Technical efficiency

Purpose -Utilizing data envelopment analysis (DEA), this paper seeks to examine the performance of 20 Indian B-Schools, separating their profitability and marketability. The technique allows one to identify those management institutions which are able to utilize their resources in a most efficient way such that the overall goals of the organization are satisfied and total outcome maximized. If a management institution means to be effective in developing professionals who are going to be competent leaders and managers, then it would be useful to know the performance of the management institutes. However, measuring the performance of management institutes has received very little attention compared with other industries because it is difficult to measure its output. Design/methodology/approach -A DEA model is used to evaluate the relative efficiency of a group of decision-making units (DMUs) in their use of multiple inputs to produce multiple outputs where the form of production is neither known nor specified as in the case of parametric approach. Findings -The paper ranks management institutes from various points of stakeholders. The main findings are how much of the benefit from ranking of the B-Schools is credited because of its efficiency in converting the inputs to outputs. Does the ranking of any institution depend on scale of operations (scale efficiency) or is it only based on technical efficiency? Technical efficiencies are identified with failures to achieve best possible output levels and/or usage of excessive amounts of inputs. Practical implications -As Indian management schools widely publicize job offers with six figure salaries, managerial value addition, national ranking etc. provide an important impression about the management institutions. However, the reported results of experiments on input and output measures do not seem to differ between the ten best run institutes and the next ten institutes in terms of scale efficiency. Originality/value -The paper is one of the few written from the Indian perspective.

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,

This study is conducted (1) to examine the possible link between increased trade openness and technical efficiency in Brazilian agriculture and (2) to contribute to the scholarly debate in the literature by measuring the impact of trade openness on technical efficiency. The analysis is conducted by using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) method. Our results indicate large and significant impact of capital, and lesser but significant impact of labour on sectorial output, while expanding farmland would not increase the output. The estimates of trade openness are not statistically significant, indicating that it does not impact technical efficiency. Trade liberalization as an underlying motive for increasing technical efficiency does not exist based on our results. The primary markets for Brazilian agricultural commodities are still the domestic markets, which are still relatively well protected from foreign competition. This implies that domestic producers are not forced to use existing inputs more efficiently given the relative lack of competition domestically and enlarged foreign markets expanding primarily in the booming and large Asian economies.

We undertake network efficiency analysis within an input-output model that allows us to assess potential technical efficiency gains by comparing technologies corresponding to different economies. Input-output tables represent a network where different sectoral nodes use primary inputs (endowments) to produce intermediate input and outputs (according to sectoral technologies), and satisfy final demand (preferences). Within the input-output framework it is possible to optimize primary inputs allocation, intermediate production and final demand production by way of non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques. DEA allows us to model the different subtechnologies corresponding to alternative production processes, to assess efficient resource allocation among them, and to determine potential output gains if inefficiencies were dealt with. The proposed model optimizes the underlying multi-stage technologies that the input-output system comprises identifying the best practice economies. The model is applied to a set of OECD countries.

The present paper explores sources of technical (in)efficiency of Flemish municipalities in their production of local public goods (in the year 2000). In assessing inefficiency derivation, we focus on socio-economic and political characteristics of the municipalities as potential source. Our main findings indicate that while the socio-economic make-up of the population (i.c. income, income inequality, education and unemployment) appears to bear little relation to local (in)efficiency, the reverse holds for the municipal financial situation (i.c. grants, historical debt and fiscal surplus) as well as population size and density. Also, different types of communities -i.e. agricultural, residential, industrial, touristic or urbanised -are generally found to achieve comparable performance levels in providing 'core' public services. While indicative, the limitations of our dataset imply that further work is vital before definitive conclusions (as well as causal inferences) can be made.

The study employed a stochastic frontier Cobb-Douglas production function to measure Gender Efficiency of SmallHolder Cocoyam Farmers in Nsukka Agricultural Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 cocoyam farmers disaggregated into 60 males and 60 females in 2008. The results of the analysis show that individual farm level technical efficiency was higher (56.74%) for the females to the males (20.10%). For the male farmers, the study found age and education to be positively and significantly related to technical efficiency at 5% level. Extension contacts and practice index were positively and significantly related to technical efficiency at 10% and 1% level respectively. For the female farmers, household size and practice index were positive and significantly related to technical efficiency at 5% level. Farm size and occupational status had an indirect relationship with technical efficiency and significant at 1% level. Credit access, extension contacts and practice index were positive and significantly related to technical efficiency at 1% level. There is need therefore to ensure women's entitlement to productive resources and to target women in credit and small programmes in this enterprise. There is need also to ensure women's empowerment through awareness strategies aimed at increased practice of the various cocoyam technologies.

