Eco-efficiency assessment of olive farms in Andalusia

Olive farming represents an important source of income and employment in the rural areas of Andalusia (Spain), which is the most important olive oil-producing region in the world. Unfortunately, it also exerts significant environmental pressures with regard to soil erosion, use of polluting inputs, excessive water consumption and biodiversity reduction. This paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques and pressure distance functions to contribute a farm-level assessment of the eco-efficiency of a sample of 292 Andalusian olive farmers. We distinguish between managerial eco-efficiency and program eco-efficiency, the latter being associated to the different natural conditions prevailing in the three main olive cultivation systems in the region, namely, traditional rain-fed mountain groves, traditional rain-fed plain groves and irrigated intensive groves. Our findings show that eco-inefficient management is a widespread practice across olive farmers, mainly due to widespread technical inefficiency. Furthermore, the most eco-efficient production system is the traditional plain growing system. Finally, we find that soil-climate conditions strongly influence managerial eco-efficiency in all three aforementioned cultivation systems.     

中国1997—2007年包含建设用地投入的全要素生产率分析

研究目的:研究土地要素纳入经济增长全要素生产率分析的途径,并对中国近年来经济增长的全要素生产率进行分析。研究方法:数据包络分析方法。研究结果:测算的1997—2007年中国分省的全要素生产率Malmquist指数表明将建设用地纳入全要素生产率分析是可行的。研究结论:1997—2007年中国全要素生产率的增长主要靠技术进步带动;技术效率处于无效状态,表明建设用地等生产要素投入在经济增长中没有发挥最大效益。     

A note on synthetic data for replication purposes in agricultural economics

Empirical studies in agricultural economics usually involve policy implications. In many cases, such studies rely on proprietary or confidential data that cannot be published along with the article, challenging the replicability and credibility of the results. To overcome this problem, the use of synthetic data—that is, data that do not contain a single unit of the original data—has been proposed. In this note, we illustrate the utility of synthetic data generation methods for replication purposes using a range of methods from agricultural production analysis. More specifically, we compare input elasticities and technical efficiency scores based on different farm-level production data between original data and synthetic data. We generate synthetic data using a non-parametric method of classification and regression trees (CART) and parametric linear regressions. We find synthetic data result in elasticities and technical efficiency distributions that are very similar to the original data, especially when generated with CART, and conclude with implications for the research community.     

基于DEA方法的江苏省开发区土地集约利用效率分析

运用数据包络分析方法(DEA),从投入产出的角度,对2006—2008年江苏省及三大区域开发区土地集约利用效率进行了分析和对比研究。结果表明:(1)开发区综合技术效率值为0,438,土地集约利用水平有不断升高的趋势,三大区域开发区土地集约利用效率存在较大差异,苏中土地集约利用效率平均水平略高于苏南,而苏北最低;(2)绝大多数的开发区仍处于规模报酬递增阶段,苏南处于规模报酬递减阶段的开发区数量占比最大,苏北处于规模报酬递增阶段的开发区数量占比最大;(3)从投入导向和产出导向来看,开发区实际值与效率目标值都有一定差距,但差距在逐渐缩小。     

Pricing Organic Nitrogen Under The Weak Disposability Assumption: An Application to the French Pig Sector

The nonparametric approach Data Envelopment Analysis is used in order to measure individual technical inefficiency. Different models are evaluated using a 1991 FADN data set of French pig farms. Organic nitrogen is considered as a byproduct of animal breeding. Used as plant nutrient, organic manure becomes an input in crop production which is pollutant when excessive amounts enter surface and groundwater. In the latter case, the usual hypothesis of strong disposability of organic nitrogen is refuted because the elimination of pollution is costly. In this paper, we introduce a hypothesis of weak disposability of organic nitrogen and compare the technical efficiency measures obtained with and without this assumption. Then, using the duality between the restricted cost function and the input-output distance function and following Färe and Primont (1995), we derive a shadow price of organic nitrogen which can be compared to the unit cost of different existing manure treatments.     

A Parametric Approach to Estimating Eco‐Efficiency

The concept of eco‐efficiency is becoming increasingly popular as a tool to capture economic and environmental aspects of agricultural production. The literature to date has exclusively used the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to measure producers’ eco‐efficiency. We show that it can also be estimated using a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) approach. Our approach not only allows controlling for random noise in the data but also permits an analysis of the potential substitutability between environmental pressures. We provide an empirical application of our model to data on a sample of Spanish dairy farms.     

