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A Management and Environmental Performance Evaluation of China’s Family Farms Using an Ultimate Comprehensive Cross-Efficiency Model (UCCE)

Author

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  • Yinsheng Yang

    (College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130020, China)

  • Qianwei Zhuang

    (College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130020, China)

  • Guangdong Tian

    (Transportation College, Jilin University, Changchun 130020, China)

  • Silin Wei

    (College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130020, China)

Abstract

Family farm emerged as a new form of agricultural production organization in China in recent years. For the purpose of sustainable development, decision-makers, such as farm owners and policy makers, require the precise information of a family farm’s state of operation to adopt measures for management improvement and agricultural contamination reduction. Considering this, we established two evaluation systems for the measurement of family farms’ management and environmental performance. As demonstrated in several recent studies, data envelopment analysis (DEA) cross efficiency is a useful approach for evaluating and comparing the performance of decision-making units (DMUs). Regarding family farms’ performance evaluation issues, we modified the traditional average cross-efficiency method to be the ultimate comprehensive cross-efficiency approach with the integration of two statistical quantities based on the full consideration of family farms’ unique features, such as vulnerability and seasonality, resulting from the influence of natural and social factors. Our proposed approach presents more excellent characteristics compared with CCR efficiency and average cross efficiency. Several conclusions regarding the operation of China’s family farms are drawn: (i) there is weak positive correlation between family farms’ management and environmental performance; (ii) there is an increasing trend for both management and environmental efficiency, along with the augmentation of the utilized agricultural area of family farms, and management performance is therefore more significant; (iii) demand for timely technological instruction to improve family farms’ management efficiency is expressed by farm owners who are willing to expand; (iv) to improve family farms’ environmental performance, several measures—such as introducing biotechnology, providing subsidies, and environmental education for farmers—should be adopted.

Suggested Citation

  • Yinsheng Yang & Qianwei Zhuang & Guangdong Tian & Silin Wei, 2018. "A Management and Environmental Performance Evaluation of China’s Family Farms Using an Ultimate Comprehensive Cross-Efficiency Model (UCCE)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2018:i:1:p:6-:d:191919
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nan Chen & Xinglong Yang & Nicola Shadbolt, 2020. "The Balanced Scorecard as a Tool Evaluating the Sustainable Performance of Chinese Emerging Family Farms—Evidence from Jilin Province in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-27, August.
    2. Zhiping Huang & Tianran Wang & Na Li, 2022. "Reciprocal and Symbiotic: Family Farms’ Operational Performance and Long-Term Cooperation of Entities in the Agricultural Industrial Chain—From the Evidence of Xinjiang in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Yu, Peiheng & Fennell, Shailaja & Chen, Yiyun & Liu, Hui & Xu, Lu & Pan, Jiawei & Bai, Shaoyun & Gu, Shixiang, 2022. "Positive impacts of farmland fragmentation on agricultural production efficiency in Qilu Lake watershed: Implications for appropriate scale management," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).

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