Scale Economies,Technical Efficiency,and the Sources of Total Factor Productivity Growth of Quebec Dairy Farms

Canada's average cost for milk production is among the highest in the world. This paper focuses on specific potential causes by estimating economies of scale and technical efficiency for a panel of Quebec dairy farms that spans the 2001–10 period. Additionally, this paper investigates the sources of total factor productivity growth. The stochastic frontier analysis, based on an input‐distance function, is used to estimate returns to scale relationships across dairy farms. The results show that there is significant economies scale to be exploited and that cost of production could also be reduced by improving technical efficiency. Accordingly, the paper indicates that input‐mix effect is the main source of total factor productivity growth. The results have important implications for Canada's supply management policy, and more specifically for the trading of production quota between dairy farmers, as well as for the delivery of targeted extension services.     

Enhancing productivity on suburban dairy farms in China

Dairy farms in China's suburban areas have been playing an important role in providing urban markets with fresh milk. With the rising demand for fluid milk and dairy products in the cities, there is a perception that small and scattered dairy farms in China's provinces are gradually disappearing and more concentrated dairy cattle farming is being formed near suburban areas. This article uses farm‐level survey data and stochastic input distance functions to make estimates of total factor productivity (TFP) on suburban dairy farms, as well as for the entire dairy sector. The results show that over the past decade TFP growth has been positive on suburban dairy farms, and this rise in productivity has been driven mostly by technological change. However, at the same time we find that, on average, the same farms have been falling behind the advancing technical frontier. We also find one of the drivers of the suburban dairy sector is the relatively robust rate of technological change of these farms, which has been more rapid than on farms in the dairy sector as a whole. The results suggest that efforts to achieve greater adoption of new technologies and better advice on how to use the technologies and manage production and marketing within the suburban dairy sector will further advance productivity growth in the sector.     

Impacts of Norwegian Milk Quotas on Output Growth: A Modified Distance Function Approach

Quota regulations that prevent output expansion of farms and reallocation of output between farms can cause lower growth in output and productivity. The aim of this study was to explain the output growth rate of Norwegian dairy farms since 1976, and to decompose it into output, input, socioeconomic and technical change components. Instead of using the standard distance function approach for multi‐output technologies, we use a growth rate formulation, which automatically removes the farm‐specific effects. This formulation also helps to impose non‐negativity constraints on marginal products of inputs (input elasticities), which are often violated for many observations, especially when flexible functional forms are used. The farm‐level panel data cover three periods: before the quota scheme was introduced (1976–1982); the period with the most output‐restricting quota scheme (1983–1996); and the period with a more flexible quota scheme (from 1997 onwards). Results show that the milk quota regulations had a significant constraining effect on output growth, in particular on milk output in the period 1983–1996. Furthermore, the output mix has shifted towards meat production for the average farm. What emerges from this study is that output growth and technical change are negatively influenced by policy aims where productive performance has not been the primary objective, and that there is scope for increased farm growth if the quota regime is liberalised.     

POPULATION DYNAMICS AND MILK SUPPLY RESPONSE IN THE US LAKE STATES

This paper develops a dynamic model of a dairy cow population and of milk supply response. When applied to the US Lake States, the model provides evidence against the Nerlovian model. It suggests that the pattern of dynamic effects of prices on cow numbers varies for different prices. The estimated dynamic supply elasticities provide some useful information on the nature of dairy production adjustments. For example, the response of milk supply to market prices is found to be very inelastic in the short run. It takes at least 7 years of sustained change to obtain an elastic response to milk price. Also, feed price and slaughter cow price are found to have smaller effects on dairy supply than milk price, but larger effects than risk, hay price or capital cost.     

中国农业全要素生产率的动态演进及其影响因素分析

[目的]通过测算中国农业全要素生产率,揭示其动态演进趋势及影响因素,从而为推动我国农业供给侧结构性改革,实现农业现代化提供科学的决策依据。[方法]文章使用SBM-Global Malmqusit生产率指数法测算了中国农业全要素生产率,在此基础上利用Kernel核密度估计方法刻画了中国农业TFP增长的动态演进,并通过建立面板数据模型对影响中国农业TFP增长的诸多因素进行了分析。[结果]中国农业全要素生产率增长的主要源泉是技术进步,而技术效率的下降是阻碍其增长的主要原因;核密度估计表明各省份之间的农业相对全要素生产率水平差距不断扩大,技术效率普遍恶化,而技术进步增长速度显著;农业金融发展水平、工业化水平、农业科技水平对中国农业TFP都产生了显著的促进作用,而农业产业结构调整、对外开放水平对中国农业TFP则产生了阻碍作用,农村人力资本则对农业TFP产生的正效应不显著。[结论]提高农业全要素生产率,实现农业现代化.各省份应加强农业科技创新,深化农业科技体制改革,完善农村金融服务体系,推动工业化和农业现代化深度融合,培育新型职业农民等措施。     

Is a slowdown in agricultural productivity growth contributing to the rise in commodity prices?

