez,   Emilio; Cespedes-Lorente,   Jose; Rodriguez,   Manuel Rodriguez.
The object of the present paper is to analyse productivity incorporating quality-environmental changes in marketing co-operatives. Firstly, it reviews competitiveness factors in the current European agri-food market, especially in relation to the fruit and vegetables sector. Secondly, the productivity trend is studied empirically using nonparametric methods (Malmquist indices) and taking as reference panel data of Andalusian horticultural co-operatives for the period 1994-2001. For this purpose productivity is decomposed into technological change, efficiency and quality-environmental change. Additionally, the correlation of these results with other economic variables is analysed. The indicators obtained show a relevant increase in efficiency for the period...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Productivity; Quality-environment; Efficiency; Marketing co-operative; Horticultural sector; Agribusiness; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q13; Q21; L15.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24698

Investigating the Sources of Agricultural Growth in Africa: Factor Accumulation, Total Factor Productivity, and Technology Absorption
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Nkamleu,   Guy Blaise.
This paper investigates sources and determinants of agricultural growth in Africa, concentrating on the growth path during the last three decades. The analysis employs the broader framework provided by empirical growth literature and recent developments in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) measurement to search for fundamental determinants of growth in African agriculture. One main contribution and new findings in this analysis is the quantification of the contribution of the productivity growth and the contribution of different inputs such as land, labor, tractor and fertilizer in the agricultural growth. Growth accounting computation highlights the fact that factor accumulation rather than TFP accounts for a large share of agricultural output growth and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Growth accounting; TFP; Factor accumulation; Capital absorption; Africa; Agricultural and Food Policy; Agricultural Finance; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Demand and Price Analysis; Farm Management; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; International Relations/Trade; Land Economics/Use; Livestock Production/Industries; Marketing; Productivity Analysis; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; N50; O47; D24.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52108

Linking small producers to supermarkets? The role of intermediaries on the fresh fruit and vegetable market in Turkey.
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Bignebat,   Celine; Koc,   A. Ali; Lemeilleur,   Sylvaine.
A wide range of the empirical studies shows to what extend the rise of supermarkets in developing countries deeply transform domestic marketing channels. In particular, the exclusion of small producers from the so-called dynamic marketing channels (that is remunerative ones) is at stake. Based on original data collected in Turkey in 2007 at the producer and the wholesale market levels, we show that the intermediaries are decisive in order to understand the impact of downstream restructuring (supermarkets) on upstream decisions (producers). The results show first that producers are not aware of the final buyer of their produce, as intermediaries hinder the visibility of the marketing channel, their choice is restricted to that of the first intermediary....
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Supermarkets; Small farmers; Fresh fruit and vegetables; Turkey; Agribusiness; Production Economics; Q13; L14; D24.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52856

Analyzing the Economics Values of An Alternative Preprocessing Facility in the Biomass Feedstocks - Biorefinery Supply Chain
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Yu,   Tun-Hsiang (Edward); Larson,   James A.; Gao,   Yuan; English,   Burton C.
It is generally believed that preprocessing procedure can reduce the transportation and storage costs of biomass feedstock for biofuel production by condensing the feedstock’s size. However, the capital costs of preprocessing facilities could be significant in the feedstock logistics system. Applying a GIS and mixed-integer mathematical programming model, this study evaluates the economic values of a preprocessing technology, stretch‐wrap baling, in the biomass feedstock supply chain for a potential commercial-scale switchgrass biorefinery in East Tennessee. Preliminary results suggest that the stretch-wrap baling equipment outperforms the conventional hay harvest methods in terms of total delivered costs. Although the densification process involves...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Biomass feedstock; Cellulosic biofuel; Logistic costs; Preprocessing technology; Crop Production/Industries; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q16; D24.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103993

How Much Can We Learn About Producers' Utility Functions from Their Production Data?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lence,   Sergio H.
A thought experiment is designed to investigate whether the structure of risk aversion (i.e., the changes in absolute or relative risk aversion associated with changes in wealth) can be estimated with reasonable precision from agricultural production data.  Findings strongly suggest that typical production data are unlikely to allow identification of the structure of risk aversion.  A flexible utility parameterization is found to slightly worsen technology parameter estimates.  Results also indicate that even under a restricted utility specification, utility parameter estimates are biased.  Further, their quality is much worse when shocks are not large or samples are small.
Tipo: Presentation
Palavras-chave: Expected utility; Risk preferences; Production analysis; Risk attitudes; Production Economics; Risk and Uncertainty; C13; D24; D81; Q12.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/119534

A Reappraisal of the Role of Agriculture in Economic Growth in Melanesian Countries
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Fleming,   Euan M.; Fleming,   Pauline.
Fortunes in the agricultural sectors of four of the largest South Pacific countries are traced in recent decades by estimating the single factoral terms of trade index. The single factoral terms of trade are measured for agriculture in four Melanesian countries-Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu-over the period, 1970 to 2002. This index provides a useful method to assess changes in returns to factors employed in agricultural production in these countries. Except in Solomon Islands, farmers experienced a deteriorating index, indicating that they have reaped progressively lower returns to their resources. In Solomon Islands, returns to resources are shown to have increased slightly. A sustained contribution by the agricultural sector to...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Factoral terms of trade; Melanesia; Smallholders; Total factor productivity; International Development; D24; O12; O47; Q17.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25715

Interfuel Substitution: A Meta-Analysis
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Stern,   David I.
Interfuel substitutability has been of longstanding interest to energy economists and policy makers. However, there has been no quantitative meta-analysis of this literature.   This research report fills this gap by analysing a broad sample of studies of interfuel substitution in the industrial sector, manufacturing industry or sub-industries, and macro-economy of a variety of developed and developing economies. The primary study sample size has been included in the meta-regression to control for publication bias.   At the industrial level, results for the shadow elasticities of substitution between coal, oil, gas, and electricity for forty-six primary studies show that, except for gas-electricity and coal-electricity, there are easy substitution...
Tipo: Report
Palavras-chave: Meta-analysis; Energy; Substitution; Elasticity; Interfuel; Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; D24; Q40.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/94882

Funciones de producción y eficiencia técnica en el eje cafetero colombiano: una aproximación con frontera estocástica
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Perdomo,   Jorge-Andres; Hueth,   Darrell L.
Este estudio estimó la forma funcional de producción cafetera en Colombia mediante fronteras estocásticas (FEP). Con esto, se analizó la importancia de los principales insumos empleados en la producción de café (cantidad de hectáreas cultivadas, mano de obra utilizada, maquinaria requerida y cantidad de fertilizantes aplicados), que afectan la productividad. Igualmente, se determinó la existencia de economías a escala en productores pequeños, medianos, grandes y sector general cafetero; ubicados en Caldas, Quindío y Risaralda. Finalmente, fue evaluada la eficiencia técnica (ET) en la producción. Entre los principales resultados, se destaca que la función de producción cafetera tiene una forma funcional Translog minflex Laurent para pequeños, medianos,...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Función de producción cafetera; Pequeños caficultores; Medianos caficultores; Grandes caficultores y sector general cafetero; Frontera estocástica de producción; Eficiencia técnica; Análisis de economías a escala.; Crop Production/Industries; Q12; D24; C01; C29.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/100873

