Evaluating the effect of subsidies for rural development on agri-food and forestry firms

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (80) ◽  
pp. 150-167
Author(s):  
José A. Pérez-Méndez ◽  
María Pérez-Urdiales ◽  
David Roibas

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the subsidies established by Measure 123 of the Rural Development Policy on the productivity of a sample of agri-food and forestry companies in the region of Asturias over the period 2006-2009. Design/methodology/approach The authors estimate a stochastic frontier function which allows subsidies to be considered as affecting both the level of technical efficiency and technical progress. Findings The results show that while subsidies have a positive effect on the technical progress of companies in the agri-food industry, for the forestry industry, the effect materializes as an improvement in technical efficiency. Additionally, other factors affecting either, technical progress and technical efficiency were identified. Originality/value This study adopts a model that allows the separate identification of the effect of subsidies on the level of efficiency, on the one hand, and on the technical progress, on the other.

Author(s):  
Parul Singh ◽  
Kashika Arora ◽  
Areej Aftab Siddiqui

Purpose This paper aims to undertake the efficiency analysis in the form of stochastic frontier to estimate a Cobb–Douglas production function by controlling for the heterogeneity across Russian firms by including firm size, ownership, age, innovation activity and market competition. Design/methodology/approach During the peak period of Covid-19, certain firms witnessed either a decrease or increase in sales. Using this segregation of firms from World Bank’s Covid-19 impact surveys follow-up to the Enterprise Survey for Russia, this study empirically investigates the determinants of technical efficiency of these firms focusing on the role of government assistance. Findings The findings suggest that by segregating firms in terms of sales, different internal factors can enable in steering through pandemic situation besides just depending on external assistance. Originality/value One of the few papers to analyse the impact of the pandemic on Russian firms by considering World Bank Covid Survey.


2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul-Hanan Abdallah

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of agricultural credit on technical efficiency of Ghanaian maize farmers using a unique dataset drawn from the database of Sub-Saharan Africa’s intensification of food crops agriculture (Afrint II) in 2008 period. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, a two-stage estimation procedure is employed to determine impact of agricultural credit on technical efficiency of Ghanaian maize farmers. The first stage utilized probit model while the second stage utilized stochastic frontier approach to estimate impact of credit on technical efficiency of Ghanaian maize farmers. Findings – The study found that farmers are producing below the frontier with average technical efficiency of 47 percent. Policy variables such as credit access; education, extension access and farm size played a stronger role in technical efficiency. Agricultural credit in particular increased technical efficiency by 3.8 percent. Research limitations/implications – The results should not be extended to the impact of agricultural credit on economic efficiency since the allocative efficiency component is not considered in this study. Also, caution should be taken in the interpretation of these results because the data could not permit the incorporation of all variables that might affect technical efficiency. Originality/value – The originality of the paper and its contribution to existing literature largely lies from the use of a unique dataset to find evidence of the impact of credit on efficiency in Ghana.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dao Dinh Nguyen

PurposeThe paper aims to estimate the factors affecting Vietnam's export in rice and coffee, the two most important agricultural products, especially in exploring the role of “behind-the-border” constraints.Design/methodology/approachThe paper applies the stochastic frontier gravity model, which models the aggregate effect of “behind-the-border” factors for Vietnam's export in rice and coffee.FindingsThe paper finds that the impact of “behind-the-border” constraints is statistically significant, suggesting that Vietnam's exports in rice and coffee may be prevented from reaching their export potential by such factors. Moreover, technical efficiency and potential export suggest that Vietnam has a lot of potential to increase its exports in rice and coffee with its major trading partners. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations group continues to be the major market of Vietnamese rice and coffee. Vietnam can also take advantage of the opportunity to export these commodities to the European Union (EU) (not including the UK), and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, especially in coffee to the EU.Research limitations/implicationsThe study cannot identify specific “behind-the-border” factors due to the limitation of data availability.Originality/valueMany existing studies suggest that export in agricultural products of Vietnam, especially in rice, is significantly affected by natural factors and “explicit beyond-the-border” constraints. They ignore the impact of “behind-the-border” constraints in Vietnam and its trading partners. My study proved the significant impact of such constraints. Therefore, Vietnam needs more policies to remove the “behind-the-border” constraints to promote export in rice and coffee.


