The contribution of innovations in total factor productivity of organic olive enterprises

This paper measures the contribution of innovations in total factor productivity(TFP) of organic olive farmers. By constructing an innovation variable instead of the use of a time trend, technical change is replaced by technical difference and TFP growth becomes TFP difference. Primary cross section data on organic olive enterprises from a Greek region is used in the application of the restricted frontier profit function. Farmers are classified into groups according to their innovative ‘profile’. TFP difference among consecutive innovation groups is decomposed into technical difference and adjustment in innovativeness effects. Furthermore, efficiency differences among innovation groups are estimated. Results indicate that more innovative farmers perform better than less innovative ones regarding TFP and efficiency scores. Adoption of innovations has a positive contribution in the reduction of inefficiency and profit-loss. The rate of technical difference is always positive in the formulation of TFP difference whereas the adjustment in innovativeness effects varies among the innovation groups. Finally, high-tech capital is more or less under-utilized, regardless of the innovation group.Innovations, total factor productivity, profit efficiency, organic farming, Greece, Productivity Analysis,

Determinants of technical efficiency of freshwater prawn farming in southwestern Bangladesh

This paper estimates a translog stochastic production function to examine the determinants of technical efficiency of freshwater prawn farming in Bangladesh. Primary data has been collected using random sampling from 90 farmers of three villages in southwestern Bangladesh. Prawn farming displayed much variability in technical efficiency ranging from 9.50 to 99.94% with mean technical efficiency of 65%, which suggested a substantial 35% of potential output can be recovered by removing inefficiency. For a land scarce country like Bangladesh this gain could help increase income and ensure better livelihood for the farmers. Based on the translog production function specification, farmers could be made scale efficient by providing more input to produce more output. The results suggest that farmers’ education and non-farm income significantly improve efficiency whilst farmers’ training, farm distance from the water canal and involvement in fish farm associations reduces efficiency. Hence, the study proposes strategies such as less involvement in farming-related associations and raising the effective training facilities of the farmers as beneficial adjustments for reducing inefficiency. Moreover, the key policy implication of the analysis is that investment in primary education would greatly improve technical efficiency

Total Factor Productivity Adjusted for a Detrimental Input

The measurement of total factor productivity in agriculture has been recently extended in order to include some 'bad' outputs that are jointly produced along with agricultural goods. In this paper, total factor productivity is decomposed into its determining factors and nitrate pollution is treated as an environmentally detrimental input. A restricted variable cost function is specified for Greek agriculture for the period 1969-1996. A constraint is assumed on nitrate pollution and the TFP estimates, which are obtained, are then decomposed into the rate of technical change effect, the scale effect and the market disequilibrium effect

The contribution of innovations in total factor productivity of organic olive enterprises

This paper measures the contribution of innovations in total factor productivity(TFP) of organic olive farmers. By constructing an innovation variable instead of the use of a time trend, technical change is replaced by technical difference and TFP growth becomes TFP difference. Primary cross section data on organic olive enterprises from a Greek region is used in the application of the restricted frontier profit function. Farmers are classified into groups according to their innovative ‘profile’. TFP difference among consecutive innovation groups is decomposed into technical difference and adjustment in innovativeness effects. Furthermore, efficiency differences among innovation groups are estimated. Results indicate that more innovative farmers perform better than less innovative ones regarding TFP and efficiency scores. Adoption of innovations has a positive contribution in the reduction of inefficiency and profit-loss. The rate of technical difference is always positive in the formulation of TFP difference whereas the adjustment in innovativeness effects varies among the innovation groups. Finally, high-tech capital is more or less under-utilized, regardless of the innovation group

Total Factor Productivity Adjusted for a Detrimental Input

The measurement of total factor productivity in agriculture has been recently extended in order to include some 'bad' outputs that are jointly produced along with agricultural goods. In this paper, total factor productivity is decomposed into its determining factors and nitrate pollution is treated as an environmentally detrimental input. A restricted variable cost function is specified for Greek agriculture for the period 1969-1996. A constraint is assumed on nitrate pollution and the TFP estimates, which are obtained, are then decomposed into the rate of technical change effect, the scale effect and the market disequilibrium effect.Productivity Analysis,

Total factor productivity and sustainable agricultural development

Total factor productivity (TFP) growth is a widespread quantitative economic instrument used to evaluate the performance and sustainability of agricultural systems over time, which has proven valuable for policy measures geared towards fostering agricultural development. Yet, there are more dimensions to be accounted for when aiming for sustainable agricultural development than the production side of an agricultural system namely, the issues of environmental protection and resource use together with the question of social responsibility. Consequently, objections have risen in the recent decades, regarding the suitability of TFP growth to reveal whether a rural system is progressing in a sustainable course and alternative tools that attempt to remove the bias in measuring changes in productivity have been proposed. The objective of this paper is twofold; to review the conventional approaches in the measurement of TFP growth and to discuss the necessary amendments in TFP measurement so that it can be a more comprehensive index of sustainable growth and thus conducive to agricultural development. The amendments which incorporate externalities and resource quality issues in productivity measurement, produce alternative measures to TFP namely, ‘total resource productivity’ and ‘social’ total factor productivity. Another approach is to construct sustainability and productivity indices separately, and then join them together so as to broaden the evaluation of agricultural systems

Productive Efficiency of Subsidized Organic Alfalfa Farms

This paper assesses the efficiency and performance of organic alfalfa farms. Data were obtained from questionnaires collected from forty farms participating in an EU-subsidized program promoting the switch to organic farming. Results obtained using the bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis methodology show that larger farms had lower yields and lower efficiency scores and more experienced farmers had higher efficiency scores. A Tobit analysis of the impact of environmental factors and subsidies on farm efficiency demonstrates that CAP subsidies cause perverse incentives, raising questions about the efficiency of such policies for sustainable agricultural development

Estimation of technical efficiency in Greek livestock farms

In this present paper we use a panel data set during the period 1989-1992 to explore the distribution of productive efficiency among small sheep-breeding farmers operating in Greece. The results show that the average technical efficiency of the stock farmers was quite low (73.80%) and suggest the need for an advanced development strategy to improve their economic performance. Finally, the farmer's age and formal education, the credit access, the lack of successors and the farm's location are important factors explaining efficiency variation among farmers.L'efficacité technique des exploitations d'élevage en Grèce. Cette étude traite du rendement technique des exploitations d'élevage en Grèce en 1989-1992, afin d'évaluer l'éventuelle croissance ou diminution du cheptel en termes de productivité. Nous utilisons une enquête effectuée de 1989 à 1992 sur la répartition des gains de productivité dans les petites exploitations d'élevage en Grèce. Selon les résultats, le rendement technique moyen de ces exploitations est assez bas (75,80%) ; d'où la nécessité de mettre en place une stratégie de développement dynamique afin d'améliorer les résultats économiques. En fin de compte, l'âge de l'exploitant, le niveau de formation, l'accession au crédit, l'absence de successeurs ainsi que la localisation de l'exploitation sont autant de facteurs pouvant jouer sur les variations de rendement entre exploitations.Andreakos Ioannis, Tzouvelekas Vangelis, Mattas Konstantinos, Papanagiotou Evangelos. Estimation of technical efficiency in Greek livestock farms. In: Cahiers d'Economie et sociologie rurales, N°42-43, 1er et 2e trimestres 1997. économie du développement. Education ; pauvreté ; commerce international. pp. 93-107