Technical efficiency of dairy farms : an empirical study of producers in Poland

Purpose: The main objective of this article was to determine the technical efficiency of Polish dairy farms in 2008-2017, taking into account the dependence on the herd size, the milk yield of cows and the effects of scale. Design/Methodology/Approach: The non-parametric DEA method based on the concept of border efficiency was used to assess technical efficiency. The research uses models assuming constant (CCR) and variable returns to scale (BCC). The source of the data was information collected by the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) in Poland. Data came from farms specializing dairying (type 45), with more than 15 cows. Findings: The results of the conducted research indicate a higher share of efficient farms using the model assuming variable returns to scale. The average efficiency ratio increased along with the increase in the size of the herd of cows and the improvement in the milk yields of cows. Practical Implications: The results of this study will be used to determine rationally the combination of inputs in dairy production. The result of these activities is an increase of efficiency and the use of economies of scale. The article clearly presents among which farm groups exists the lowest efficiency (cow herd size and milk yield). Originality/Value: The study fills a gap in approach methods to conducting research on dairy farm efficiency. On the one hand, the value of the article is built by the size of observation field, on the other – dairy farms classification by cow herd size and milk yield.peer-reviewe

Data Envelopment Analysis and Commercial Bank Performance: A Primer with Applications to Missouri Banks

This paper describes a particular methodology called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), that has been used previously to analyze the relative efficiencies of industrial firms, universities, hospitals, military operations, baseball players and, more recently, commercial banks. The use of DEA is demonstrated by evaluating the management of 60 Missouri commercial banks for the period from 1984 to 1990.IC2 Institut

DEA-Based Incentive Regimes in Health-Care Provision

A major challenge to legislators, insurance providers and municipalities will be how to manage the reimbursement of health-care on partially open markets under increasing fiscal pressure and an aging population. Although efficiency theoretically can be obtained by private solutions using fixed-payment schemes, the informational rents and production distortions may limit their implementation. The healthcare agency problem is characterized by (i) a complex multi-input multi-output technology, (ii) information uncertainty and asymmetry, and (iii) fuzzy social preferences. First, the technology, inherently nonlinear and with externalities between factors, yield parametric estimation difficult. However, the flexible production structure in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) offers a solution that allows for the gradual and successive refinement of potentially nonconvex technologies. Second, the information structure of healthcare suggests a context of considerable asymmetric information and considerable uncertainty about the underlying technology, but limited uncertainty or noise in the registration of the outcome. Again, we shall argue that the DEA dynamic yardsticks (Bogetoft, 1994, 1997, Agrell and Bogetoft, 2001) are suitable for such contexts. A third important characteristic of the health sector is the somewhat fuzzy social priorities and the numerous potential conflicts between the stakeholders in the health system. Social preferences are likely dynamic and contingent on the disclosed information. Similarly, there are several potential hidden action (moral hazard) and hidden information (adverse selection) conflicts between the different agents in the health system. The flexible and transparent response to preferential ambiguity is one of the strongest justifications for a DEA-approach. DEA yardstick regimes have been successfully implemented in other sectors (electricity distribution) and we present an operalization of the power-parameter p in an pseudo-competitive setting that both limits the informational rents and incites the truthful revelation of information. Recent work (Agrell and Bogetoft, 2002) on strategic implementation of DEA yardsticks is commented in the healthcare context, where social priorities change the tradeoff between the motivation and coordination functions of the yardstick. The paper is closed with policy recommendations and some areas of further work.Data Envelopment Analysis, regulation, health care systems, efficiency, Health Economics and Policy,

Hospital Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis of District and Grant-in-Aid Hospitals in Gujarat

This study focuses on analysing the hospital efficiency of district level government hospitals and grant-in-aid hospitals in Gujarat. The study makes an attempt to provide an overview of the general status of the health care services provided by hospitals in the state of Gujarat in terms of their technical and allocative efficiency. One of the two thrusts behind addressing the issue of efficiency was to take stock of the state of healthcare services (in terms of efficiency) provided by grant-in-aid hospitals and district hospitals in Gujarat. The motivation behind addressing the efficiency issue is to provide empirical analysis of governments policy to provide grants to not-for-profit making institutions which in turn provide hospital care in the state. The study addresses the issue whether grant-in-aid hospitals are relatively more efficient than public hospitals. This comparison between grant-in-aid hospitals and district hospitals in terms of their efficiency has been of interest to many researchers in countries other than India, and no consensus has been reached so far as to which category is more efficient. The relative efficiency of government and not-for-profit sector has been reviewed in this paper. It is expected that the findings of the study would be useful to evaluate this policy and help policy makers to develop benchmarks in providing the grants to such institutions.

Efficiency in Public Research Centers: Evaluating the Spanish Food Technology Program

We rely on efficiency analysis to evaluate the Spanish R&D public policy based on financial incentives, and investigate to what extent this instrument has been able to promote a multidimensional research output mix, contributing to the articulation of a successful Spanish Food Innovation System. Introducing the use of the generalized distance function within DEA techniques, we assess whether this policy has encouraged the creation, strengthening and promotion of efficient public research units, whose activities present a balanced and comprehensive production of complementary research outputs −personnel training, science and technology results, and socio-economic collaboration with the private sector. Characterizing the alternative ways in which the different research units have been participating in the Spanish Food Technology Program, and hence their role within the innovation system, we conclude that R&D policy efforts have not succeeded in orienting research units toward a balanced output research mix due to wrong incentives and the lack of a sustained budget that would enable the consolidation of emerging research units. Furthermore, we observe that the majority of research units channel their efforts toward achieving science-technology results related to publications and submitted patents, instead of increasing socio-economic results that would strengthen the articulation and efficiency of the innovation system.Innovation System Management; Research Efficiency; Data Envelopment Analysis

The competitiveness of nations and implications for human development

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.Human development should be the ultimate objective of human activity, its aim being healthier, longer, and fuller lives. Thus, if the competitiveness of a nation is properly managed, enhanced human welfare should be the key expected consequence. The research described here explores the relationship between the competitiveness of a nation and its implications for human development. For this purpose, 45 countries were evaluated initially using data envelopment analysis. In this stage, global competitiveness indicators were taken as input variables with human development index indicators as output variables. Subsequently, an artificial neural network analysis was conducted to identify those factors having the greatest impact on efficiency scores

Efficiency of French football clubs and its dynamics

In the paper we evaluate the efficiency of French football clubs (Ligue 1) from 2004 to 2007 using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with « Assurance Region ». Then, we study the dynamics of clubs’ performances. Contrary to previous works on other championships, best teams in competition or most profitable clubs are not the most efficient units in our sample. High average scores show that French First League is efficient. The first source of inefficiency in the Ligue 1 is linked to size problems and over-investments. Despite an average club performance stable over the period, we exhibit a deterioration of conditions in which clubs operate.Ligue 1, efficiency scores, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Malmquist index, over-investment