The Impact of Trade Costs on Firm Entry, Exporting, and Survival in Korea
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Kim,   Sooil; Reimer,   Jeffrey J.; Gopinath,   Munisamy.
This study uses a unique firm-level dataset to examine how falling trade costs from 1993-2001 affected entry, exit, productivity, and exporting in the Korean manufacturing sector.  We verify many of the predictions of recent heterogeneous-firm models of international trade.  For example, falling trade costs reduced entry by new Korean firms, increased their probability of exit, and reduced the market share of surviving firms.  We also find that small firms had a particularly high level of dynamism over the sample period.  Small firms were more likely to enter and exit, and marginally more likely to gain market share, enter export markets for the first time, and improve their productivity.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Employment; Exit; Exports; Firm deaths; Survival; Trade costs; Agribusiness; Industrial Organization; International Development; International Relations/Trade; Labor and Human Capital; Marketing; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; F10; D24.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/49185

MODELING HETEROGENEITY IN PRODUCTION MODELS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM INDIVIDUAL FARMING IN POLAND
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Hockmann,   Heinrich; Pieniadz,   Agata; Goraj,   Lech.
This discussion paper deals with the estimation of a random coefficient model. The virtue of this approach is that it considers firm heterogeneity, which conventional SFA models do not. Applying the model to Polish farms, the results indicate that the conventional random and fixed effect models overestimate the inefficiency score. In addition, the reasons for inefficiency are analyzed. It is shown that despite the fragmentation of Polish agriculture, there is no evidence for scale inefficiency. Moreover, inefficiency could partly be attributed to factors, which affect the management input and requirements on farms.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: SFA; Random component model; Poland; Management.; Agribusiness; Farm Management; Productivity Analysis; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Q12; D24.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91733

Could small dairy farms in Switzerland compete with their French counterparts? A metafrontier analysis during 1990-2004
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ferjani,   Ali; Latruffe,   Laure.
The objective of the paper is to investigate whether Swiss farms specialised in dairy (the prevailing production of the country), which are small in international standards, would have a survival potential if they had to compete more directly with EU farms. More specifically, we investigate whether Swiss dairy farms would be able to compete with their French counterparts (located in mountainous areas, but larger than Swiss ones) in a future made of increased globalisation and reduced borders. For this we evaluate which country, during the period 1990-2004, would have been more able to use efficiently a common hypothetical technology, and would have had a more productive (own) technology. Efficiency scores and technology ratios are calculated using the...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Technical efficiency; Technology gap; Data Envelopment Analysis; Dairy farming; Switzerland; France; Agricultural and Food Policy; Productivity Analysis; Q12; D24.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52828

Economic Efficiency of Smallholder Irish Potato Producers in Kenya: A Case of Nyandarua North District
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Nyagaka,   Daniel; Obare,   Gideon A.; Nguyo,   Wilson.
With declining Irish potato production trends in Kenya this paper identifies and analyses factors that influence the economic efficiency of smallholder Irish potato producers in Kenya by drawing on data from random sample of 130 smallholder farmers from Nyandarua North district. A dual stochastic parametric decomposition technique is used to disaggregate economic efficiency components and a two-limit Tobit model is used to derive efficiency indices as a function of a vector of socio-economic characteristics and institutional factors. Empirical results show decreasing returns to scale in production. The mean economic efficiency is 0.39 with a range of 0.12 - 0.66. Education, access to extension, access to credit and membership in a farmers association...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Productivity; Stochastic frontier functions; Kenya; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Security and Poverty; Land Economics/Use; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; D12; D24; O33; Q16.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/49917

On Flexibility in the Polish Farming Sector
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Renner,   Swetlana; Hockmann,   Heinrich; Pieniadz,   Agata; Glauben,   Thomas.
This paper investigates the flexibility of the Polish farming sector during a transition period. Flexibility is considered to be a farm’s ability to change output by sustaining average costs. We argue that flexibility is a crucial factor in farmers’ competitive advantage, especially under dynamically changing environmental conditions. We propose a flexibility measure that accounts for both input and output flexibility. This measure is used to empirically investigate the magnitude and sources of flexibility in Polish family farming. We also identify the main factors that explain the proposed flexibility indices. The empirical findings reveal that Polish farms use different technologies regarding their input and output flexibility. While small and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Flexibility; Family Farm; Poland; Consumer/Household Economics; Production Economics; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52841

Productivity and Efficiency of Corporate and Individual Farms in Ukraine
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lerman,   Zvi; Sedik,   David J.
The paper presents a comparative analysis of the productivity of corporate and individual farms in Ukraine based primarily on cross-section data from a farm survey conducted by FAO in 2005. We calculate partial land and labor productivity, total factor productivity, and technical efficiency scores (using Stochastic Frontier Analysis) for farms of different organizational forms. Our results demonstrate with considerable confidence that, contrary to established convictions among the Ukrainian decision makers, the large corporate farms are not more productive than the smaller family farms. This finding is not restricted to Ukraine, as a similar result has been obtained by in Moldova, Russia, and the U.S. Policies encouraging a shift from large corporate farms...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Family farms; Corporate farms; Comparative performance; Technical efficiency; Total factor productivity; Agrarian reforms; Transition countries; Farm Management; Productivity Analysis; D24; J24; P27; P31; P32; Q12; Q15; R14.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/9985

Farm Level Nonparametric Analysis of Profit Maximization Behavior with Measurement Error
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Zereyesus,   Yacob Abrehe; Featherstone,   Allen M.; Langemeier,   Michael R.
This paper tests the farm level profit maximization hypothesis using a nonparametric production analysis approach allowing for measurement error in the input and output variables. All farms violated Varian’s deterministic Weak Axiom of Profit Maximization (WAPM). The magnitude of minimum critical standard errors required for consistency with profit maximization, convex technology production was smaller after allowing technological change during the sample period. Results indicate strong support for the presence of technological change during the sample period.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Nonparametric analysis; Profit maximization; Measurement error; Technological change; Production Economics; D24.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/46829

