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Revisiting firm flexibility and efficiency: evidence from the EU dairy processing industry

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Hirsch
  • Ashok Mishra
  • Niklas Möhring
  • Robert Finger

Abstract

We analyse the flexibility of EU dairy processors to adjust production to fluctuating economic conditions. For a set of 2,186 firms, we derive production flexibility measures representing the effect of output variations on costs. The results reveal that flexibility is highest in Poland and Italy and lowest in Spain. Several firm-specific factors, such as size and age of the firm, are found to affect firm flexibility. Moreover, we detect a tradeoff between flexibility and technical efficiency for large firms indicating that a sole focus on firm efficiency can be insufficient. Finally, the results show that during economic crisis flexibility can help to sustain profitability.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Hirsch & Ashok Mishra & Niklas Möhring & Robert Finger, 2020. "Revisiting firm flexibility and efficiency: evidence from the EU dairy processing industry," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(3), pages 971-1008.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:erevae:v:47:y:2020:i:3:p:971-1008.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/erae/jbz003
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Magdalena Kapelko & Alfons Oude Lansink & Encarna Guillamon‐Saorin, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and dynamic productivity change in the US food and beverage manufacturing industry," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(2), pages 286-305, April.
    2. Hirsch, Stefan, 2022. "Product placement in the meat substitute sector: Evidence from a spatial demand model," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322181, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Christian Grovermann & Sylvain Quiédeville & Adrian Muller & Florian Leiber & Matthias Stolze & Simon Moakes, 2021. "Does organic certification make economic sense for dairy farmers in Europe?–A latent class counterfactual analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(6), pages 1001-1012, November.
    4. Yaghoob Jafari & Maximilian Koppenberg & Stefan Hirsch & Thomas Heckelei, 2023. "Markups and export behavior: Firm‐level evidence from the French food processing industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 174-194, January.
    5. Guillaume Bagnarosa & Mark Cummins & Michael Dowling & Fearghal Kearney, 2022. "Commodity risk in European dairy firms," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 49(1), pages 151-181.
    6. Caetano Luiz Beber & Sebastian Lakner & Ioannis Skevas, 2021. "Organizational forms and technical efficiency of the dairy processing industry in Southern Brazil," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, December.
    7. Ahmet Candemir & Sabine Duvaleix & Laure Latruffe, 2021. "Agricultural Cooperatives And Farm Sustainability – A Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1118-1144, September.
    8. Kevin N. Kim & Ani L. Katchova, 2022. "Agricultural bank acquisitions and postacquisition performance: An examination of the role of shared knowledge," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(4), pages 743-770, October.
    9. Koppenberg, Maximilian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Dalhaus, Tobias & Hirsch, Stefan, 2023. "The value of firm flexibility under extreme positive demand shocks: COVID-19 and toilet paper panic purchases," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    10. Stefan Hirsch & David Lanter & Robert Finger, 2021. "Profitability and profit persistence in EU food retailing: Differences between top competitors and fringe firms," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(2), pages 235-263, April.
    11. Federica Di Marcantonio & Enkelejda Havari & Liesbeth Colen & Pavel Ciaian, 2022. "Do producer organizations improve trading practices and negotiation power for dairy farms? Evidence from selected EU countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(S1), pages 121-137, November.
    12. Peng Peng & Zhigang Xu, 2022. "Price expectations, risk aversion, and choice of sales methods for large‐scale farmers under incomplete market conditions," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(4), pages 1012-1031, October.
    13. Maximilian Koppenberg & Stefan Hirsch, 2022. "Markup estimation: A comparison of contemporary methods at the example of European food retailers," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(1), pages 108-133, January.
    14. Daniele Curzi & Valentina C. Materia & Cristina Vaquero‐Piñeiro, 2023. "Innovation as a resilience strategy to economic crises for international food and drink firms," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 303-321, March.
    15. Maximilian Koppenberg & Stefan Hirsch, 2022. "Output market power and firm characteristics in dairy processing: Evidence from three EU countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 490-517, June.
    16. Ching‐Hua Yeh & Stefan Hirsch, 2023. "A meta‐regression analysis on the willingness‐to‐pay for country‐of‐origin labelling," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 719-743, September.
    17. Samane Zare & Mahdi Asgari & Timothy Woods & Yuqing Zheng, 2020. "Consumer proximity and brand loyalty in craft soda marketing: A case study of Ale‐8‐One," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 522-541, October.
    18. Miguel Hernández‐Espallardo & Narciso Arcas‐Lario & Jorge L. Sánchez‐Navarro & Gustavo Marcos‐Matás, 2022. "Curbing members' opportunism in first‐tier and federated agricultural marketing cooperatives," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(1), pages 195-219, January.

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