Technical efficiency

A preoccupation with content and connectivity in bridging the digital divide obscures the role of information and communication technology in making different ways of knowing and other logics and experiences visible or invisible. How to deal with this diversity in information systems and what is the role of Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS)? In a discussion of the Development Gateway,

The duality between measures of economic and technical efficiency has been extensively studied in the productive efficiency analysis. This duality ensures a meaningful interpretation of technical efficiency as economic efficiency evaluated at the most favorable shadow prices. This paper concentrates on economic efficiency as short run profit efficiency. We first argue that a modified version of Varian?s goodness-of-fit measure provides

This paper analyses the rate of technical progress at Portuguese airports between 1990 and 2000, using a stochastic cost frontier method. A translog frontier model is used and the maximum likelihood estimation technique is employed to estimate the empirical model. We estimate the efficient scores and disentangle the rate of technical progress into three components: pure technical progress, non-neutral technical progress and scale-augmenting technical progress. The results show that the average score is 88%, denoting a relatively high degree of waste, despite the fact that technical change contributed to a reduction in costs.

This study endeavor is to examine the efficiency in the both life insurance and life Takaful industry of Bangladesh. The study used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to explore the contributions of technical and efficiency changes to the growth of productivity in the life insurance industries of Bangladesh by using descriptive statistics such as mean, median, standard deviation, minimum & maximum and efficiency concerning the generalized output-oriented Malmquist index for the years 2009-2011. The output-input data consists of a panel of 13 Life Insurance and Takaful Life companies (10 life insurance and 03 Takaful life) in Bangladesh. This study utilizes two inputs and two outputs, namely, commission and management as well as premium and net investment income, respectively. In the DEA technique, efficiency is measured by the Malmquist index. The Malmquist efficiency measures have two components: the efficiency change and technical change index. Efficiency change is again combined by pure efficiency and scale efficiency. It is found that, on geometric mean, the TFP of the Conventional life industry is better than Takaful life mainly due to both efficiency and technical changes where the main source of the efficiency change is scale efficiency rather than pure efficiency. Finding of this study indicates that Conventional and Takaful life industry of Bangladesh, the smaller the size of the companies, the higher the probability for the companies to be more efficient in utilizing their inputs to generate more outputs. This work will beneficial for researchers as well as practitioners to better understand the Bangladeshi life insurance industry.

The impact of modern rice varieties (Mvs) adoption over the past few decades has undergone changes in Thailand's rice production. This has led to the increase in average rice yields in both wet and dry seasons. At the present time, the average rice yield per rai nearly reached the maximum point given the current production technology. The findings indicated that the cost of rice production increased to about 85.67 % from those in the last few decades. Machinery, fertilizer and land use costs came out most significant in the outlay. Therefore, even though the paddy price sharply increased in the 2007/08 crop year, production costs went even higher, causing many farmers to suffer from production loss. By estimating the production frontier, it reveals that rice production in general operates in a decreasing return to scale, suggesting the ineffectual yield of the input factor use to rice performance. The technical efficiency score of 88.32 % in 1987/88 crop year and decreasing to ...

This study examined the technical efficiency of cocoa
productivity through contract farming in Tanzania for improving
livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Probability sampling was
used to select 271 respondents (131 respondents from Kilombero
and140 from Kyela Districts).  A cross-sectional data were
collected using structured questionnaire from cocoa smallholder
farmers.  The data was analyzed by using NLOGIT software
version 5. The results show that the mean technical efficiency
was 79.7% and 61.6% from Kilombero and Kyela Districts
respectively. Smallholder farmers from Kilombero District were
more efficient than Kyela District within contractual
arrangement. These smallholder farmers were technically
efficient in terms of number of hours spent in farms, labour
training, experience, distance and Size of labourer. Moreover,
results show that smallholder farmers  agreed that being in
contract had increased access of training (89.3% (n=242)),
credits (80.8% (n=219)), production quantity (73.1% (n=198)),
production acreage (71.7% (n=194)), timely purchase (92.9%
(n=252)) and timely payment (95.2% (n=258)). However, results
show that 67.47% of respondents disagreed that contract farming
did not provide timely inputs and 74.9% of respondents
disagreed that contract farming helped to introduce new
technology. Therefore, findings suggest that contract farming
contributed  a lot on improving smallholder farmers’ livelihood
within contract farming

In 1957 Farrell demonstrated how cost inefficiency could be decomposed into two mutually exclusive and exhaustive components: technical and allocative inefficiency. This result is consequence of the fact that—as shown by Shephard—the cost function and the input distance function (the reciprocal of Farrell's technical efficiency measure) are ‘dual’ to each other. Similarly, the revenue function and the output distance function are dual providing the basis for the decomposition of revenue inefficiency into technical and allocative components (see for example, Färe, Grosskopf and Lovell (1994)). Here we extend those results to include the directional distance function and its dual, the profit function. This provides the basis for defining and decomposing profit efficiency. As we show, the output and input distance functions (reciprocals of Farrell efficiency measures) are special cases of the directional distance function. We also show how to use the directional distance function ...