Romanian Maize - Distorted Prices and Producer Efficiency
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Sauer,   Johannes; Balint,   Borbala.
This study tackles the decomposition of efficiency with respect to agricultural production in transition economies by using a case study on small scale maize farmers in Romania.  The underlying modelling assumption is that farmers in transition countries still face heavily distorted price systems.  To capture such distortions a stochastic shadow cost frontier model is formulated to investigate the systematic input specific allocative inefficiency.  We further adjust the underlying cost frontier by incorporating shadow price corrections and subsequently reveal evidence on farm specific technical inefficiency.  Different models are estimated due to the imposition of curvature correctness.  The empirical results confirm the underlying hypothesis of enduring...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Shadow cost frontier; Transitional agriculture; Functional consistency; Demand and Price Analysis; C40; D24; O33.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21410

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS OF EUROPEAN UNION AND EASTERN REGIONS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Serrao,   Amilcar.
This research work uses stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to examine the sources of agricultural productivity growth over time and of productivity differences among countries and regions in European Union over the period 1980-1998.  A comparison of the mean productivity scores obtained by the two approaches show that DEA results are higher than in SFA results, because DEA fits a tighter (more flexible) frontier than the translog frontier. This study is a valuable warning for people to be carefully about the effects of the methodology choice upon their results and to use more than one approach if they suspect that it may have some influence.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Data Envelopment Analysis; Stochastic Frontier Analysis; Technical Efficiency Change; Technical  Change; Total Factor Productivity Change; European Union.; Productivity Analysis; Q12; D24.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22167

What Determines Productivity Growth of Agricultural Cooperatives?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ariyaratne,   Chatura B.; Featherstone,   Allen M.; Langemeier,   Michael R.
This paper examines productivity of a sample of grain marketing and farm supply cooperatives from 1990 to 1998.  The cooperative industry’s productivity or growth was mainly due to improvement in technology rather than improvement in pure efficiency or scale.  The cooperative industry’s productivity was primarily associated with the grain, fertilizer, and agrochemical product lines.  Policies that raise fertilizer prices would encourage a cooperative to be technically more productive.  In general, policies that raise prices of grain, fertilizer, and agrochemicals would encourage a cooperative to be more productive overall.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; Cooperatives; Input bias; Output bias; Productivity; Agribusiness; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q13.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43748

A Multi-Period Analysis of Two Common Livestock Management Strategies Given Fluctuating Precipitation and Variable Prices
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ritten,   John P.; Frasier,   W. Marshall; Bastian,   Christopher T.; Paisley,   Steven I.; Smith,   Michael A.; Mooney,   Sian.
Many areas of the US recently endured a severe drought and management strategies to cope with the lack of forage production varied. A multi-period mathematical model is presented that estimates the outcomes of two common producer responses to changes in precipitation, partial liquidation and purchasing hay, given fluctuating cattle prices over a long term planning horizon. Results were further summarized with regression analysis and selected elasticities were calculated to reflect the sensitivity of outcomes to variability in precipitation and livestock prices. Although little impact was seen from utilizing additional hay as a strategy during drought, producers who follow this strategy are in a position to market more animals immediately post drought in...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Drought management; Mathematical programming; Herd liquidation; Price cycle; Cattle management; Agribusiness; Agricultural Finance; Farm Management; Livestock Production/Industries; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Q12; C61; D24.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/90673

Productivity Change in Polish Agriculture: An Application of a Bootstrap Procedure to Malmquist Indices
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Balcombe,   Kelvin George; Davidova,   Sophia; Latruffe,   Laure.
This paper employs bootstrapping to correct for bias and to construct confidence intervals for Malmquist TFP indices derived with DEA. It uses these results to investigate the productivity change in Polish agriculture during a crucial period of the country's transition to a market economy, 1996-2000, when Poland was preparing for accession to the European Union. The bias corrected estimates show regress in productivity at an annual rate of 4 percent. The confidence intervals suggest that between two-thirds and four-fifths of the sample farms (250) in different years might have experienced no change in productivity. The cluster analysis based on confidence bounds reveals three paths of productivity change. Farms which recorded an increase in productivity at...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Malmquist indices; Bootstrapping; Poland; Farms; Productivity change; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q12; C6.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24572

STOCHASTIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS OF NEW ZEALAND'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: SOME EMPIRICAL RESULTS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Gounder,   Rukmani; Xayavong,   Vilaphonh.
This paper examines the sources of total factor productivity growth (TFP) in New Zealand's manufacturing industries over the period 1978-98 and over various sub-periods. Examination of the data adopts two stages using a stochastic frontier approach. The first stage involves the specification and estimation of the stochastic frontier production function and the prediction of technical efficiency effects. The second stage involves the specification of a regression model for the predicted technical efficiency effects. The sources of TFP growth have been decomposed into four components; i.e. technical progress, changes in technical efficiency, scale effects, and change in allocative efficiency. The empirical results show that productivity has been largely due...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: New Zealand Manufacturing Sector; Total Productivity Growth; Technical Progress; Technical Efficiency; Scale Components; Allocative Efficiency; Industrial Organization; D24; C23; O47.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/23714

Farm performance and support in Central and Western Europe: a comparison of Hungary and France
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Fogarasi,   Jozsef; Latruffe,   Laure.
The paper investigates the difference in technical efficiency and in productivity change, and the technology gaps, between French and Hungarian farms in the dairy and cereal, oilseeds and proteinseeds (COP) sectors during the period 2001-2004. The analyses are performed with national FADN data and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach under each country’s respective frontier and under a metafrontier. Results revealed that in both the dairy and the COP sectors, Hungarian farms’ technology was the more productive, despite a technological deterioration. This suggests technological advantages for large-scale (Hungarian) over small-scale (French) farming in these two sectors. These findings may also be explained by the higher policy support in France....
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Technology gap; Technical efficiency; Malmquist indices; Subsidies; Farms; Production Economics; P51; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51053

DISTORTED PRICES AND PRODUCER EFFICIENCY - ROMANIAN MAIZE
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Balint,   Borbala; Sauer,   Johannes.
This research aims at shedding empirical light on the relative efficiency of small-scale maize producers in Romania. Farmers in transition countries still face heavily distorted price systems resulting from imperfect market conditions and socioeconomic and institutional constraints. To capture such distortions we formulate a stochastic shadow-cost frontier model to investigate the systematic input-specific allocative inefficiency. We further adjust the underlying cost frontier by incorporating shadow price corrections and subsequently reveal evidence on farm specific technical inefficiency. Different models are estimated due to the imposition of curvature correctness and the effects on the individual efficiency estimates are shown. The empirical results...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Shadow Cost Frontier; Functional Consistency; Maize; Romania; Crop Production/Industries; C40; D24; O33.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14958