A slowdown in the rate of agricultural productivity growth is thought by many observers to be contributing to the recent rise in agricultural prices. In this article I decompose sources of output growth in global agriculture into aggregate input and total factor productivity (TFP) components and examine whether productivity growth slowed substantially in the years leading up to the recent rise in commodity prices. Contrary to widely held perceptions, I find no evidence of a general slowdown in sector‐wide agricultural TFP, at least through 2006. If anything, the growth rate in agricultural TFP accelerated in recent decades. However, the results do show a slowdown in the growth of agricultural investment. Accelerating TFP growth largely offset decelerating input growth to keep the real output of global agriculture growing at about 2% per year since the 1960s. Regionally, however, agricultural productivity performance has been uneven. These findings have important implications for the appropriate supply‐side policy response to the current agricultural price crisis.     

黑龙江国有林区林业产业全要素生产率及其影响因素分析

利用DEA法测量了黑龙江省森工40个林业企业的全要素生产率(Total Factor Productiv-ity,TFP),并利用Panel-Data模型找出其影响因素。实证分析结果表明:2003～2009黑龙江国有林区林业企业全要素生产率总体上呈现下降趋势,其原因可归结为林区技术进步缓慢;规模效率和纯技术效率对全要素生产率有正向作用;技术因素和营林投资比重对森工企业的全要素生产率有正向影响,固定资产投资对其存在负向影响,而劳动投入和天保工程(政策因素)对其影响不显著。为此,提出鼓励林业企业技术创新、优化林业投资结构、加强林业投资体制改革、加快森林生态服务的市场化进程和深化林业管理体制改革等建议。     

要素市场扭曲对农业全要素生产率空间影响效应分解研究

目的 通过对要素市场扭曲下的农业全要素生产率的系统分析,以期为提升农业全要素生产率以及要素市场改革进程中的中国农业可持续发展提供参考。方法 文章基于资本、劳动力、土地等要素市场严重扭曲的事实,利用1997—2018年中国28个省（ 市、自治区）面板数据,通过构建空间计量模型检验要素市场扭曲对农业全要素生产率的空间影响及其溢出效应。结果 中国资本市场、劳动力市场、土地等要素市场扭曲度比较高,同时呈现显著地区差异;中国农业全要素生产率增长以技术进步驱动为主,大多数省份的技术效率不高,同时呈现出东部地区高于中西部地区的区域不平衡特点;要素市场扭曲对农业全要素生产率的影响为负,资本市场、劳动力市场、土地等要素市场扭曲在一定程度上阻碍农业全要素生产率的提升;要素市场扭曲对全要素生产率具有一定的空间溢出效应,也在一定程度抑制了全要素生产率增长。结论 考虑要素市场扭曲对农业全要素生产率影响的空间分析,更能客观反映当前不断深化的农业农村改革发展所引发的地区差距,应充分重视要素市场扭曲对农业全要素生产率的空间溢出效应,通过要素市场化改革,持续加大涉农政策调整,不断加大对农业农村生产经营的金融资源投入,逐步实现农业全要素生产率的全面提升。     

