Keywords
slack-based model (SBM)
technical efficiency
sustainability
FADN
How to Cite
Abstract
he article aims to determine the nature of the relationship between farm development and its technical efficiency understood from the perspective of data envelopment analysis (DEA). The time scope of the analysis refers to the period 2004-2019. The empirical part of the article is based on the individual unpublished data for Polish farms conducting agricultural accounting according to Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). We employed a super-efficiency slack-based DEA model with variable returns to scale. This model enables us to compare and rank efficient farms as well as investigate the sources of farm (in)efficiency. We did not identify the substitution (trade-off) effect between farms` sustainability and efficiency. For level of technical efficiency and these differences were statistically significant. The main policy recommendation that can be derived from these results is that agricultural policy should support both efficiency improvements and progress toward higher sustainability.
References
Adenuga, A. H., Davis, J., Hutchinson, G., Donnellan, T., & Patton, M. (2019). Environmental efficiency and pollution costs of nitrogen surplus in dairy farms: a parametric hyperbolic technology distance function approach. Environmental and Resource Economics, 74(3), 1273-1298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-019-00367-2
Adenuga, A. H., Davis, J., Hutchinson, G., Patton, M., & Donnellan, T. (2020). Modelling environmental technical efficiency and phosphorus pollution abatement cost in dairy farms. Science of The Total Environment, 714, 136690. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136690
Andersen, P., & Petersen, N. C. (1993). A procedure for ranking efficient units in data envelopment analysis. Management Science, 39(10), 1261-1264. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.39.10.1261
Baulcombe, D., Davies, B., Crute, I., Dunwell, J., Gale, M., Jones, J., Pretty, J., Sutherland, W., & Toulmin, C. (2009). Reaping the Benefits: Science and the sustainable intensification of global agriculture. London: Royal Society.
Baum, R. (2011). Ocena zrównoważonego rozwoju w rolnictwie (studium metodyczne). Poznań: Wyd. Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego in Poznań.
Bogetoft, P., & Otto, L. (2011). Benchmarking with DEA, SFA, and R. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, 157.
Bonfiglio, A., Arzeni, A., & Bodini, A. (2017). Assessing eco-efficiency of arable farms in rural areas. Agricultural System, 151, 114-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2016.11.008
Borychowski, M., Grzelak, A., & Popławski, Ł. (2022). What drives low-carbon agriculture? The experience of farms from the Wielkopolska region in Poland. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29, 18641-18652. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17022-3
Briner, S., Huber, R., Bebi, P., Elkin, C., Schmatz, D. R., & Grêt-Regamey, A. (2013). Trade-Offs between Ecosystem Services in a Mountain Region. Ecology and Society, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.5751/es-05576-180335
Buckwell, A., Nordang-Uhre, A., Williams, A., Poláková, J., Blum, W., Schiefer, J., Lair, G., Heissenhuber, A., Schieβ, P., Krämer, C., & Haber, W. (2014). Sustainable intensification of European agriculture. Rural Investment Support for Europe. https://risefoundation.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2014_-SI_RISE_FULL_EN.pdf
Chen, L., & Jia, G. (2017). Environmental efficiency analysis of China's regional industry: a data envelopment analysis (DEA) based approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 846-853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.01.045
Czekaj, M., Adamsone-Fiskovica, A., Tyran, E., & Kilis, E. (2020). Small farms’ resil-ience strategies to face economic, social, and environmental disturbances in selected regions in Poland and Latvia. Global Food Security, 26, 100416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100416
Czyżewski, B., & Polcyn, J. (2016). From the land rent of the physiocrats to political rent in sustainable agriculture. In B. Czyżewski (Ed.), Political Rents of European Farmers in the Sustainable Development Paradigm. International, National and regional perspective (pp.29-47). Warszawa: PWN.