Effects of Seed and Farm Characteristics on Cottonseed Choice:  A Choice-Based Conjoint Experiment in the Mississippi Delta
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Banerjee,   Swagata (Ban); Hudson,   Darren; Martin,   Steven W.
Producers’ preferences for cottonseed with respect to price, seed type, yield, and fiber quality are examined by a willingness-to-pay approach via mail surveys.  Results indicate a positive willingness to pay (WTP) for technology relative to conventional cottonseed, and WTP increases with the level of technology.  Yield and quality also show a positive WTP.  Larger farms have a higher WTP for technology, and farms with more farm labor have a lower WTP for technology.  These results suggest economies of size in technology adoption (biotechnology is not size-neutral) and that labor and biotechnology are direct substitutes.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Biotechnology; Conjoint analysis; Conjoint (choice) experiment; Cotton; Farm labor; Farm size; Fiber quality; Willingness to pay (WTP); D24; Q12; Q16.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37054

Explaining differences in farms efficiencies in Polish agriculture
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Hockmann,   Heinrich; Pieniadz,   Agata.
This paper deals with the estimation of a random coefficient model. The virtue of this approach is that it considers firm heterogeneity, which conventional SFA models do not. When the model is applied to Polish farms, the results indicate that the conventional random and fixed effect models overestimate the potential production increases due to the reduction of inefficiency. Additionally, our findings provide evidence of the importance of input quality for efficiency analysis. Moreover, the results indicate that farm heterogeneity is a significant determinant of agricultural production. We found that differences in productivity between the farms can partly be attributed to farm size, degree of integration in the product markets and incurred transaction...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: SFA; Random component model; Poland; Agriculture; Firm heterogeneity; Farm Management; Labor and Human Capital; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Q12; C23; D24; L23.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51051

PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY OF SMALL AND LARGE FARMS IN MOLDOVA
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lerman,   Zvi; Sutton,   William R.
The paper presents a comparative analysis of the productivity of small and large farms in Moldova based primarily on cross-section data from three farm surveys conducted by the World Bank and USAID in 2000 and 2003. The survey data are supplemented where feasible with time series from official national-level statistics. We calculate partial land and labor productivity, total factor productivity, and technical efficiency scores (using Stochastic Frontier and Data Envelopment Analysis algorithms) for the two categories of small individual farms and large corporate farms. Our results demonstrate with considerable confidence that small individual farms in Moldova are more productive and more efficient than large corporate farms. This finding is not restricted...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Family farms; Corporate farms; Comparative performance; Technical efficiency; Total factor productivity; Agrarian reforms; Transition countries; Farm Management; D24; J24; P27; P31; P32; Q12; Q15; R14.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7133

Trade Policy, Trade Volumes and Plant-Level Productivity in Colombian Manufacturing Industries
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Fernandes,   Ana.
This paper offers new insights on a central question in trade and development economics: does increased exposure to foreign competition generate gains in plant productivity? We find that it does. We examine Colombian trade policy from 1977 to 1991, a period during which trade liberalization alternates with increased trade protection in varied ways across industries, to investigate the link between trade policy and plant productivity. Using a rich panel of manufacturing plants, we obtain production function estimates separately across industries that are consistent in face of the simultaneity between input demands and productivity. These estimates are used to derive plant-level time-varying productivity measures for which a systematic component related to...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Simultaneity and production functions; Trade policy; Productivity; Colombian manufacturing; Endogeneity of protection; International Relations/Trade; F13; D24; C14; O54.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28444

Think Again: Higher Elasticity of Substitution Increases Economic Resilience
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Dumas,   Patrice; Hallegatte,   Stephane.
This paper shows that, counter-intuitively, a higher elasticity of substitution in model production function can lead to reduced economic resilience and larger vulnerability to shocks in production factor prices. This result is due to the fact that assuming a higher elasticity of substitution requires a recalibration of the production function parameters to keep the model initial state unchanged. This result has consequences for economic analysis, e.g., on the economic vulnerability to climate change.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Substitution; Calibration; Constant Elasticity of Substitution; Shock; Risk and Uncertainty; D24; E17; E23.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/54283

Productivity and Environmental Performance in Marketing Cooperatives: Incentive Schemes on the Horticultural Sector
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Galdeano-Gomez,   Emilio; Cespedes-Lorente,   Jose; Rodriguez-Rodriguez,   Manuel.
The object of the present paper is to analyze the productivity of marketing cooperatives incorporating environmental inputs/outputs. In the European agricultural policy, expectations for attaining sustainable and competitive agriculture lie to a great extent on the cooperative sector's ability to adapt to the new market conditions. These challenges have led marketing cooperatives in the fruit and vegetables sector to consider improvement in productivity and sound environmental performance. In this sector environmental management was intensified by the Common Agrarian Policy (CAP) through incentives on the so-called Operative Programs (OP). The present study analyses the total factor productivity (TFP) related to environmental variables in this sector using...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Productivity; Environmental performance; Parametric approach; Efficiency; Marketing cooperative; Horticultural sector; Agribusiness; Environmental Economics and Policy; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q13; Q21; L15.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25738

An Updated Look at the Recovery of Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Nin Pratt,   Alejandro; Yu,   Bingxin.
We analyze the evolution of Sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) over the past 40 years, looking for evidence of recent changes in growth patterns using a nonparametric Malmquist index. Our TFP estimates show a remarkable recovery in the performance of Sub-Saharan Africa’s agriculture during between 1984 and 2003 after a long period of poor performance and decline. That recovery is the consequence of improved efficiency in production resulting from changes in the output structure and an adjustment in the use of inputs, including an overall net reduction in fertilizer use but increased fertilizer use in most of the best-performing countries. Policy changes implemented by African countries between the mid-1980s and the second...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agriculture; Total factor productivity; Sub-Saharan Africa; Agricultural and Food Policy; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q18.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51731

The Market Value of Variable Renewables
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Hirth,   Lion.
The income that wind and solar power receive on the market is affected by the variability of their output. At times of high availability of the primary energy source, they supply electricity at zero marginal costs, shift the supply curve (merit-order curve) to the right and thereby reduce the equilibrium price of electricity during that hour. The size of this merit-order effect depends on the amount of installed renewable capacity, the slope of the merit-order curve, and the intertemporal flexibility of the electricity system. Thus the price of wind power falls with higher penetration rates, even if the average electricity price remains constant. This work quantifies the effect of variability on the market value of renewables using a calibrated model of...
Tipo: Working Paper
Palavras-chave: Wind Power; Solar Power; Electricity Market; Power Generation Economics; Renewables; Value Factor; Numerical Modelling; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q42; O13; D24; D61.
Ano: 2012
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/122021