Cost and environmental efficiency of rice farms in South Korea

We examine cost and nutrient use efficiency of farms and determine the cost to move farms to nutrient‐efficient operation using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with a dataset of 96 rice farms in Gangwon province of South Korea from 2003 to 2007. Our findings show that improvements in technical efficiency would result in both lower production costs and better environmental performance. It is, however, not costless for farms to move from their current operation to the environmentally efficient operation. On average, this movement would increase production costs by 119% but benefit the water system through an approximately 69% reduction in eutrofying power (EP). The average estimated cost of each EP kg of aggregate nutrient reduction is approximately one thousand two hundred won. For technically efficient farms, there is a trade‐off between cost and environmental efficiency. We also find that the environmental performance of farms varies across farms and regions. We suggest that agri‐environmental policies should be (re)designed to improve both cost and environmental performance of rice farms.     

Effects of machinery‐sharing arrangements on farm efficiency: evidence from Sweden

The effects of partnerships, in the form of machinery‐sharing arrangements, on farm efficiency are analyzed using data for Swedish crop and livestock farms. Efficiency scores are obtained using Data Envelopment Analysis and the findings suggest that efficiency is, on average, higher among partnership farms compared to nonpartnership farms. Moreover, partnership farms that are characterized by the most extensive form of collaboration, that is, that share all machinery with one or several other farms, display the highest average efficiency. In a two‐stage procedure in which efficiency determinants are analyzed in the second stage, the bootstrap procedures suggested by Simar and Wilson (2007) are applied in addition to the conventionally used Tobit regression. Participation in partnership arrangements is found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on farm efficiency.     

基于DEA方法的山西省城市土地利用相对效率分析

选取建成区面积、单位面积固定资产投资额、单位面积城市从业人员数来表示投入指标,产出指标选取单位面积财政收入、建成区绿化覆盖率和单位面积GDP三项指标,采用数据包络分析（DEA）方法,运用DEAP2.1软件,对2003年和2004年山西省10个地级市的城市土地利用进行相对效率分析,得出相对有效值为1的城市居多,北部大同市和南端运城市相对效率差异明显,最后提出相关政策建议。     

吉林省人造板工业规模经济问题研究——基于DEA规模效率

文章通过数据对比,定性分析了吉林省人造板工业的发展现状。然后采用基于DEA的规模效率法对吉林省人造板工业规模经济效益进行了测度与评价,进而分析了影响吉林省人造板工业规模经济效益的主要问题。在实证分析的基础上,探讨了吉林省人造板工业实现规模经济的主要途径。     

Evaluation of the Italian transport infrastructures: A technical and economic efficiency analysis

By applying a DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) framework and Tobit analysis, this paper aims to measure 32 Italian airports’ technical efficiency and investigate how several characteristics impact on their productivity and sustainability. Our findings show that some Italian hubs are technically efficient, although smaller airports that are dominated by low-cost carriers prove to be not least productive. Another conclusion of this paper is that efficiency and environmental impact is independent of an airport’s size, although the size matters in determining an airport’s superior performance. This article highlights how the Italian public shareholder’s system became decisive to increase efficiency in small airports due to the lack of private financing.     

Local Government,Spatial Spillovers and the Absorption of EU Structural Funds

The allocation of regional policy funds varies dramatically across regions even when one controls for regional development indicators. We investigate the impact of local government performance as well as spillovers in knowledge, financial means and social relations as determinants of regional fund absorption. Government performance is derived within a Data Envelopment Analysis approach. Spillovers are investigated using a spatial Durbin model. Results show that government performance has a positive impact on fund absorption. Spillovers occur in knowledge as well as in financial means. The empirical analyses focus on Special Accession Program for Agriculture and Rural Development in Slovakia using panel data.     

吉林森工集团林业局的生产效率研究——基于DEA和Malmquist指数分析法

基于DEA(Data Envelopment Analysis)方法和Malmquist指数分析法对吉林森工集团8个林业局的生产效率进行了实证研究。研究结果表明:2009年湾沟林业局、泉阳林业局和白石山林业局的技术效率没有达到1;2003—2009年8个林业局的全要素生产力每年平均提高2.04%;其中,主要是技术进步带来的贡献,而技术效率的贡献度相对较低。     

区域休闲农业旅游开发的风险评价——以浙江省为例

风险是区域休闲农业旅游开发不可回避与亟待探究的问题。为深化区域休闲农业旅游开发风险的认识与实践,研究以休闲农业旅游开发较为成熟的典型地浙江省为案例,运用数据包络与因子分析方法,在对区域休闲农业旅游开发当前效率与未来潜力进行评价与分析的基础上,借助合图法以效率与潜力为聚类指标,通过两者比较对浙江省休闲农业旅游开发风险进行整体分析和评价,并将其划分为休闲农业旅游低风险积极开发、较低风险适宜开发、一般风险适度开发和较高风险整合开发等4类区域。最后,总结浙江省休闲农业旅游开发风险特征为:(1)开发风险与区域经济发展水平和区位优势条件存在明显的相关关系;(2)区域间经济社会相关联系程度影响开发风险分布方向;(3)开发水平在空间上存在较强的收敛性特征,并从中提炼出明确区域休闲农业旅游开发方向、营造良好区域交流与合作环境和构建区域休闲农业旅游开发风险协同管理机制等开发风险规避策略。     