This paper attempts to identify sources of resource use inefficiency for cotton production in Pakistan's Punjab. The use of a non-parametric method, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), is developed to study the relative technical and allocative efficiencies of individual farms which use similar inputs, produce the same product and operate under comparable circumstances. In the 'cotton-wheat' system of Pakistan, there are a considerable number of farms that are both technically and allocatively inefficient. The use of DEA shows that the technique provides a clear identification of both the extent and the sources of technical and allocative inefficiencies in cotton production. However, both the interpretation of the farm level results generated and the projection of these results to a higher level require care, given the technical nature of the agricultural production processes.

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 estimates economic efficiency, TFP change, and technical change of the Greek banking system over the period 1993᎐1998. The beginning of the examination period coincides with the acceleration of liberalization and deregulation of the Greek financial system, in view of the country joining the EMU. The study uses Data Envelopment Analysis to measure technical and allocative efficiency. Also, productivity change is computed using the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity approach and is composed of technical and efficiency changes. The results show that the majority of the Greek banks operate close to best market practices, while allocative inefficiency costs seem to be more important than technical inefficiency costs. Also, the positive but not substantial TFP change of the Greek banking system is associated to efficiency improvement for the medium-sized banks and to technical change improvement for larger institutions. ᮊ 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classifications: D24; G21

This paper examines the cost, technical and allocative efficiency of 43 Chinese banks over the period 1993 to 2000. The goal of this analysis is to identify the change in Chinese banks' efficiency following the program of deregulation initiated by the government in 1995. Results show that the large state-owned banks and smaller banks are more efficient than medium sized Chinese banks. In addition, technical efficiency consistently dominates the allocative efficiency of Chinese banks. The financial deregulation of 1995 was found to improve cost efficiency levels including both technical and allocative efficiency. D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. JEL classification: G21; P34

This paper assesses the efficiency of the technology transfer operated by the French university system and its main determinants. The analysis is based on a detailed and original database of 51 TTOs, categorized by type of university, over the period [2003][2004][2005][2006][2007]. Overall, we find low-level of efficiency and both intra-category and inter-categories efficiency variation. The analysis of determinants shows that French TTOs efficiency depends extensively on the nature of the category (with universities specialised in science and engineering resulting the most efficient ones), on institutional and environmental characteristics. We found that both the seniority of TTO and size of the university have a positive effect. In terms of environmental variables, the intensity of R&D activity (both private and public) has a positive impact; however, in terms of growth rate, only the Private R&D activity seems to be the main driver. Lastly, having a medical school related to a hospital is a source of inefficiency.

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 attempts to measure the status of technical efficiency of food industry in Malaysia using the stochastic frontier model. In an economic where recourses are scarce and opportunities for a new technology are lacking, efficiency studies will be able to show the possibility of raising productivity by improving the industry's efficiency. The estimated extent of inefficiency can help firms to decide whether to improve efficiency or to develop or adopt new technologies in order to raise the productivity. The computed technical efficiency indices show that the sampled of food industry under study were highly technical inefficient, with an average efficiency ratio of 0.688. Therefore, the results indicated that there is a great potential exists for food industry to further increase the value added using the available input and technology.

to examine whether the adoption of yam minisett technology had an effect on the technical efficiency of production of the yam farmers. We correct for endogeneity in adoption and employ stochastic frontier analysis to investigate the effect of adoption of the technology on the technical efficiency of production. Our analysis suggests average technical efficiencies of 85.4% and 89.2% in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions respectively. In addition, the effect of adoption of the technology on the technical efficiency of smallholder farmers was positive and significant in the Ashanti region, but negative in the Brong Ahafo region. Our results provide information to improve the uptake of production technologies and their effect on smallholder yam farmers in Ghana.