Czyżewski, B., Matuszczak, A., & Muntean, A. (2019). Approaching environmental sustainability of agriculture: environmental burden, eco-efficiency or eco-effectiveness. Agricultural Economics-Czech, 65(7), 299-306. https://doi.org/10.17221/290/2018-AGRICECON
Dobbs, M., Gravey, V., & Petetin, L. (2021). Driving the European Green Deal in Turbulent Times. Politics and Governance, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v9i3.4321
Figiel, S. (2022). Polemika do artykułu: S. Stępień, J. Polcyn, M. Borychowski, Determinanty zrównoważonego rozwoju ekonomiczno-społecznego rodzinnych gospodarstw rolnych w Polsce (“Ekonomista”, 2021, no. 1). Ekonomista, (3), 391-395. https://doi.org/10.52335/ekon/153440
Gale, H. F. (1994). Longitudinal Analysis of Farm Size Over the Farmer’s Life Cycle. Review of Agricultural Economics, 16, 113-123.
Gaviglio, A., Bertocchi, M., & Demartini, E. (2017). A Tool for the Sustainability Assessment of Farms: Selection, Adaptation and Use of Indicators for an Italian Case Study. Resources, 6(4), 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources6040060
Gomes, E. G., Soares de Mello, J. C. C. B., & e Souza, G. D. S. (2009). Efficiency and sustainability assessment for a group of farmers in the Brazilian Amazon. Annals of Operations Research, 169, 167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-008-0390-6
Gomez-Limon, J. A., & Sanchez-Fernandez, G. (2010). Empirical evaluation of agricultural sustainability using composite indicators. Ecological Economics, 69(5), 1062-1075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.11.027
Grzelak, A. (2015). The problem of complexity in economics on the example of the agricultural sector. Agricultural Economics – Czech, 61, 577-586.
Grzelak, A. (2020). The Objectives of Farm Operations—Evidence from a Region in Poland. Agriculture, 10(10), 458. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10100458
Grzelak, A. (2022a). The income-assets relationship for farms operating under selected models in Poland. Agricultural Economics-Czech, 68(2), 59-67. https://doi.org/10.17221/361/2021-AGRICECON
Grzelak, A. (2022b). The relationship between income and assets in farms and context of sustainable development. PLoS One, 17(3), e0265128. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265128
Grzelak, A., Borychowski, M., & Staniszewski, J. (2022). Economic, environmental, and social dimensions of farming sustainability - trade-off or synergy? Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 28(3), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2022.16463
Guesmi, B., & Serra, T. (2015). Can we improve farm performance? The determinants of farm technical and environmental efficiency. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 37(4), 692-717. https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppv004
Guth, M., Stępień, S., Smędzik-Ambroży, K., & Matuszczak, A. (2022). Is small beautiful? Technical efficiency and environmental sustainability of small-scale family farms under the conditions of agricultural policy support. Journal of Rural Studies, 89, 235-247. DOI:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.11.026
Hai, A. T. N., & Speelman, S. (2020). Economic-environmental trade-offs in marine aquaculture: The case of lobster farming in Vietnam. Aquaculture, 516, 734593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2019.734593
Haileslassie, A., Craufurd, P., Thiagarajah, R., Kumar, S., Whitbread, A., Rathor, A., Blummel, M., Ericsson, P., & Kakumanua, K. R. (2016). Empirical evaluation of sustainability of divergent farms in the dryland farming systems of India. Ecological Indicators, 60, 710-723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.08.014
Harasim, A. (2013). Metoda oceny zrównoważonego rozwoju rolnictwa na poziomie gospodarstwa rolnego. Studia i Raporty IUNG-PIB, 32(6), 58-66.
Huang, W., Bruemmer, B., & Huntsinger, L. (2016). Incorporating measures of grassland productivity into efficiency estimates for livestock grazing on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China. Ecological Economics, 122, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.025
Jaklič, T., Juvančič, L., Kavčič, S., & Debeljak, M. (2014). Complementarity of socio-economic and emergy evaluation of agricultural production systems: The case of Slovenian dairy sector. Ecological Economics, 107, 469-481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.09.024
McDonagh, J., Farrell, M., & Conwaym, S. (2017). The role of small‐scale farms and food security. In R. Bhat (Ed.), Sustainability Challenges in the Agrofood Sector (pp. 33-47). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Pawłowski, K. P., Czubak, W., & Zmyślona, J. (2021). Regional Diversity of Technical Efficiency in Agriculture as a Results of an Overinvestment: A Case Study from Poland. Energies, 14(11), 3357. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14113357
Peña, C. R., Serrano, A. L. M., de Britto, P. A. P., Franco, V. R., Guarnieri, P., & Thomé, K. M. (2018). Environmental preservation costs and eco-efficiency in Amazonian agriculture: Application of hyperbolic distance functions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197, 699-707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.227
Picazo-Tadeo, A., Gomez-Limon, J., & Reig-Martínez, E. (2011). Assessing farming eco-efficiency: A data envelopment analysis approach. Journal of Environmental Management, 92(4), 1154-1164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.11.025
Pretty, J., Toulmin, C., & Williams, S. (2011). Sustainable intensification in African Agriculture. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 9(1).