An application of IDEA to wheat farming efficiency

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric approach to evaluating the relative efficiency of decision making units (DMUs) that use multiple inputs to produce multiple outputs. An assumption underlying DEA is that all the data assume the form of specific numerical values. In some applications, however, the data may be imprecise. That is, all the input and output data cannot be exactly obtained due to the existence of uncertainty. They are only known to lie within specified intervals. A DEA model with imprecise data or, more compactly, an Imprecise DEA (IDEA) model proposed in this article to evaluate efficiency for each DMU. The article is illustrated with an application to Iranian wheat producer provinces.     

基于DEA的区域农地生产效率差异研究

研究目的：对中国“七五”到“十五”期间区域农地的生产效率差异进行比较研究。研究方法：数据包络分析DEA的C2R模型和BC2模型。研究结果：（1）传统农业大省和经济发达地区的农地综合生产效率和技术效率较高,农业生产具有优势。（2）规模收益值的计算结果显示,东中部地区农业生产的投入结构存在着问题,西部地区投入不足。（3）从时间序列的比较分析中发现,在“十五”期间各地区的农地生产效率都出现了下降趋势,表明工业化和城市化对中国农业生产存在较大影响。     

基于DEA模型的林业上市公司经营效率研究

应用数据包络分析(DEA)模型,对20个沪深股市涉林行业上市公司的经营效率进行对比分析。研究结果表明:林业上市公司综合经营效率整体情况都比较好,部分综合效率为轻度或中度无效的林业上市公司当中,一部分受纯技术效率或规模效率的影响,一部分受两者共同影响,并存在规模报酬递增或递减的情况,深入分析可得到受纯技术效率影响的11家企业存在不同程度的投入冗余或者产出不足。因此,提出提高林业上市公司经营效率,应着力于提升林业上市公司资源配置效率、提高其技术创新水平和规模效率,并加强其内部控制体系建设或完善。     

Is There a Viable Market for Area-Based Crop Insurance?

The performance of area yield insurance and farm-level multiple peril crop insurance is analyzed for cotton and soybean production in Georgia and South Carolina. The analysis improves on many previous studies by utilizing actual farm-level yield data and by comparing the two types of insurance products not only for actuarially fair premium rates but also for actual unsubsidized and subsidized premium rates. Results suggest that, even in heterogeneous production regions, area yield insurance may be a viable alternative to farm-level insurance when premium rates for farm-level insurance contain large positive wedges.     

Plot-level technical efficiency accounting for farm-level effects: Evidence from Chilean wine grape producers

This paper applies alternative panel data models to a cross-sectional dataset that contains observations at the plot level for a sample of wine-grape farms in Central Chile. The input–output data as well as key attributes of the production system are at the plot level, at which individualized management exists. However, plots belonging to a particular farm are also subject to overall centralized (farm-level) management. Thus, this data configuration offers the possibility of analyzing technical efficiency (TE) both across plots and across farms. A Generalized True Random Effects model, which permits the separate identification of farm-level and plot-level inefficiency while controlling for unobserved farm-level heterogeneity, shows that TE varies across farms but not among plots within the same farm. Geographical location also affects grape production and agro-climatic conditions influence production levels, with grape farms located on cooler zones producing significantly less than their counterparts in warmer zones, as expected. The analysis underscores the value of using recent methodologies typically applied to panel data when cross-sectional information is available for individual plots within a farm unit or in similar settings.     

Efficiency and total factor productivity in Ukrainian agriculture in transition

This article analyzes efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) change of large agricultural enterprises during their transition to a market economy in Ukraine. Efficiency is calculated by Data Envelopment Analysis and productivity change is measured by the Malmquist Productivity Change Index in the period between 1990 and 1999. On average, TFP declined by 6% annually, dropping a total 42%. The main reason for the observed TFP decline is a decrease in technical efficiency, which is found to be remarkably significant. At the same time there is a high variation among individual enterprises: the distribution of efficiency scores widens, which indicates that the farms diverge with respect to their economic performance. A Tobit regression analysis is conducted in which efficiency scores are related to factors such as farm type, farm size, initial conditions, and legal form.