Conventional banks) operating in Pakistan and gives a comparative analysis between them over a recent unstudied period, using DEA (Data Envelope Analysis) model. As banking systems render as an important factor towards the economic development of a country. Calculating Technical efficiency can help us determine which banking system is more technically efficient and can facilitate in the economic development and stability of a developing nation such as Pakistan. In this study, a sample of 34 different banks is taken which includes Islamic, conventional and foreign banks working in Pakistan. By taking Investments and Advances as outputs and number of employees, operating fixed asset and deposits as inputs in DEA analysis, the technical efficiencies of the banks are found and compared and then Tobit regression is use to determine the internal and external factor's impact on bank's efficiency.

Per capita consumption 1 of electricity in India is many folds lesser than Canada, USA, Australia, Japan, Chaina and world average. Even though, total energy shortage 2 and peaking shortage 3 were recorded as 11.2% and 11.85%, respectively, in 2008-09 reflecting non-availability of sufficient supply of electricity. Performance improvement of very small amount can lead to large contribution in financial terms, which can be utilized for capacity addition to reduce demand supply gap. Coal fired thermal power plants are main sources of electricity in India. In this paper, relative technical efficiency of 60 coal fired power plants has been evaluated and compared using CCR and BCC models of data envelopment analysis. Target benchmark of input variables has also been evaluated. Performance comparison includes small versus medium versus large power plants and also state owned versus central owned versus private owned. Result indicates poor performance of few power plants due to over use of input resources. Finding reveals that efficiency of small power plants is lower in comparison to medium and large category and also performance of state owned power plants is comparatively lower than central and privately owned. Study also suggests different measures to improve technical efficiency of the plants.

The structure of banking systems in GCC countries; namely, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, has substantially changed over the past decade, mainly as a result of regional economic integration and banking deregulation. The new banking environment has given banks an incentive to focus on cost and productive efficiency. This study uses a non-parametric frontier approach to compare and contrast the efficiency performance, efficiency and technological change, and productivity growth of banks in GCC countries. The results indicate that banks in Oman, on average, have been the most efficient among GCC countries followed narrowly by banks from Bahrain and to a lesser extent by banks from Kuwait. In contrast, the findings point to a low efficient banking environment in UAE and Qatar, with Saudi Arabia being the least efficient. Additionally, the efficiency measures of banks in Oman and Kuwait has been descending from 1999 to 2004, while at the same time the efficiency scores of banks in Bahrain have been rising. Furthermore, banks from Oman and Bahrain are dominating the common efficient frontier since a larger percentage of banks from these countries lie on the frontier. Examination of return to scale measures provides evidence to indicate that there is very limited opportunity for banks to improve their scale efficiency, given that only a handful of banks are operating at increasing returns to scale. The result of the Malmquist productivity index reveals that banks on average have experienced a decline in productivity due to technological regress and to a lesser extent caused by a decline in overall technological efficiency.

This paper estimates total productivity change and decomposes it into technically efficient change and technological change for a Portuguese retail store chain with data envelopment analysis. The benchmarking procedure implemented is an internal benchmarking, where the stores in the chain are compared against each other. The aim of this procedure is to seek out those best practices that will lead to improved performance throughout the whole chain. We rank the stores according to their total productivity change for the period 1999-2000, concluding that some stores experienced productivity growth while others experienced productivity decrease. Managerial implications arising from the study are considered. r

As a result of the liberalisation of airline markets; the strong growth of low cost carriers; the high volatility in fuel prices; and the recent global financial crisis, the cost pressure that airlines face is very substantial. In order to survive in these very competitive environments, information on what factors impact on costs and efficiency of airlines is crucial in guiding strategic change. To evaluate key determinants of 58 passenger airlines' efficiency, this paper applies a two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach, with partially bootstrapped random effects Tobit regressions in the second stage. Our results suggest that the effects of route optimisation, in the sense of average stage length of the fleet, are limited to airline technical efficiency. We show that airline size and key fleet mix characteristics, such as aircraft size and number of different aircraft families in the fleet, are more relevant to successful cost management of airlines since they have significant impacts on all three types of airline efficiency: technical, allocative and, ultimately, cost efficiency. Our results also show that despite the fuel saving benefits of younger aircraft, the age of an airline's fleet has no significant impact on its technical efficiency, but does have a positive impact on its allocative and cost efficiency.