供给侧结构改革背景下的西南地区农业全要素生产率分析

［目的］探究在制度改革背景下的农业生产力发展水平和地区差异，有利于全面了解农业发展状况，为后期农业政策的制定、调整以及农业发展提供理论基础。［方法］文章利用DEA-Malmquist指数法对我国西南地区5个省（市）农业全要素生产率（TFP）水平变化发展趋势进行分析，并在此基础上对不同地区农业TFP差异变化和发展趋势进行预测。［结果］（1）Malmquist指数分析结果表明，我国西南地区农业TFP呈缓慢增长的趋势。通过对不同地区农业TFP结果进行比较，四川省农业TFP有先逐渐上升后下降的趋势，而技术进步是影响四川省农业TFP增长的原因；（2）重庆市农业TFP也是呈现波动式缓慢增加的趋势，年平均增长率为354%； 贵州省农业TFP近20年来增长速度最快，主要影响因素为技术进步； 云南和广西农业TFP也均呈缓慢增长的趋势，技术效率和技术进步在不同时期对农业TFP的影响有所差异。（3）收敛性分析结果表明，我国西南地区农业TFP差异有减小的趋势，并且不同地区农业TFP水平具有向各自稳定状态发展的可能性。［结论］我国西南地区农业TFP增长与技术进步具有较高的同步性，因此，制约我国西南地区农业全要素生产率增长的关键因素是农业科技进步。在供给侧结构性改革背景下，必须以市场需求为科研导向，加大科技创新投入力度，促进我国西南地区农业的可持续发展。     

The impact of the 2008 financial crisis on dynamic productivity growth of the Spanish food manufacturing industry. An impulse response analysis

The emergence of a financial crisis is an event that can impact the fortunes of nearly all economic agents. The focus here is on the 2008 financial crisis and how firms’ productivity growth was impacted by this crisis in the years that followed. This article focuses on dynamic productivity growth and its components using a firm‐level data set of Spanish meat processing, dairy processing, and oils and fats firms. The impulse response analysis shows that the impact of the crisis on dynamic productivity growth is negative and persistent in the oils and fats industry, initially positive but then negative in the meat processing industry, and positive in the dairy processing industry. The observed magnitudes of change in indicator are between 2% and 5% for oils and fats industries, and of 1% in both dairy and meat industries. Our analysis further confirms that firms’ size is an important factor in explaining how crisis impacts dynamic productivity growth and its components, while we find only slight evidence regarding the firms’ experience in the market.     

Productivity growth and convergence in crop, ruminant, and nonruminant production: measurement and forecasts

Projections of future productivity growth rates in agriculture are an essential input for a great variety of tasks, ranging from development of an outlook for global commodity markets to the analysis of interactions between land use, deforestation, and ecological diversity. Yet solid projections for these variables have proven elusive—particularly on a global basis. This is due, in no small part, to the difficulty of measuring historical total factor productivity growth. Consequently, most productivity projections are based on partial factor productivity measures that can be quite misleading. The purpose of this work is to provide worldwide forecasts of agricultural productivity growth till the year 2040 based on the latest time series evidence on total factor productivity growth for crops, ruminants, and nonruminant livestock. The results suggest that most regions in the sample are likely to experience larger productivity gains in livestock than in crops. Within livestock, the nonruminant sector is expected to continue to be more dynamic than the ruminant sector. Given the rapid rates of productivity growth observed recently, nonruminant and crop productivity in developing countries may be converging to the productivity levels of developed countries. For ruminants, the results show that productivity levels in developing countries are likely to be diverging from those in developed countries.     

基于空间效应的农田水利投资对农业全要素生产率的影响

在构建包含农田水利基础设施投资在内的农业超越对数随机前沿生产函数的基础上,利用随机前沿法测算我国31个省(市、自治区)1996—2015年农业全要素生产率,对测算的结果通过空间计量方法分析农业全要素生产率的空间特征及农田水利投资对其产生的影响。结果表明:我国各省(市、自治区)农业全要素生产率整体增长呈现上升趋势;横向和纵向的分析结果显示其增长具有一定的区域性和地域集聚性;农田水利投资对农业全要素生产率的影响为正,且具有较弱的溢出效应,其中直接效应值为0.286 5,间接效应值为0.057 4,总效应值为0.343 9。     

黑龙江省国有重点林区林业经济投入产出效率研究

运用DEA模型对黑龙江省国有重点林区40个林业局进行推测计算投入产出效率,研究发现:林业经济投入产出效率在黑龙江省国有重点林区整体较低,只有少数林业局能够达到有效的投入产出状态,林业投资和劳动力存在显著的投入冗余,林业总产值存在较大的增长空间,通过扩大生产规模等方式会降低投资冗余,但仍会存在较大的劳动力冗余,林业资源的合理配置与要素投入的结构优化是提升黑龙江省国有重点林区林业经济投入产出效率根本途径。     

The efficiency of the Australian dairy processing industry

In this article we analyse trends in the economic performance of the dairy processing industry and evaluate the link between these trends and the deregulation of the industry. Using Stochastic Frontier Analysis to derive Malmquist total factor productivity estimates, we show that the industry exhibits a relatively high level of technical efficiency. Victoria, the major producing state, has been effectively on the frontier over the period studied. In recent years, the rapid expansion in capital investment that has attended the shift towards deregulation, has been accompanied by an apparent slowdown in both productivity growth and technical progress. There is also evidence of a convergence in productivity levels across states.     