Ethiopia has no capital market, thus, the majority of investment and saving are through the banking system, hence, it is more important for the public as a whole to find out Relative Technical Efficiency of banks. This study aims to evaluate the relative technical efficiency and productivity change of Ethiopian commercial banks during the period 2007 to 2011. Using Intermediation approach two input variables-fixed asset and labor, and two output variables-total deposits and net loans & advances,-were selected. The study adopts DEA to measure effici3ency of banks and MPI to measure the productivity gains of banks over time. A panel data of ten commercial banks operating in Ethiopia from 2007 – 2011 were collected. The results show that, on average, Ethiopian commercial banks were relatively technically inefficient. Scale inefficiency takes the leading contribution for source of inefficiency. The study also reveals that the average TFP change is 0.965 during the study period. In this case, technical efficiency regress takes the most contributions to the loss of TFP.

This study assesses the technical efficiency and its determinants of maize farmers in the Eastern Region of Ghana. A multi stage random sampling procedure was employed to select 226 maize farmers from the four main geographical areas of the region for the study. A well-structured questionnaire and field observations were employed to collect relevant information from the respondents. Data collected was analyzed using relevant econometric techniques. The results indicate that elasticities of mean output for agrochemicals, hired labor, other inputs are positive while those of seed, fertilizer and family labor are negative. The computed return to scale on the other hand reveals that, on average, the maize farms exhibit decreasing returns to scale. The joint effect of operational and farm-specific factors influence technical efficiency but individual effects of some variables are not significant. Mean technical efficiency level of the farmers is estimated to be 51%, indicating that the possibility of increasing maize production in the region given the current state of technology and inputs level can be achieved in the short run by increasing the technical efficiency level of the farmers by 49% through the adoption of practices of the best maize farmer. Further, the empirical results from the inefficiency model show that extension visit, FBO membership, frequency of meeting by members of FBOs, formal training in maize farming, cash and in-kind credits are the major determinants of the farmers’ technical efficiency level. Finally, the resource use efficiency results revealed that agro-chemicals and hired labor are under-utilized whereas seed, fertilizer and family labor are over-utilized by maize farmers in the region. These results have implications for management of small and medium scale food crop farms in developing countries.

Penelitian ini dilaksanakan dengan tujuan untuk: (1) Mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor yang berpengaruh terhadap produksi pada usahatani padi pada lahan sawah irigasi teknis; (2) Mengetahui tingkat efisiensi teknis yang dicapai pada usahatani padi pada lahan sawah irigasi teknis; dan (3) Mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor yang berpengaruh terhadap inefisiensi teknis pada usahatani padi pada lahan sawah irigasi teknis. Penelitian dilaksanakan dengan menggunakan metode studi kasus pada Kelompok Tani Sri Mukti Desa SukanagaraKecamatan Lakbok Kabupaten Ciamis yang beranggotakan 30 orang petani yang keseluruhannya diambil sebagai sampel atau dilaksanakan sensus. Data yang dikumpulkan terdiri atas data primer dan sekunder. Analisis dilakukan dengan menggunakan fungsi produksi frontier stokhastik dimana pengukuran parameter dilakukan dengan menggunakan aplikasi Front41.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan: (1) Lahan, benih dan tenaga kerja berpengaruh signifikan terhadap produksi padi pada usahatani padi di lahan sawah irigasi teknis, sedangkan pupuk dan pestisida tidak berpengaruh signifikan; (2) Tingkat efisiensi teknis yang dicapai pada usahatani padi di lahan sawah irigasi teknis berkisar antara 0,9934 – 1,0000 dengan rata-rata 0,9975; dan (3) Umur dan pendidikan berpengaruh signifikan terhadap inefisiensi teknis pada usahatani padi di lahan sawah irigasi teknis; sedangkan pengalaman dan jumlah tanggungan keluarga tidak berpengaruh secara signifikan.