We assess the relative efficiency of local municipalities using Data Envelopment Analysis and parametric analysis. As an output measure we compute a composite local government indicator of municipal performance, using data for Portuguese municipalities. This allows assessing the extent of possible municipal improvement relative to the "best-practice" frontier. Our results suggest that most municipalities could improve performance without necessarily increasing municipal spending. In a second stage efficiency scores are explained by means of a Tobit analysis with a set of relevant explanatory socio-economic factors playing the role of non-discretionary inputs, such as education and per capita purchasing power.

This paper uses data envelopment analysis to compute overall technical and inputspecific technical efficiency measures of conventional and organic farms in Finland. Moreover, productivity measures are determined, indicating differences in technology employed by organic and conventional farms. The data are from crop and livestock farms over the period 1994-1997. The results show that organic farms are on average more efficient relative to their own technology, but use a less productive technology than conventional farms.

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 paper uses a stochastic production frontier model to measure technical efficiency and technological change for a sample of small dairy farms in Southern of Chile. The data is a highly unbalanced panel including 48 farmers with a total of 92 observations covering the period from 1996-97 to 2001-02. All farmers in the sample are members of the Paillaco Farm Management Center (FMC). In the preferred model, the inefficiency term has a half-normal distribution, there is no agro-climatic effect, the presence of technical inefficiency is highly significant and technical efficiency is time variant. Average technical efficiency ranges from 77% (1996-97) to 69% (2000-01). Technological change is significant and increases at an average annual rate of 1.08% for the period (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002). On average, small dairy farmers in Southern Chile (Paillaco) are operating at a sub optimal size given that the computed returns to size parameter is equal to 1.12.

The North African countries located in the Southern Mediterranean region are among those that experience the most severe water shortages and face the greatest challenges in terms of future water availability. Most of these countries have a semi-arid climate with limited and variable rainfall. Moreover, much of the rainfall is lost through evaporation (Hamdy and Lacirignola, 1999). During the last three decades, it has been common policy in these North African countries to develop irrigation infrastructure and to control renewable water resources to increase stability in terms of water supply (Ben Mechlia, 2004). Agriculture, being an important component of food security policies, is the main consumer of this supplied water. On average, agriculture accounts for around 80% of total water consumption in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. However, these supply policies have led to substantial use of irrigation water at heavily subsidized cost (Thabet et al., 2005). In the early 1980s, there was a shift in agricultural water policies towards demand management. This alternative has been widely applied at a global level and involves rationalization of the current demand, instead of increasing the current supply. In other words, this means greater efficiency in the allocation and use of water in agriculture. Rainfall in Tunisia varies greatly, ranging from an average of less than 100 mm year À1 in the South, to more than 1000 mm year À1 in the extreme north of the country. In the north, however, the topography is mountainous, leaving relatively little cultivable land in the high rainfall areas. As a result, most agricultural activity is undertaken in areas with limited and highly variable rainfall, making irrigation necessary to stabilize or increase production by reducing climatic uncertainty. Currently, almost 385,000 ha (7% of useful agricultural land) are irrigated in Tunisia. The irrigation sector consumes 80% of the available water resources and provides 35% of the agricultural production value, 95% of horticultural crops, 30% of dairy production, almost 22% of agricultural sector exports, and 26% of total agricultural employment (Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, 2004). Moreover, the demand for irrigation water continues to rise, due largely to the development of new irrigation projects and the intensification of irrigation within existing areas. Therefore, during recent decades concerns regarding the efficient use of water resources in the country have increased. These concerns have been addressed in three ways: (i) modernizing the management of collective irrigation systems by enhancing the role played by water users' associations and by promoting user participation in all aspects of management, (ii)

The manufacturing sector has developed into the Vietnamese economy's most important sector on the basis of its contribution to export and GDP growth over the past decade. The doi moi reform process transformed Vietnam's manufacturing activity from a state-dominated sector to a vibrant one containing important roles for both newly created domestic and foreign-invested private firms. This paper employs a stochastic frontier estimation approach, in conjunction with data drawn from the Vietnam Enterprise Survey for 2003, to estimate and inform the determinants of technical efficiency in the manufacturing sector. The empirical results reveal that an average manufacturing enterprise is operating at nearly 62 per cent of its technically efficient frontier with an estimated standard deviation of around 16 per cent. The study provides empirical evidence of a positive relationship between technical efficiency, export orientation and several measures of trade openness.

