Bridging the Gap between Partial and Total Factor Productivity Measures Using Directional Distance Functions

Technical dependencies as well as data constraints limit our ability to allocate inputs across sectors and hence our ability to measure sectoral productivity. We adapt a directional measure of efficiency to the measurement of sector-specific productivity that does not require allocating all inputs across sectors. Applied to the agricultural sector of a group of countries, the results show important differences in livestock and crops productivity growth. Commonly used partial factor productivity measures for livestock and crops tend to overestimate productivity growth in most developing countries while underestimating it in European countries.     

如何有效提高家庭农场的全要素生产率 ——基于上海市松江区家庭农场数据的实证分析

研究目的：基于上海松江区家庭农场的调查数据计算家庭农场的全要素生产率，离析出影响家庭农场全要素生产率的关键因素，据以提出有针对性的措施。研究方法：Global Malmquist和混合Tobit模型。研究结果：（1）2007—2017年，全部家庭农场全要素生产率指数为1.077 3，其中，纯效率变化指数为0.998 4、技术变化指数为1.075 0、规模效率变化指数为1.007 2；纯粮食种植型家庭农场全要素生产率指数为1.061 9，纯效率变化指数为0.989 6，技术变化指数为1.071 9，规模效率变化指数为1.004 6；其他类型家庭农场全要素生产率指数为1.081 7，其中，纯效率变化指数、技术变化指数和规模效率变化指数分别为1.027 9、1.049 0和1.014 0。（2）总体水平上，农场主是否有农业从业经历、是否有农机驾驶证、土地经营权合同年限、是否购买农机作业正向影响全部家庭农场的全要素生产率，但不同类型家庭农场全要素生产率的影响因素存在差异。研究结论：虽然松江家庭农场全要素生产率增长速度较快，但仍然存在一定的提升空间。为此，需要提高家庭农场劳动力素质，切实保障好家...     

The Effect of Investment,LFA and Agri-environmental Subsidies on the Components of Total Factor Productivity: The Case of Slovenian Farms

The effect of subsidies on the performance of farms has received a great deal of attention in the literature, although results are inconclusive. Furthermore, much of the related literature examines the effect of subsidies only on technical efficiency (TE). We examine the effect of different types of subsidies on the different components of total factor productivity (TFP) in Slovenian agriculture over the period 2006–2013. We first estimate a Random Parameter Stochastic production frontier model. Then, based on the estimates of this model, we calculate and decompose the TFP index into TE, scale efficiency and technological change. Third, we apply combined difference-in-difference and a matching estimator to examine the effect of investment, less favoured area (LFA) and agri-environmental (AE) subsidies on the different components of TFP. In our case, these subsidies are found to have no significant effect on either TFP or on its components.     

Productivity Growth in German Dairy Farming using a Flexible Modelling Approach

A random‐coefficients specification of an output distance function is used to measure and decompose productivity growth in German dairy farming. This specification can accommodate heterogeneity with respect to the technology employed by dairy farms, allowing for specialised and non‐specialised farms to be included in the analysis. The proposed modelling approach is favoured by the data when compared with the conventional translog specification of distance functions. The average total factor productivity growth rate for German dairy farms is estimated at 1.1%, with the technical progress component contributing most of this growth.     

Parametric Decomposition of Output Growth Using A Stochastic Input Distance Function

This article proposes a tractable approach for analyzing the sources of TFP changes (i.e., technical change, changes in technical and allocative inefficiency, and the scale effect) in a multi-output setting, while retaining the single-equation nature of the econometric procedure used to estimate the parameters of the underlying technology. The proposed approach relies on Bauer's cost function-based decomposition of TFP changes and the duality between input distance and cost functions. The empirical results are based on a sample of 121 UK livestock farms observed over the period 1983–92 and a translog input distance function.     

Short- and Long-Run Credit Constraints in French Agriculture: A Directional Distance Function Framework Using Expenditure-Constrained Profit Functions

This empirical application investigates the eventual presence of credit constraints using a panel of French farmers. The credit-constrained profit maximization model proposed by Färe, Grosskopf, and Lee is extended in three ways. First, we rephrase the model in terms of directional distance functions to allow duality with the profit function. Second, we model credit constraints in the short-run and investment constraints in the long-run using short- and long-run profit functions. Third, we lag the expenditure constraint one year to account for the separation between planning and production. We find empirical evidence of credit and investment constraints. Financially unconstrained farmers are larger, perform better, and seem to benefit from a virtuous circle where access to financial markets allows better productive choices.     