Author(s):  
Syafrial ◽  
Hery Toiba ◽  
Moh Shadiqur Rahman ◽  
Dwi Retnoningsih

The adoption of technological innovations, such as an improved variety, has been widely promoted worldwide to improve agricultural productivity. This study aimed to examine factors affecting farmers’ decision to adopt a new improved cassava varieties (NICV), and to estimate the effects of NICV adoption on farmers’ technical efficiency. This research used cross-sectional data from 300 cassava farmers in East Java, Indonesia. Furthermore, the data were analyzed by probit regression to examine factors affecting farmers’ decision to adopt NICV. Propensity score matching (PSM) procedures and stochastic frontier analysis were applied to evaluate the impact of NICV adoption on farmers’ technical efficiency. The results indicated that adoption was highly influenced by cooperative membership, access to credit, internet access, certified land, and off-farm work. The stochastic frontier analysis, by controlling the matched sample using PSM procedures, demonstrated that NICV adoption positively and significantly impacted farmers’ technical efficiency. Those who adopted NICV showed a higher technical efficiency level than those who did not. This finding implies that improved varieties could be further promoted to increase productivity. The research suggests that there is a need to improve NICV adoption to increase the levels of technical efficiency and productivity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melkamu Girma Koricho ◽  
Musa Hasen Ahmed

PurposeThis study examines the impact of access to credit on the technical efficiency (TE) of maize-producing smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and explores factors determining credit utilization.Design/methodology/approachThe study relies on nationally representative data collected in 2015/2016. The data are analyzed by combining the Propensity Score Matching technique with a stochastic frontier model that corrects selectivity bias arising from unobserved variables.FindingsThe result shows that credit service improves TE and helps smallholder farmers to achieve the maximum possible output level from a given set of inputs used.Originality/valueTo the best of author’s knowledge, no study has yet measured the impact of access to credit on TE by controlling for both observed and unobserved heterogeneities. Existing research relied on a single production frontier model, assuming that credit users and non-users have similar production characteristics or ignored selection bias due to observable and unobservable characteristics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Martey ◽  
Alexander N. Wiredu ◽  
Prince M. Etwire ◽  
John K.M. Kuwornu

Purpose Production credit is essential for enhancing the technical efficiency (TE) and the welfare of smallholder farmers in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of credit on smallholders’ TE using cross-sectional data from 223 maize-producing households in Northern Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Due to the exogenous assignment of credit and assumption of homogeneity in farm technologies, the propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to compare the average difference in TE between farmers that had received credit and those that had not. Findings The results revealed that production credit impacts positively on smallholder farmers’ TE. Access to production credit is significantly influenced by access to markets and extension services, distance to market, asset index and land fragmentation. The provision of credit enhances the timely purchase and efficient allocation of farming inputs to produce the maximum possible output. Per capita income and land fragmentation also play important roles in reducing smallholders’ TE. Practical implications To increase efficiency gains, credit programs for agricultural interventions should target resource-poor smallholder farmers. The efficiency gains can be sustained through stronger partnerships with financial institutions. Policy interventions aimed at increasing smallholder farmers’ access to production credit (e.g. through the creation of a conducive investment environment that lowers the lending rate and collateral requirements) must be vigorously pursued. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is one of the only recent studies to examine the impact of credit on the TE of farming households by applying the translog stochastic frontier production function and the PSM approaches.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Migliardo ◽  
Antonio Fabio Forgione