Food Safety Regulation and Firm Productivity: Evidence from the French Food Industry
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Requillart,   Vincent; Nauges,   Celine; Simioni,   Michel; Bontemps,   Christophe.
The purpose of this article is to assess whether food safety regulations imposed by the European Union in the 2000s may have induced a slow-down in the productivity of firms in the food processing sector. The impact of regulations on costs and productivity has seldom been studied. This article contributes to the literature by measuring productivity change using a panel of French food processing firms for the years 1996 to 2006. To do so, we develop an original iterative testing procedure based on the comparison of the distribution of efficiency scores of a set of firms. Our results confirm that productivity decreased in the poultry processing industry at the time when safety regulation was reinforced.
Tipo: Presentation
Palavras-chave: Total factor productivity; Safety regulation; Food processing sector; Panel data; Non-parametrics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; C14; D24; L66.
Ano: 2012
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/124378

Evading Farm Support Reduction via Efficient Input Use: The Case of Greek Cotton Growers
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pantzios,   Christos J.; Rozakis,   Stelios; Tzouvelekas,   Vangelis.
The present paper examines the importance that efficient resource use may have for cotton growers under the current EU policy regime. To that end, input-oriented technical and scale efficiency score for a sample of 172 cotton-growing farms are empirically quantified. The results suggest that cotton farms in the sample are not efficient mainly due to the nature of the policy regime governing the sector throughout EU. By becoming efficient, the co-responsibility levy will be reduced by 18.3% and farms may increase their profits by 50.1% on the average.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Co-responsibility levy; Cotton farms; Goal programming; Greece; Scale and technical efficiency; Stochastic frontier model; Production Economics; D24; Q12; Q16; C61.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43787

Measurement of dynamic efficiency, a directional distance function parametric approach
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Serra,   Teresa; Stefanou,   Spiro E.; Oude Lansink,   Alfons G.J.M.
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.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Structural dynamic efficiency; Dairy farms; Parametric approach; Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; Land Economics/Use; D21; D24; D61; D92.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61107

Agricultural Prices, Selection, and the Evolution of Food Industry
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Gaigne,   Carl; Le Mener,   Leo.
In this paper, we set up a simple model that explains the relation between low input price, high exit rates and industrial oncentration. More precisely, we argue that falling input prices force firms with low productivity to exit and induce expansion of more efficient incumbents at the expense of less productive producers. Our model helps reconcile some well‐established empirical results regarding the food processing industry. Indeed, agricultural prices have been declining between the early 1900s until 2006 while, over the same period, concentration and firm productivity have been increasing in the agri‐food industry.
Tipo: Working Paper
Palavras-chave: Input price; Downstream industry; Entry/exit; Industrial concentration; Firm heterogeneity; Agricultural and Food Policy; Industrial Organization; International Relations/Trade; D24; L11; L25; L66.
Ano: 2012
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/125221

Opportunity Costs of Providing Crop Diversity in Organic and Conventional Farming: Would Targeted Environmental Policies Make Economic Sense?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Sipilainen,   Timo; Huhtala,   Anni.
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 – 2002. Our results show that there is variation in the shadow values between farms and the technologies adopted. The extent of cost heterogeneity and farms’ potential for specialization in the production of environmental outputs determine whether voluntary programs such as...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Biodiversity; Shannon index; DEA; Distance functions; Shadow values; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; C21; D24; H41; Q12; Q24.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/114527

Effect of contract farming on productivity and income of small holders: The case of tea production in north-western Vietnam
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Saigenji,   Yoshiko; Zeller,   Manfred.
This paper examines potential of contract farming as a rural development tool by revealing its effect on productivity and income of small holders in tea production in north-western Vietnam. In the present research, three economic analyses are applied. First, the technical efficiency of tea production is estimated by using stochastic frontier model. The results show that contract farming achieved significantly higher technical efficiency compared to non-contract farming. Second, logit model is investigated to determine the influential socio-economic characteristics of households for contract participation. The model indicates that social relationship of households, such as the membership in the communist party, play an important role in contract...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Contract farming; Tea; Vietnam; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Crop Production/Industries; Food Security and Poverty; Productivity Analysis; C21; D24; O12; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51681

TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF RUSSIAN CORPORATE FARMS: THE CASE OF THE MOSCOW REGION
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Svetlov,   Nikolai M.; Hockmann,   Heinrich.
The research focus of the paper is to distinguish allocative and technical inefficiencies on Moscow region corporate farms. DEA specifications with both monetary and technical objective functions are applied. Reduced costs and sensitivity analyses are used to identify fixed inputs constraining either allocative or technical efficiency. To decrease heterogeneity and allow for the accessibility to different technologies of a given farm, the farms are grouped with respect to the set of outputs they produce. Thus, as a result of an unstable market environment, it is shown that allocative inefficiency causes 65-100 % (depending on the group) of total inefficiency in 2002 and 60-96 % in 1999. As for technical inefficiency, in 1999 its major source was the lack...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Technical inefficiency; Allocative inefficiency; Data Envelopment Analysis; Moscow region; Transitional economy; Farm Management; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q12; C14.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14922

Mixed Crop Livestock Farming Incorporating Agroforestry Orchards Facing the New Cap
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ducros,   Denis; Kephaliacos,   Charilaos; Ridier,   Aude.
In the context of the new CAP, decoupling subsidies from production should incite farmers to reorganize their production systems, particularly through diversification opportunities. In this paper we focus our analysis on the conditions that could permit the development of extensive orchards by modelling mixed crop livestock farms, which incorporate orchards. A mathematical programming model is built to simulate various intensification levels characterizing different technical pathways within the different farm activities (cattle breeding, forage fields, arboriculture). This model also enables us to take into account some environmental indicators related to these pathways. Moreover, the method illustrates technical complementarities existing within the...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Decoupling; Diversification; Agroforestry orchards; Joint production; Mathematical programming; Agribusiness; C61; D24; Q12; Q21.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24532

Imposing Curvature Conditions on Flexible Functional Forms to GNP Functions
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Chapda Nana,   Guy; Larue,   Bruno.
This paper empirically investigates the implications of the imposition of convexity in output prices and concavity in factor endowments on flexible functional forms for the GNP function. Using macroeconomic data for Switzerland, we estimate the Translog and the Symmetric Normalized Quadratic forms to investigate the manner with which curvature restrictions are imposed, the extend of curvature violations and the robustness of estimated elasticities. We also compare the predictive accuracy of the aforementioned flexible functional forms. Our result show that concavity in factor endowments is violated much more often than convexity in output prices. For the Translog, the date at which local restrictions are imposed matters a great deal in terms of remaining...
Tipo: Working Paper
Palavras-chave: GNP function; Flexible functional forms; Curvature violations; Elasticities; International Relations/Trade; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; D24; C30.
Ano: 2012
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/123308