Evaluating Agricultural Productivity and Policy in Russia

Russia's transition to a market economy in the early 1990s shocked its agricultural sector, creating the potential for profit and gains from specialisation and productivity improvements. However, subsequent regional agricultural development has been highly uneven, and the sources of the sector's productivity improvement remain unclear. Drawing on a newly-assembled Russian regional farm production and policy dataset, we evaluate agricultural total factor productivity growth from 1994 to 2013, decomposing that growth into technical progress and efficiency gains, for the nation as a whole and for the major agricultural districts of the South and Central. We then test how investments in road and rail infrastructure and human capital have influenced those gains. The South substantially outperformed the Central district and the nation at large with respect to all three performance indicators. However, contrary to the literature, we find that these particular state policies provided no substantial growth advantages, there or elsewhere. Rather, the dominant force behind Russia's agricultural growth has been informal technical change.     

Assessing Total Factor Productivity Growth in Sub‐Saharan African Agriculture

The importance of the agricultural sector in the economic development process is well known. Improvements in agricultural productivity are often found to spill into other areas of a developing economy, potentially improving the standards of living of urban and rural workers alike. Given the importance of this sector, accurate measures of total factor productivity (TFP) across countries can be helpful in identifying conditions, institutions or policies that promote agricultural development. In this article, we estimate TFP growth in agriculture for a panel of 39 sub‐Saharan African countries from 1961 to 2007. We also develop a set of development outcome measures theoretically consistent with strong agricultural performance to serve as external validation of our results. We find that three estimation methods (stochastic frontier, generalised maximum entropy, and Bayesian efficiency) generate relative rankings that are consistent with the development outcome measures, providing external validation of the methods. However, the data envelopment analysis approach performs poorly in this regard.     

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。     

Livestock in China: Commodity-Specific Total Factor Productivity Decomposition Using New Panel Data

Studies of total factor productivity (TFP) in livestock production are rare, but when available provide useful information especially in the context of developing countries such as China where livestock is becoming more important in the domestic agricultural economy. We estimate TFP for four major livestock products in China employing the stochastic frontier approach, and decompose productivity growth into its technical efficiency (TE) and technical progress components. Efforts are made to adjust and augment the available livestock statistics. The results show that growth in TFP and its components varied between the 1980s and the 1990s as well as over production structures. While there is evidence of considerable technical innovation in China's livestock sector, TE improvement has been relatively slow.     

Catching Up or Falling Behind in European Agriculture: The Case of Milk Production

The paper explores and analyses the catching up and falling behind processes in the European dairy sector over the period 2004–2011, using a stochastic metafrontier multiple output distance function for 24 EU Member States. The metafrontier estimates reveal considerable productivity differences in milk production across the EU at the regional (NUTS‐2) level. Milk yield per cow is the highest in the old Member States, especially in those regions located in the northwest of the EU, while the lowest productivity is observed in Eastern Europe. The same structure was found for both the TFP (Total Factor Productivity) levels and TFP growth. Moreover, the results for technical change suggest that farm sizes are not optimal in many regions in Central and Eastern Europe from a dynamic perspective. The comparative analysis suggests that in the new compared to the old Member States, fewer farms could benefit from the movement of the frontier. Moreover, there are no signs that poorly performing farms are catching up with the best performing farms in the EU regions/countries.     

城市工业用地产出率影响因素及区域比较—— 地级城市面板数据分析

研究目的:发现城市工业用地产出率影响因素及其影响程度和区域差异,提出相应对策以促进工业集约用地。研究方法:根据土地功能理论和经济主体动力学关系导向原则构建城市工业用地产出率双向固定效应模型,利用地级城市面板数据估计并检验工业用地产出率影响因素及作用程度并进行区域比较。研究结果:城市工业用地投资强度、就业密度和全要素生产率对1999年来城市工业用地产出率增长的贡献率分别为21.3%、-7%和85.7%;它们对工业用地产出率的边际贡献由于东中西部工业用地集约度、产业类型、劳动素质不同而呈现出区域差异。研究结论:应遏制各地尤其是中西部工业新区建设中粗放用地行为、促进工业投资并加强工业区生活配套以提升投资强度和就业密度,应在工业用地配置和评价中更加重视全要素生产率指标,应推动中西部地区工业升级并在营商环境、基础设施等方面缩小与东部的差距。     

The Role of Innovation in Farm Economic Sustainability: Generalised Propensity Score Evidence from Irish Dairy Farms

We assess the impact of innovation on Irish dairy farm economic sustainability by focusing on profitability, productivity of land and market orientation. A generalised propensity score method is applied to a representative sample of 342 Irish dairy farms. Our empirical findings reveal that innovation increases economic sustainability, but not in a linear way. More specifically, economic gains depend on the level of innovation. Small efforts to increase innovation can lead to economic gains of over €200 per hectare. The results also reveal that innovative farmers can achieve higher economic gains by further innovation. Overall, our findings support the current focus of the Irish extension system on fostering the uptake of innovative technologies and practices in order to achieve an economically sustainable expansion of the dairy sector.     