Empirical investigation of investment behaviour in Australia's pastoral region*

Optimal intertemporal investment behaviour of Australian pastoralists is modelled using panel data for the period 1979–1993. Results indicate that quasi‐fixity of inputs of labour, capital, sheep numbers and cattle numbers is characteristic of production in the pastoral region. It takes about two years for labour, four years for capital and a little over two years for both sheep numbers and cattle numbers to adjust towards long‐run optimal levels. Results also indicate that, after accounting for adjustment costs, own‐price product supply and input demand responses are inelastic in both the short and long run.     

District-level total factor productivity in agriculture: Western Cape Province, South Africa, 1952–2002

This article measures total factor productivity (TFP) growth in Western Cape agriculture for 31 magisterial districts from 1952 to 2002 to illustrate the benefits of disaggregation compared with national TFPs. There is negative or low growth in the eastern districts and rapid growth in the western districts. The regions with substantial chicken, pigs, dairy, and, especially, export fruit production grew rapidly, whereas the sheep-dominated Karoo had negative growth. Productivity growth correlates mostly with output mix, which in turn depends on irrigation investment. A similar program will be needed at the national level if prosperity is to be extended to black smallholders who currently lack access to water and other modern infrastructure.     

中国城市土地供给错配：特征事实及对 全要素生产率的影响效应

研究目的：探究城市土地供给错配的典型特征,明晰城市土地供给错配对全要素生产率的影响,为提升土地配置效率和全要素生产率提供经验证据。研究方法：从土地供给过度与供给不足视角解析城市土地错配对全要素生产率的影响机制,通过空间一般均衡模型构建城市土地供给错配指数,利用面板计量模型和中介效应模型进行实证分析及中介效应检验。研究结果：（1）中国城市土地供给错配表现出明显的差异性：不同地区、城市规模、人口流动方向分别呈现出“东少西多”“阶梯递减”“逆向配置”特征。（2）城市土地供给错配对全要素生产率产生负向影响,影响效应在不同类型城市存在异质性,城市土地供给过度对全要素生产率的负向作用强于土地供给不足。（3）城市土地供给过度通过创新创业发展和产业结构优化双重路径显著抑制了城市全要素生产率,土地供给不足主要通过产业结构优化对城市效率产生显著的负向影响。研究结论：应警惕土地配置过度的“经济效率”陷阱,强化建设用地指标分配的人地挂钩机制,因城施策提升土地资源配置效率。     

Input‐Specific Dynamic Productivity Change: Measurement and Application to European Dairy Manufacturing Firms

We propose a new method for measuring and decomposing input‐specific productivity change in a dynamic context. The resulting input‐specific dynamic Luenberger productivity change indicator is decomposed to identify the contributions of input‐specific dynamic technical, technical inefficiency and scale inefficiency changes. The empirical application of the paper focuses on panel data of large firms in the European dairy processing industry over the period 2005–2012. The results show similar patterns for dynamic input‐specific productivity change and its components for labour across European regions (Eastern, Western and Southern), while differences between regions are found regarding materials and investments.     

The Creation and Spread of Technology and Total Factor Productivity in China's Agriculture

The overall goal of this study is to create a framework for assessing the trends of China's national and international investment in agricultural research and to measure its impact on total factor productivity. The main methodological contribution is to provide more convincing measures of crop–specific technologies from China's national research program and of those imported from the international agricultural research system. Our results find that from 1980 to 1995, China's total factor productivity for rice, wheat, and maize grew rapidly and new technology accounts for most of the productivity growth.     

Agricultural Policies and Structural Change in French Dairy Farms: A Nonstationary Markov Model

The aim of this paper is to gain an understanding into how agricultural policies have affected structural change in the French dairy sector. A nonstationary Markov model is estimated using a Generalized Cross Entropy approach. Results show that while the price of cow's milk encourages farm growth, direct payments and quota restriction favor small farms. The price signal is a key factor of structural change. As a result, higher milk prices may accelerate the trend toward the further growth of dairy farms. Settlement policy and technical change seem not to slow this trend.