Structural Change in Transition: A Role for Organizational Legitimacy? Evidence from Czech Agriculture
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Curtiss,   Jarmila; Brümmer,   Bernhard; Medonos,   Tomas; Weaver,   Robert D.
Market liberalization in Central and Eastern Europe was targeted at establishing incentives that would improve economic performance. While substantial reorganization of enterprises is observed, firms can also be observed which devote resources towards establishing organizational legitimacy. Motivations for such behavior are considered and empirical evidence of its relationship with technical efficiency using a distance function approach is analyzed for the case of Czech agriculture. Contrary to the expectation that such behavior would be inefficient, we find that firms reap private economic gains from legitimacy efforts through improved access to agricultural land, investment subsidies and firm internal social capital. However, its effect on technical...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Organizational legitimacy; Efficiency; Structural change; Transition; Agriculture; Industrial Organization; D21; D23; D24.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24557

Will the EU Single Area Payment decrease farm efficiency in the New Member States?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Douarin,   Elodie; Latruffe,   Laure.
This paper starts the debate regarding the likely impact of post-accession public support in the New Member States on their farming sector’s efficiency. While one aim of farm support in the European Union (EU) is to promote efficient farms that can compete internationally, a higher level of support via the Single Area Payment (SAP) may have adverse effects on farms’ performance. Analyses using pre-accession technical efficiency scores calculated with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and post-accession farmer’s intentions, lead to the conclusion that the implementation of the SAP may decrease farm efficiency. The main reasons are the negative link between farm efficiency and subsidies already present in pre-EU accession Lithuania, and the change in...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Single Area Payment; Technical efficiency; Size; Subsidies; Lithuania; Agricultural and Food Policy; Productivity Analysis; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51625

The Impact of Group-Based Credit on Demand for Productive Inputs and Agricultural Productivity in Rural Kenya
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mghenyi,   Elliot W.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agricultural credit; Joint liability; Productive inputs; Productivity; Agricultural Finance; International Development; Productivity Analysis; Risk and Uncertainty; D24; Q14; R34.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/49470

EFFECTS OF QUALITY CONSIDERATIONS AND CLIMATE/WEATHER INFORMATION ON THE MANAGEMENT AND PROFITABILITY OF COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Britt,   Megan L.; Ramirez,   Octavio A.; Carpio,   Carlos E.
Production function models for cotton lint yields, seed yields, turnout, and lint quality characteristics are developed for the Texas High Plains.  They are used to evaluate the impacts of quality considerations and of climate/weather information on the management decisions and on the profitability and risk of irrigated cotton production systems.  It is concluded that both quality considerations and improved climatic/weather information could have substantial effects on expected profitability and risk.  These effects mainly occur because of changes in optimal variety selection an irrigation water use levels.  Quality considerations in particular result in significantly lower irrigation water use levels regardless of the climate/weather information...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Climatic/weather information; Cotton quality; Ground water resource use; Risk and uncertainty; Texas High Plains; Crop Production/Industries; D21; D24; D61; D81; D84.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15082

Technical efficiency and technology gaps in beef cattle production systems in Kenya: A stochastic metafrontier analysis
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Otieno,   David Jakinda; Hubbard,   Lionel J.; Ruto,   Eric.
In this study the stochastic metafrontier method is used to investigate technical efficiency and technology gaps across three main beef cattle production systems in Kenya. Results show that there is significant inefficiency in nomadic and agro-pastoral systems. Further, in contrast with ranches, these two systems were found to have lower technology gap ratios. The average pooled technical efficiency was estimated to be 0.69, which suggests that there is considerable scope to improve beef production in Kenya
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Technical efficiency; Technology gap; Beef cattle; Production systems; Stochastic metafrontier; Kenya.; Livestock Production/Industries; D24; O32; Q18.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/108947

Measuring Technical Efficiency of Dairy Farms with Imprecise Data: A Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis Approach
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mugera,   Amin W.
This article integrates fuzzy set theory in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) framework to compute technical efficiency scores when input and output data are imprecise. The underlying assumption in convectional DEA is that inputs and outputs data are measured with precision.  However, production agriculture takes place in an uncertain environment and, in some situations, input and output data may be imprecise.  We present an approach of measuring efficiency when data is known to lie within specified intervals and empirically illustrate this approach using a group of 34 dairy producers in Pennsylvania.  Compared to the convectional DEA scores that are point estimates, the computed fuzzy efficiency scores allow the decision maker to trace the performance of a...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Fuzzy set theory; Data Envelopment Analysis; Membership function; Α-cut level; Technical efficiency; Farm Management; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Risk and Uncertainty; D24; Q12; C02; C44; C61.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103251

China’s Electricity Market Reform and Power Plants Efficiency
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ma,   Chunbo; Zhao,   Xiaoli; Ma,   Qian; Zhao,   Yue.
In the past three decades, Chinese electricity industry has experienced a series of regulatory reforms serving different purposes at different stages. In 2002, the former vertically integrated electricity utility - the State Power Corporation (SPC) – was divested and the generation sector was separated from the transmission and distribution networks in an effort to improve production efficiency. In this paper we study the impact of the reform on efficiency of fossil-fired power plants using plant-level data during 2000-2008. Our results from the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and panel regressions show that: 1) the total factor productivity (TFP) growth mainly comes from technological change; 2) the technical efficiency of previously SPC-managed power...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; DEA; Malmquist Index; China; Electricity; Industrial Organization; Productivity Analysis; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; D24; L11; L51; L94; L98.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117811

Optimal long-term stocking rates for livestock grazing in a Sahelian rangeland
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Hein,   Lars; Weikard,   Hans-Peter.
Economic modelling of semi-arid rangelands has received much attention in recent literature. A major outstanding issue is how stochastic rainfall and the feedback effect of heavy grazing pressures on vegetation productivity can be accounted for in these models. This paper presents a model for calculating the optimal livestock stocking rate in a semi-arid rangeland that accounts for stochastic rainfall, the ecological feedback effect and variable prices. The model is developed for rangelands dominated by annual rather than perennial grasses, such as the African Sahel. The feedback effect is modeled on the basis of an ecological study, conducted in northern Senegal, that analyzes the impact of different grazing pressures on vegetation productivity. The paper...
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Semi-arid rangelands; Optimal stocking rate; Modeling rangeland ecology; Sahel; Livestock Production/Industries; Q24; D24.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/56959