中国生态环境治理绩效动态评价研究——基于DEA-BCC模型和全要素生产率指数

为研究中国生态环境治理情况,分别运用DEA-BCC模型和全要素生产率(TFP)指数对中国内地30个省份(除西藏)的生态环境治理绩效进行分析和评价。实证结果表明:(1)从静态分析结果来看,全国生态环境治理绩效提高且在0.85以上,大部分省市的生态环境治理绩效在0.8以上,全国生态环境治理情况整体良好;(2)从动态分析结果来看,2007-2016年中国生态环境治理绩效呈现波动上升趋势,平均TFP指数为1.018,技术进步是生态环境治理绩效提高的关键。最后,就分析结果提出对策建议。     

Reducing Pesticide Use and Pesticide Impact by Productivity Growth: the Case of Dutch Arable Farming

This paper employs a dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to measure the composition of productivity growth of pesticides and the environmental impacts of pesticides. The application focuses on panel data of Dutch arable farms over the period 2003–07. A bootstrap regression model is used to explain farmers' performance, providing empirical evidence of the impact of producer‐specific characteristics and environmental factors. The results show that Dutch arable farms have substantial inefficiency in the use of pesticides and high pesticide environmental inefficiency, and appear rather unconcerned about the environmental impacts of their current pesticide use decisions on next period's production environment.     

The Source of Productivity Growth in Dutch Agriculture: A Perspective from Finance

In corporate finance, the impact of capital structure on firm performance has been widely studied. This article extends the capital structure study to the situation in agriculture, explicitly addressing the difference between family farms and corporate firms. We use the Malmquist productivity growth index as a proxy for performance to study the impact of capital structure (debt) on farm performance. We compare the results with those from the traditional performance model that uses profitability (e.g., return on equity (ROE)) as performance measure. Using data from Dutch arable farms, results show that debt has no effect on ROE, whereas it has a positive effect on productivity growth.     

Productivity and Producer Welfare in the Presence of Production Risk

Production risk is an inherent characteristic of agriculture and changes in production risk will affect the welfare of risk‐averse producers. Using standard concepts from the literature on uncertainty, we introduce a welfare measure which comprises total factor productivity (TFP), production risk and farmer risk preferences, and which reflects the impact on producer welfare of changes in production technology. An empirical application is carried out using data from a sample of Spanish dairy farms which shows how the positive impact of increases in TFP on welfare can be offset by increases in the risk premium (‘cost of risk’) to the point where welfare may decrease.     

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。     

中国地级以上城市蔓延影响全要素生产率的机制及效应 ——基于DMSP/OLS与NPP/VIIRS夜间灯光整合数据

研究目的：探究城市蔓延影响全要素生产率的理论机制及现实效应,为优化城市空间布局和推动经济高质量发展提供参考。研究方法：在解析理论机制的基础上,综合利用全球DMSP/OLS与NPP/VIIRS夜间灯光数据提取城市土地面积和人口特征,测算275个地级以上城市2001—2018年的城市蔓延指数,构建空间杜宾模型开展实证分析。研究结果：城市蔓延通过“借用规模”和“聚集阴影”两条路径对全要素生产率分别产生积极与消极影响;总体上中国城市蔓延不利于自身全要素生产率的提升,对相邻城市的全要素生产率起到促进作用,影响效应在4大地区存在明显差异。研究结论：推进以人为中心的新型城镇化道路,应适当调控城市蔓延现象并注重地区差异与空间关联性,坚持紧凑性土地开发利用,增强城市生态资源承载力。     

标准地土地供应模式对城市绿色全要素生产率的影响效果及作用机制研究——基于PSM-DID的经验证据

研究目的：探究标准地土地供应模式对城市绿色全要素生产率的影响效果及作用机制，为推动经济高质量发展建言献策。研究方法：PSM-DID，中介效应模型。研究结果：（1）标准地土地供应模式的实施显著促进了城市绿色全要素生产率的提升。（2）从机制分析来看，工业结构优化和创新水平提升是标准地土地供应模式助力城市绿色全要素生产率提升的重要作用路径。相较于创新水平提升，工业结构优化在标准地土地出让模式影响城市绿色全要素生产率的过程中发挥着更加重要的中介作用。研究结论：地方政府应结合自身发展目标和现状，通过持续推行标准地土地供应模式，引导工业结构优化转型、鼓励内部技术创新和外部先进技术引进等措施促进城市绿色全要素生产率提升，助力经济高质量发展。