Análisis De La Eficiencia Técnica Relativa De La Agroindustria Azucarera: El Caso De México

What are the most salient features of the Mexican sugar agroindustry's relative technical efficiency? This paper looks at a very preliminary approach to the relative technical efficiency (RTE) conditions prevailing in the sugar refineries of the country, with the support of an empirical production function. With this goal in mind, an RTE examination of the national sugar refineries is undertaken based upon data envelopment analysis (DEA), a non-parametric mathematical programming technique that allows for the RTE coefficients estimation for the decision making units (DMU) taken into account. The stance considered deals with an input oriented approach and the RTE indices are generated by a variable returns to scale (VRE) technology. The sample used deals with 57 DMU's and, in order to fulfill a highly discriminatory power of the model, four inputs and two outputs are employed. The basic model has a DEA-BCC structure, whose inputs are the industrialized area, the net ground sugar cane, the sugar harvest span, and the production costs. The outputs accounted for are total sugar produced and net benefits. Approximately, one fifth of DMUs are technically efficient, according to the final results. Such a conclusion allows for the setout of economic policies aimed at straightforwardly improving the RTE of inefficiency DMU's by means of an economic policy allowing for an optimum allocation of resources.