Farmer Participation in Supermarket Channels, Production Technology, and Efficiency: The Case of Vegetables in Kenya
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Rao,   Elizaphan J.O.; Brümmer,   Bernhard; Qaim,   Matin.
Supermarkets are gaining ground in the agri-food systems of many developing countries. While recent research has analyzed income effects in the small farm sector, impacts on productivity and efficiency have hardly been studied. We use a meta-frontier approach and combine this with propensity score matching to estimate treatment effects among vegetable farmers in Kenya. Participation in supermarket channels increases farm productivity in terms of meta-technology ratios by 45%. We also find positive and significant impacts on technical efficiency and scale efficiency. Supermarket expansion therefore presents opportunities for agricultural growth in the small farm sector, which is crucial for poverty reduction in Africa.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Supermarkets; Technical efficiency; Scale efficiency; Meta-frontier; Meta-technology ratio; Sample selection; Kenya; International Development; Marketing; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; D24; L23; O12; Q12; Q16.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/113508

Productivity Spillovers from Foreign MNEs on Domestic Manufacturing Firms: Is Co-location Always a Plus?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mariotti,   Sergio; Mutinelli,   Marco; Nicolini,   Marcella; Piscitello,   Lucia.
The paper analyses productivity spillovers from foreign MNEs on domestic manufacturing firms. Using a database on foreign MNEs in Italy, our results reveal that local firms do benefit from the presence of foreign MNEs, and the effect is higher when local and foreign firms in manufacturing sectors are co-located. However, spillovers benefiting domestic firms are likely to be less influenced by co-location when foreign MNEs are in services sectors as the latter are different from manufacturing industries under a number of aspects that overcome the effect of distance. Indeed, in these sectors, proximity and interaction are often obtained through professional mobility and temporary inter-organizational routines.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Multinational Firms; Co-Location; Proximity; Spillover Effects; Customer-Supplier Interaction; Vertical Linkages; International Relations/Trade; D24; F23; O19; R30.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/99683

Assessing the Perspectives of EU Cotton Farming: Technical and Scale Efficiencies of Greek Cotton Growers
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pantzios,   Christos J.; Rozakis,   Stelios; Tzouvelekas,   Vangelis.
Utilizing the stochastic frontier approach, this paper estimates output and input-oriented technical and scale efficiency levels for a sample of cotton-growing farms in Thessaly, Greece. The empirical results suggest that Greek cotton farm operations are technically and scale inefficient. There is a considerable scope for improvement in resource use and thereby in farm income of cotton farms; Greek cotton farmers could reduce production costs by 20.4%, making more efficient utilization of the existing production technology. Factors responsible for the technical efficiency differentials observed among cotton-growers include the farmer's age and education as well as the farm's land fragmentation and output specialization.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Technical and scale inefficiency; Stochastic frontier models; Cotton production; Greece; Crop Production/Industries; C33; D24; O13.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24844

Does Farm Size and Specialization Matter for Productive Efficiency?  Results from Kansas
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mugera,   Amin W.; Langemeier,   Michael R.
In this article, we used bootstrap data envelopment analysis techniques to examine technical and scale efficiency scores for a balanced panel of 564 farms in Kansas for the period 1993–2007. The production technology is estimated under three different assumptions of returns to scale and the results are compared. Technical and scale efficiency is disaggregated by farm size and specialization. Our results suggest that farms are both scale and technically inefficient. On average, technical efficiency has deteriorated over the sample period. Technical efficiency varies directly by farm size and the differences are significant. Differences across farm specializations are not significant.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Bootstrap; Data envelopment analysis; Efficiency; Farms; Farm Management; Production Economics; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/117947

Political Violence and Farm Household Efficiency in Colombia
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Gonzalez,   Maria A.; Lopez,   Rigoberto A.
This paper estimates farm household levels of technical efficiency and their determinants in Colombia, with particular reference to political violence (i.e., guerilla fronts, assassinations, kidnappings, and displaced population). An input-oriented stochastic frontier is estimated simultaneously with a technical inefficiency model that incorporates violence at the local level, using survey data from 822 farm households. The findings show that household productivity is lower in areas of high political violence, particularly with high incidence of guerrilla fronts and kidnappings. Should political violence be eliminated, the average Farrell's technical efficiency index of farm households in the sample would increase by an average of 6.4%, favoring households...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Distance function; Farm efficiency; Colombia; Violencia; Consumer/Household Economics; Q74; O13; O54; D24.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/19528

Effects on milk supply of different systems of livestock feeding
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Casasnovas,   Valero L.; Aldanondo,   Ana Maria.
Determining the competitive position of dairy farms depends on several technological, economic and institutional variables. Among them, are remarkable those related to animal feeding in the current context of high variability on prices. In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze the effects on milk supply and the competitiveness of dairy farms with different models of land intensification, with greater reliance on market purchases or self-production of livestock feed. This study is based on an econometric approach to a variable cost function, in a fixed effects model for unbalanced panel data of specialized dairy farms in Navarre (Spain). From this region, we use 3 geographical areas in relation to the availability of grazing land. It has been...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Multiproduct cost function; Unbalanced panel data; Milk supply; Animal feed; Dairy farms.; Livestock Production/Industries; Production Economics; Q12; D24; L25.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103727

Learning in Organic Farming – An Application on Finnish Dairy Farms
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Sipilainen,   Timo; Oude Lansink,   Alfons G.J.M.
Organic farming technology may be relatively unknown to farmers at the time when they switch from conventional into organic farming. Therefore, experience gained over time and learning by doing may be important determinants in the efficiency of organic farming. It may also take time to reach the optimal nutrient stock of soil and optimal nutrient supply for arable crops under organic farming. Thus, efficiency of organic farming can either grow or decrease over time depending on the nature of the technology and the learning process. This paper estimates technical efficiency of organic farming and its development over time. We control for possible selection bias and regional heterogeneity when estimating a stochastic frontier distance functions for a sample...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Technical efficiency; Technical change; Output distance function; SFA; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; C23; D24; D83; O30; Q12.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24493

Jobs  Versus the Environment: An Industry-level Perspective
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Morgenstern,   Richard D.; Pizer,   William A.; Shih,   Jhih-Shyang.
The possibility that workers could be adversely affected by environmental policies imposed on heavily regulated industries has led to claims of a "jobs versus the environment" trade-off by both business and labor leaders. The present research examines this claim at the industry level for four heavily polluting industries: pulp and paper mills, plastic manufacturers, petroleum refiners, and iron and steel mills. By focusing on labor effects across an entire industry, we construct a measure relevant to the concerns of key stakeholders, such as labor unions and trade groups. We decompose the link between environmental regulation and employment into three distinct components: factor shifts to more or less labor intensity, changes in total expenditures, and...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Jobs-environment trade-off; Distribution of environmental costs; Translog cost function; Labor and Human Capital; C33; D24; J40; Q28.
Ano: 2000
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10526