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of ownership structure on bank performance in EU-15 countries. Specifically, it examines to what extent shareholder type and the degree of shareholder concentration affect the banks’ profitability, risk and technical efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a sample of 1,459 banks operating in EU-15 countries from 2011 to 2015. It constructs a set of continuous variables capturing the ownership nature, the concentration and their interactions, and estimates an instrumental variable random effect (IV-RE) model. In addition, a panel data stochastic frontier analysis is conducted to estimate the time-varying technical efficiency for profitability and costs.FindingsThe empirical analysis shows that bank performance is affected by shareholder type. When regressed against the entrenchment behavior of the controlling owner hypothesis, banks with large-block shareholders are more profitable, less risky and more profit efficient. Further, ownership concentration reverts the negative effect related to the institutional, bank and industry ownership.Research limitations/implicationsThe results support the hypothesis that concentrated ownership helps to overcome agency problems. They also confirm that managerial involvement in banks’ capital enhances a bank’s profit and its volatility.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to consider the ownership nature, the concentration and their interaction using continuous variables, which allows for more precise inferences. The results provide new evidence that bank profitability, cost efficiency and risk are affected by the type of direct shareholders.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Maria Raimondo ◽  
Francesco Caracciolo ◽  
Concetta Nazzaro ◽  
Giuseppe Marotta

While there is growing recognition of the positive role played by organic farming in the reduction of the negative externalities due to conventional agriculture, there is uncertainty about the effect of the latter on the economic performance of the farms. In this scenario, the present paper aims at investigating the effect of organic farming on technical efficiency in Italian olive farms. A cross-section dataset was analyzed through the stochastic frontier function, where the adoption of organic farming was explicitly modeled. Then, to obtain an unbiased estimate of the impact of organic farming on technical efficiency, a propensity score matching method was implemented. The findings reveal that organic farming increases technical efficiency in Italian olive farms by approximately 10%. The highest impact of organic farming is observed in small farms. As for the propensity to become organic, we found that the production and the direct sales of a higher quality of gross marketable output, as well as the intensity of labor and machines, increase the probability to adopt organic farming. Conversely, farm localization, the availability of family labor, and financial capital discourage conversion to the organic farming system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2708
Author(s):  
Ziqi Yin ◽  
Jianzhai Wu

In recent years, through the implementation of a series of policies, such as the delimitation of major grain producing areas and the construction of advantageous and characteristic agricultural product areas, the spatial distribution of agriculture in China has changed significantly; however, research on the impact of such changes on the efficiency of agricultural technology is still lacking. Taking 11 cities in Hebei Province as the research object, this study examines the spatial dependence of regional agricultural technical efficiency using the stochastic frontier analysis and spatial econometric analysis. The results show that the improvement in agricultural technical efficiency is evident in all cities in Hebei Province from 2008 to 2017, but there is scope for further improvement. Industrial agglomeration has statistical significance in improving the efficiency of agricultural technology. Further, there is an obvious spatial correlation and difference in agricultural technical efficiency. Optimizing the spatial distribution of agricultural production, promoting the innovation, development, and application of agricultural technology, and promoting the expansion of regional elements can contribute to improving agricultural technical efficiency.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 522-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Schuster ◽  
Judy Proudfoot ◽  
Judy Drennan

Purpose – This paper aims to use the Model of Goal-Directed Behavior (MGB) to examine the factors affecting consumers’ continued use of emerging technology-based self-services (TBSSs) with credence qualities. Professional services, which traditionally require specialized knowledge and high levels of interpersonal interaction to produce owing to their credence qualities, are increasingly delivered via self-service technologies. Health services delivered via mobile devices, for example, facilitate self-care without direct involvement from health professionals. Design/methodology/approach – A mental health service delivered via the Internet and mobile phone, myCompass, was selected as the research context. Twenty interviews were conducted with users of myCompass and the data were thematically analyzed. Findings – The findings of the study showcase the unique determinants of consumers’ continued use of TBSSs with credence qualities relative to the more routine services which have been the focus of extant research. The findings further provide support for the utility of the MGB in explaining service continuance, although the importance of distinguishing between extrinsic and intrinsic motivational components of behavioral desire and capturing the impact of social influence beyond subjective norms is also highlighted. Originality/value – This study contributes to recent research examining differences in consumer responses across TBSSs and behavioral loyalty to these services. It also provides empirical evidence for broadening and deepening the MGB within this behavioral domain.


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