Endogeneity, heterogeneity, and determinants of inefficiency in Norwegian crop-producing farms

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.This paper addresses the endogeneity of inputs and output (which is mostly ignored in the stochastic frontier (SF) literature) in the SF panel data model under the behavioural assumption that firms maximize returns to the outlay. We consider a four component SF panel data model in which the four components are: firms' latent heterogeneity, persistent inefficiency, transient inefficiency and random shocks. Second, we include determinants in transient inefficiency. Finally, to avoid the impact of distributional assumptions in estimating the technology parameters, we apply a multi-step estimation strategy to an unbalanced panel dataset from Norwegian crop-producing farms observed from 1993 to 2014. Distributional assumptions are made in second and third steps to predict both persistent and transient inefficiency, and their marginal effects. Keywords Efficiency; Endogeneity; Returns to the outlay; Panel dataacceptedVersio

Firm-Heterogeneity, Persistent and Transient Technical Inefficiency

This paper provides a new model that disentangles firm effects from persistent (time-invariant/long-term) and transient (time-varying/short-term) technical inefficiency.Bayesian analysis; Markov Chain Monte Carlo; Technical efficiency.

Una comparación entre países del rendimiento de los sistemas de producción porcina: Evidencia de los países de la UE

[EN] This study estimates and analyze the technical efficiency of pork farms from five EU countries. The Generalized True Random-effects (GTRE) model was used to differentiate between persistent and transitory technical efficiency. The results show that elasticities are robust to various specifications. Spanish farms show the highest average efficiency score. In Denmark, Germany, France, and Poland, the most significant opportunities for growth are found in transitional efficiency. The degree of productive specialization in the five countries has a positive impact in the efficiency. In Denmark, Germany, and France, persistent efficiency has a positive association with the fraction of paid labor.[ES] Este estudio estima y analiza la eficiencia técnica de explotaciones porcinas de cinco países de la UE. Se utilizó el modelo de Efectos Aleatorios Verdaderos Generalizados (GTRE) para diferenciar entre eficiencia técnica persistente y transitoria. Los resultados muestran que las elasticidades son robustas a varios tipos de especificaciones. Las explotaciones españolas presentan la eficiencia técnica más alta. En Dinamarca, Alemania, Francia y Polonia, las mayores oportunidades de crecimiento se encuentran en eficiencia transitoria. La especialización productiva en los cinco países tiene un impacto positivo en la eficiencia técnica. En Dinamarca, Alemania y Francia, la eficiencia persistente se relaciona positivamente con la fracción de mano de obra asalariada.Troncoso, R.; Cabas, J.; Guesmi, B.; Gil, JM. (2023). A cross-country comparison of pig production systems performance: Evidence from EU countries. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales - Agricultural and Resource Economics. 23(2):5-27. https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2023.02.0152723

State-Level Electricity Generation Efficiency: Do Restructuring and Regulatory Institutions Matter in the US?

This paper examines the impact of deregulation and the political support for it on the electric power industry using a consistent state-level electricity generation dataset for the US contiguous states from 1997-2014. Recent analyses of productivity growth suggests that institutional factors are important and we wish to study the role of deregulation as a statelevel institutional change through two measures: (a) restructuring and (b) the political support for it, measured by the majority political affiliation of public utility commissions. We find evidence of positive impacts of deregulation (both restructuring and the political support for it) on technical efficiency across the models estimated. Our preferred model which allows for the control for deregulation variables on the mean and variance of the inefficiency shows an average technical efficiency of 73.1 percent. The results of the marginal effects reveal that the impact of deregulation including its political support on inefficiency is negative and monotonic, with the potential reduction of 8.4 percent in the mean of technical inefficiency, thereby suggesting a compelling evidence for generation efficiency improvement via deregulation

Energy Intensity and Long- and Short-Term Efficiency in US Manufacturing Industry

We analyze energy use efficiency of manufacturing industries in US manufacturing over five decades from 1960 to 2011. We apply a 4-component stochastic frontier model, which allows disentangling efficiency into a short- and long-term efficiency as well as accounting for industry heterogeneity. The data come from NBER-CES Manufacturing Industry Database. We find that relative to decade-specific frontiers, the overall efficiency of manufacturing industries, which is a product of transient and persistent efficiencies has deteriorated greatly in the 1970s and rebounded only in the 2000s. The industries are very efficient in the short-term and this has not changed over five decades. The high level of overall inefficiency is almost completely due to the structural inefficiency which can be explained by what is referred to as the “energy paradox”. Finally, higher energy-intensive industries perform worse in terms of energy use efficiency than their low energy-intensity counterparts.publishedVersio

Measuring persistent and transient energy efficiency in the US

The promotion of US energy efficiency policy is seen as a very important activity. Generally, the level of energy efficiency of a country or state is approximated by energy intensity, commonly calculated as the ratio of energy use to GDP. However, energy intensity is not an accurate proxy for energy efficiency given that changes in energy intensity are a function of changes in several factors including the structure of the economy, climate, efficiency in the use of resources, behaviour and technical change. The aim of this paper is to measure persistent and transient energy efficiency for the whole economy of 49 states in the US using a stochastic frontier energy demand approach. A total US energy demand frontier function is estimated using panel data for 49 states over the period 1995 to 2009 using two panel data models: the Mundlak version of the random effects model (which estimates the persistent part of the energy efficiency) and the true random effects model (which estimates the transient part of the energy efficiency). The analysis confirms that energy intensity is not a good indicator of energy efficiency, whereas, by controlling for a range of economic and other factors, the measures of energy efficiency obtained via the approach adopted here are. Moreover, the estimates show that although for some states energy intensity might give a reasonable indication of a state’s relative energy efficiency, this is not the case for all states.ISSN:1570-646XISSN:1570-647

On the efficiency of toll motorway companies in Spain

This paper uses stochastic frontier analyses to estimate the cost efficiency of toll motorway companies in Spain, disentangling between two types of efficiency: persistent efficiency, related to project building and sunk costs, and transient efficiency, more closely related to management efficiency. The differences between the two sources of efficiency are significant, allowing us to test how different regulations impact performance. We find that regional governments grant more efficient projects than those granted by central government, but we do not find significant differences in performance in relation to the public/private ownership share, following the privatization of publicly owned concessionaires or due to changes in price updating regulations (price cap). The motorways nationalized in the 1980s had lower persistent efficiency levels, while management seems to have had a limited role in promoting efficiency gains. Furthermore, our results support the existence of scale and density economies in Spain, showing that an increase in vehicle-kilometers is more important than extending the motorway

Efficiency Effects of Access to Information on Small-scale Agriculture : Empirical Evidence from Uganda using Stochastic Frontier and IRT Models

The first author would like to acknowledge the University of Aberdeen and the Henderson Economics Research Fund for funding his PhD studies in the period 2011–2014 which formed the basis for the research presented in this paper. The first author would also like to acknowledge the Macaulay Development Trust which funds his postdoctoral fellowship with The James Hutton Institute. The data used in this paper come from a nationally representative survey of households in Uganda. The survey was designed and implemented by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics with the assistance of the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys of Agriculture program. We thank both institutions for making these data openly available. Special thanks are due to David Harvey (Editor-in-Chief) and two anonymous referees for a variety of comments leading to a substantially improved paper. All usual caveats apply.Peer reviewedPostprin