CAP reform and its impact on structural change and productivity growth: A cross country analysis
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Kazukauskas,   Andrius; Newman,   Carol F.
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...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Productivity; Semiparametric estimation; Farming; Decoupling; Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; Land Economics/Use; D24; Q12; Q18.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61103

Urban Sprawl and Farmland Prices
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Livanis,   Grigorios T.; Moss,   Charles B.; Breneman,   Vincent E.; Nehring,   Richard F.
A theoretical model of farmland valuation is developed that allows urban sprawl to affect farmland values through the conversion of farmland to urban uses, shifts in production to higher-valued crops, and the speculative effect of urban pressure on farmland values. This model is estimated using county level data in the continental United States. Evidence is found for all three effects of urban sprawl on farmland values, with a significant contribution of urban pressure on net agricultural returns around major urban centers. Ancillary evidence supports that the latter effect is attributable to shifts to high-valued crops.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Hedonic determinants; Land prices; Spatial productivity; Urban sprawl; Land Economics/Use; R14; Q15; D24; C33.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/15657

A two-stage productivity analysis using bootstrapped Malmquist index and quantile regression
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Kaditi,   Eleni A.; Nitsi,   Elisavet I.
This paper examines the effects of farm characteristics and government policies in enhancing productivity growth for a sample of Greek farms, using a two-stage procedure. In the 1st-stage, non-parametric estimates of Malmquist index and its decompositions are computed, while a bootstrapping procedure is applied to provide their statistical precision. In the 2nd-stage, the productivity growth estimates are regressed on various covariates using a bootstrapped quantile regression approach. The effect that the covariates exert on productivity growth of the average producer is analyzed, as well as the marginal effect of a given covariate for individuals at different points in the conditional productivity distribution. The results indicate that there exists...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Malmquist productivity index; Quantile regression; Bootstrap; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; C14; C21; D24.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52845

Technical efficiency of organic milk-farms in Germany - the role of subsidies and of regional factors
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lakner,   Sebastian.
This paper investigates the efficiency of organic milk farms in Germany based on data from 1994/95 to 2005/06. Five inputs and one output are analyzed by means of a stochastic frontier production function, allowing for heteroscedasticity and technical effects. The selection of determinants of technical efficiency includes 5 groups of indicators. The analysis is focused on the impacts of farm support of organic farms and of regional factors, that can influence technical efficiency. The results show, that the agri-environmental payments show a negative effect on efficiency. Farms, which receive investment aid, show lower efficiency scores. Finally, the implication for agricultural policy are discussed.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Efficiency Analysis; Organic Farming; Agglomerations Effects; Subsidies; Agricultural and Food Policy; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Q12; Q18; D24.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51301

Efficiency analysis of producers’ organizations (Case of South Eastern and Central planning regions of Bulgaria)
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Zaimova,   Darina.
The main aim of this paper is to compare two alternative methods for estimating frontier functions and measuring efficiency in production. The application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to the same data panel provides insights in estimating technical efficiency of producers’ organizations in selected regions in Bulgaria.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: DEA; SFA; Technical efficiency; Frontier production; Farm efficiency; Community/Rural/Urban Development; International Development; C14; C23; C51; C61; C67; D24.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/94636

Farm performance and support in Central and Western Europe: A comparison of Hungary and France
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Fogarasi,   Jozsef; Latruffe,   Laure.
The paper investigates the difference in technical efficiency and in productivity change, and the technology gaps, between French and Hungarian farms in the dairy and cereal, oilseeds and proteinseeds (COP) sectors during the period 2001-2004. The analyses are performed with national FADN data and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach under each country’s respective frontier and under a metafrontier. Results reveal that Hungarian farms’ technology was more productive, despite a technological deterioration. This suggests technological advantages for large-scale (Hungarian) over small-scale (French) farming. These findings may also be explained by the higher policy support in France.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Technical efficiency; Technology gap; Malmquist indices; Subsidies; Farms; Agricultural and Food Policy; Productivity Analysis; P51; D24; Q12.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51431

Energy Efficiency and Shadow Costs of Energy Saving in Conventional Agricultural Production: The Case of Czech Wheat Production
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Curtiss,   Jarmila; Jelinek,   Ladislav.
Increasing worldwide energy demand and diminishing supplies of fossil fuels have necessitated the development and increasing use of new sustainable energy sources, as well as more parsimonious energy use. In the context of agriculture, research has focused predominantly on the production of bio-energy, while only a limited number of studies have investigated the energy use and possible energy saving in conventional agricultural production. In response to this lack in empirical research this study aims (i) to measure the farm-level energy and cost efficiency of conventional agricultural (wheat) production, (ii) to identify the potential for energy saving in conventional agriculture and quantify its shadow cost, (iii) to identify production technologies and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Energy efficiency; Cost efficiency; Shadow cost of energy saving; Agriculture; Czech farm; Wheat production; Agribusiness; Crop Production/Industries; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; D24.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103410

The Cost of Environmental Protection
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Morgenstern,   Richard D.; Pizer,   William A.; Shih,   Jhih-Shyang.
Expenditures for environmental protection in the U.S. are estimated to exceed $150 billion annually or about 2% of GDP. This estimate, based on largely self-reported information, is often cited as an assessment of the burden of current regulatory efforts and a standard against which the associated benefits are measured. Little is known, however, about how well reported expenditures relate to true costs. The potential for both incidental savings and uncounted burdens means that actual costs could be either higher or lower than reported expenditures. A significant literature supports the notion that increases in reported environmental expenditures probably understate actual economic costs. Estimates of the true cost of a dollar increase in reported...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Environmental costs; Fixed-effects; Translog cost model; Environmental Economics and Policy; C33; D24; Q28.
Ano: 1998
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10530

Testing Porter's Hypothesis: A Stochastic Frontier Panel Data Analysis of Dutch Horticulture
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: van der Vlist,   Arno; Withagen,   Cees; Folmer,   Henk.
We propose a test of the Porter hypothesis for the Dutch horticulture sector, using a stochastic production frontier analysis allowing for an inclusion of policy variables to account for the effect of environmental policy of firm performance. We find considerable heterogeneity in the way firms react to environmental policy measures. Our estimation results indicate, for example, that a 1997 voluntary agreement covering energy, nutrient and pesticides use enhances technical efficiency of vegetable and plants growers, contrary to specialised flower growers. Specialised flower growers, however, did react to the 1993 multi-year agreement on energy reduction, contrary to vegetable and plant growers. Summarising, our findings are mixed but do not seem to reject...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Firm performance; Environmental stringency; Technical efficiency; Environmental Economics and Policy; Production Economics; D24; Q12; Q50.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24641