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini bertujuan mengukur dan menganalisis efisiensi teknis pertanian padi di Jawa Timur. Efisiensi teknis dievaluasi dengan menggunakan pendekatan non-parametrik DEA 2 tahap pada 2217 petani padi pada tahun tanam 2008. Tahap pertama pada metode ini adalah mengukur efisiensi petani menggunakan metode DEA berdasarkan asumsi Varible Return to Scale (VRS) dengan pendekatan input oriented, kemudian selanjutnya mengestimasi faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kinerja efisiensi menggunakan model regresi tobit. Asumsi Varible Return to Scale (VRS) menunjukkan bahwa terdapat 6 daerah yang berhasil mencapai nilai efisiensi maksimal (100%) yang artinya efisien secara teknis, sedangkan 13 daerah lainnya dalam kondisi inefisien. Ke-13 daerah tersebut berada pada kondisi Increasing Return to Scale (IRS) artinya daerah tersebut beroperasi pada skala optimal, dimana setiap penambahan input menghasilkan proporsi output yang cenderung meningkat. Hasil analisis regresi tobit menunjukkan menunjukkan bahwa jenis benih, jenis pupuk, jenis sawah, tidak ada hama/ OPT, akses kredit, dan bantuan pemerintah terbukti tidak signifikan secara statistik untuk menentukan pengaruh efisiensi hasil panen. Variabel sosioekonomi seperti luas lahan yang dikuasai dan pendidikan signifikan mempengaruhi hasil panen secara parsial. Secara simultan variabel-variabel tersebut tidak signifikan mempengaruhi hasil panen.

ABSTRACT

This study aims to measure and analyze the technical efficiency of paddy farming in East Java. Technical efficiency was evaluated by using a non-parametric DEA 2 stage approach in 2217 rice farmers in the 2008 planting year. The first step in this method was to measure farmers' efficiency using the DEA method based on the Assumption of Varible Return to Scale (VRS) with the oriented input approach, then further estimated the factors that affect the efficiency performance use the tobit regression model. Assumption of Varible Return to Scale (VRS) shows that there are 6 regions that succeed to achieve maximum efficiency value (100%) which means technically efficient, while 13 other areas in inefficient condition. These 13 areas are in the Increasing Return to Scale (IRS) condition, which means that the area operates at an optimum scale, where each input addition produces a proportion of output that tends to increase. The results of the tobit regression analysis showed that the types of seeds, types of fertilizers, types of rice fields, no pests / pests, access to credit, and government assistance proved not statistically significant to determine the effect of crop efficiency. Socioeconomic variables such as land area controlled and significant education affect partial yields. Simultaneously, these variables do not significantly affect the yields.

The biofungicide Phitodoctor evaluation results for impact on alternaria
blight considering the potato varieties peculiarities during 2018 - 2019 in area of
Western Ukrainian Foreststeppe province were provided. The highest level of
technical efficiency was recorded on varieties Slovyanka and Chervona Ruta.
Biological fungicide Phitodoctor showed the protective action against potato
alternaria blight. The plantation’s spray was provided to decrease alternaria blight
from 63,9 - to 47,5 %.

This paper aimed at measuring the Technical Efficiency (TE) of small-scale date farms in Baharia oasis using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method, in addition to highlighting the most important pre and post-harvest practices, in small-scale date farms that affecting productivity in order to draw polices to improve the production and productivity of Egyptian dates. The study utilized the (DEA) approach which is based on the linear programming to create an envelope or a field containing the data. A questionnaire was designed to obtain primary data on the input (Production amounts in tons) and outputs (Total labor and number of palm trees) from 37 small date farms in the city of Baharia oasis affiliated Giza Governorate, namely the villages of Al-Bawity, Mandisha and Al-Zubo respectively. The study reached some major findings which are: The average TE of Baharia oasis small date farms in the case of Constant Rate of Scale (CRS) was estimated at 0.172 only, this means that those farms can increase their production of dates by 82.8% without any Increase in quantity or amount of their economic resources used. On the other hand, the TE of small date farms in Baharia oasis was estimated at 0.642 when considering Variable Rate of Scale (VRS), which means that these farms can increase their production by 35.8% without any increase in the quantity or amount of economic resources used. The Scale Efficiency (SE) of the small date farms in the Baharia oases was estimated at only 0.279, which means that these farms need to increase their scale by 72.1% to benefit from the economics of scale. The study attributed the low TE of Baharia oasis dates to poor pre and post-harvest agricultural practices.

Suggested Citation: "Measuring Technical Efficiency of Small Date Farms in Bahaira Oasis using Data Envelopment Analysis", the annual conference of the Egyptian Association for Agricultural Economy, November 1st 2017.

This study employed Data Envelopment Analysis approach to assess the technical efficiency of rural SACCOS in Tanzania. The study found out that the technical efficiency of SACCOS varies across and within the regions where the efficiency scores for Morogoro, Dodoma and Kilimanjaro regions were 0.61999, 0.6028724 and 0.4649 respectively. We also noted that higher costs of operations for rural SACCOS attributed to low efficiency. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend that rural SACCOS in Tanzania should improve their efficiencies by utilizing savings, deposits and expenses effectively.

This paper proposes a nonparametric analysis of the performance of Moroccan commercial banks. The first part of this study focuses on the determination of technical efficiency scores using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). These scores are decomposed on « pure efficiency » and «technological progress » according to Malmquist index. For the studied period (1993-2006), we find a mitigate evolution