The study was conducted to analyze the effects of the block farm program under the Sugarcane Industry Roadmap on production and technical efficiency of sugarcane farmers in Balayan and Lian in Batangas. It specifically aimed to: describe the implementation of the sugarcane block farm program and interventions related to access to credit, practice of farm mechanization, participation in extension services, and adoption of high-yielding varieties (HYV's); assess the level of input utilization, production, yield, and technical efficiency of the sugarcane farmers; analyze the factors affecting the production and technical efficiency of the sugarcane farmers; and identify the problems and constraints in sugarcane production and provide recommendations to improve the production and technical efficiency of the farmers and the implementation of the block farm program. A total of 70 sugarcane farmers were selected, with 40 and 30 farmers from Lucban and Prenza block farms, respectively. The data collected covered three cropping seasons from CY 2012-2013 up to CY 2014-2015.

Frontier production functions are important for the prediction of technical efficiencies of individual firms in an industry. A stochastic frontier production function model for panel data is presented, for which the firm effects are an exponential function of time. The best predictor for the technical efficiency of an individual firm at a particular time period is presented for this time-varying model. An empirical example is presented using agricultural data for paddy farmers in a village in India.

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 ...

Using a sample of Virginia hospitals, performance measures of quality were examined as they related to technical efficiency. Efficiency scores for the study hospitals were computed using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The study found that the technically efficient hospitals were performing well as far as quality measures were concerned. Some of the technically inefficient hospitals were also performing well with respect to quality. DEA can be used to benchmark both dimensions of hospital performance: technical efficiency and quality. The results have policy implications in view of growing concern that hospitals may be improving their efficiency at the expense of quality.

This study was conducted in the Gezira scheme. Covering the period 1980-2002. The study aimed to decompose total factor productivity index of wheat production into tow components the technological change (TC) and the efficiency change (EC). By using relevant secondary data collected from Gezira board units and Agricultural Research Corporation analyzed to test the objectives of the study. Results showed that all the changes in total factor productivity (TFP) were mainly due to technological change (TC). In fact, the efficiency change (EC) for the whole period of 1980 -2002 was only zero implying that the management was efficient. While the contribution of technology change (TC) was -4%. The study recommended that: investment in wheat breeding technology through research and development is of great importance. Adoption of more efficient extension programs is required, to be supported by training farmers on good crop management practices including efficient use of irrigation water. The study also recommended provision of credit to the farmers to enable them to purchase and use modern inputs; to improve marketing facilities and to increase the productivity and product of wheat in the Gezira Scheme.

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.

Performance indicators in the public sector have often been criticised for being inadequate and not conducive to analysing efficiency. The main objective of this study is to use data envelopment analysis (DEA) to examine the relative efficiency of Australian universities. Three performance models are developed, namely, overall performance, performance on delivery of educational services, and performance on fee-paying enrolments. The findings based on 1995 data show that the university sector was performing well on technical and scale efficiency but there was room for improving performance on fee-paying enrolments. There were also small slacks in input utilisation. More universities were operating at decreasing returns to scale, indicating a potential to downsize. DEA helps in identifying the reference sets for inefficient institutions and objectively determines productivity improvements. As such, it can be a valuable benchmarking tool for educational administrators and assist in more efficient allocation of scarce resources. In the absence of market mechanisms to price educational outputs, which renders traditional production or cost functions inappropriate, universities are particularly obliged to seek alternative efficiency analysis methods such as DEA. #

This study describes the technical efficiency of sugarcane production and the factors affecting this efficiency. The study was conducted in Turiani Division, Mvomero District, Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Specifically, the study determined and compared the level of technical efficiency of outgrower and non-outgrower farmers, and examined the relationship between levels of efficiency and various specific factors. A cross sectional single-visit survey that included randomly selected representative samples of 140 outgrower and non-outgrower farmers was conducted. To estimate technical efficiency analysis was done using a (FRONTIER Version 4.1) computer program for stochastic frontier production and cost function estimation developed by Coelli, (1996). Technical efficiency was estimated using the Cobb-Douglas production frontier assumed to have a truncated normal distribution. The results of the estimation showed that there were significant positive relationships between age, education, and experience with technical efficiency.

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