Ripoll-Bosch, R., Díez-Unquera, B., Ruiz, R., Villalba, D., Molina, E., Joy, M., Olaizola, A., & Bernués, A. (2012). An integrated sustainability assessment of Mediterranean sheep farms with different degrees of intensification. Agricultural Systems, 105(1), 46-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2011.10.003
Śleszyński, J. (2016). The principles of sustainability. Ekonomia I Środowisko - Economics and Environment, 59(4), 10-21. https://www.ekonomiaisrodowisko.pl/journal/article/view/194
Soteriades, A. D., Faverdin, P., March, M., & Stott, A. W. (2015). Improving efficiency assessments using additive data envelopment analysis models: an application to contrasting dairy farming systems. Agricultural and Food Science, 24(3), 235-248.
Špička, J., Vintr, T., Aulová, R., & Macháčková, J. (2020). Trade-off between the economic and environmental sustainability in Czech dual farm structure. Agricultural Economics – Czech, 66, 243-250. doi: 10.17221/390/2019-AGRICECON
Staniszewski, J. (2018). Attempting to Measure Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture in Countries of the European Union. Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology, 19(2), 949-957.
Steinke, J., Mgimiloko, M. G., Graef, F., Hammond, J., van Wijk, M. T., & van Etten, J. (2019). Prioritizing options for multi-objective agricultural development through the Positive Deviance approach. PLoS ONE, 14(2), e0212926. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212926
Tone, K. (2001). A slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis. European Journal of Operational Research, 130(3), 498-509. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-2217(99)00407-5
Ullah, A., Silalertruksa, T., Pongpat, P., & Gheewala, S. H. (2019). Efficiency analysis of sugarcane production systems in Thailand using data envelopment analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 238, 117877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117877
Urdiales, M. P., Lansink, A. O., & Wall, A. (2016). Eco-efficiency among dairy farmers: the importance of socio-economic characteristics and farmer attitudes. Environmental and Resource Economics, 64(4), 559-574. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-015-9885-1
Valenti, W., Kimpara, J., Preto, B., & Moraes-Valenti, P. (2018). Indicators of sustainability to assess aquaculture systems. Ecological Indicators, 88, 402-413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.12.068
van Grinsven, H., van Eerdt, M., Westhoek, H., & Kruitwagen, S. (2019). Benchmarking eco-efficiency and footprints of Dutch agriculture in European context and implications for policies for climate and environment. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 3, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00013
Van Passel, S., Nevens, F., Mathijs, E., & Van Huylenbroeck, G. (2007). Measuring farm sustainability and explaining differences in sustainable efficiency. Ecological Economics, 62(1), 149-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.06.008
Van Passel, S., Van Huylenbroeck, G., Lauwers, L., & Mathijs, E. (2009). Sustainable value assessment of farms using frontier efficiency benchmarks. Journal of Environmental Management, 90(10), 3057-3069. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.04.009
Wettemann, P. J. C., & Latacz-Lohmann, U. (2017). An efficiency-based concept to assess potential cost and greenhouse gas savings on German dairy farms. Agricultural Systems, 152, 27-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2016.11.010
Wrzaszcz, W. (2013). The sustainability of individual holdings in Poland on the basis of FADN data. Problems of Agricultural Economics, 334(1), 73-90.
Yang, H., & Pollitt, M. (2009). Incorporating both undesirable outputs and uncontrollable variables into DEA: The performance of Chinese coal-fired power plants. European Journal of Operational Research, 197(3), 1095-1105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2007.12.052
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2023 Economics and Environment