IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/aergaa/253496.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this article

Technical efficiency and productivity differentials of dairy farms in three EU countries: the role of CAP subsidies

Author

Listed:
  • Zhu, Xueqin
  • Milán Demeter, Róbert

Abstract

The impact of EU agricultural support policies on farms’ economic performance is an interesting issue for policy makers. The objective of this paper is to investigate technical efficiency and technical efficiency change of specialized German, Dutch and Swedish dairy farms and to compare their relative productivity. Three subsidy-related variables are introduced to reflect the wealth and insurance effect and the coupling effect of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies. Our results imply that a higher degree of coupling in farm support negatively affects farm efficiency, and the motivation of farmers to work efficiently is lower when they depend to a higher degree on subsidies as a source of income. Our study indicates that the composition of subsidies has a much smaller effect on efficiency than does the composition of total farm income. Relative productivity scores show that German and Swedish dairy farms have potential for improvement in productivity, compared to the production technology in the etherlands. In conclusion, it is questionable whether farm income support of CAP since the 1992 CAP reform is suitable to achieve its goal to increase farmers’ overall competitiveness by improving their efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhu, Xueqin & Milán Demeter, Róbert, 2012. "Technical efficiency and productivity differentials of dairy farms in three EU countries: the role of CAP subsidies," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 13(1), pages 1-27.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aergaa:253496
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.253496
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/253496/files/13_1_5.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.253496?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guan Zhengfei & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2006. "The Source of Productivity Growth in Dutch Agriculture: A Perspective from Finance," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(3), pages 644-656.
    2. David A. Hennessy, 1998. "The Production Effects of Agricultural Income Support Policies under Uncertainty," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(1), pages 46-57.
    3. Konstantinos Giannakas & Richard Schoney & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2001. "Technical Efficiency, Technological Change and Output Growth of Wheat Farms in Saskatchewan," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 49(2), pages 135-152, July.
    4. Alfons Lansink & Elvira Silva & Spiro Stefanou, 2001. "Inter-Firm and Intra-Firm Efficiency Measures," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 185-199, May.
    5. Mary Clare Ahearn & Jet Yee & Penni Korb, 2005. "Effects of Differing Farm Policies on Farm Structure and Dynamics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(5), pages 1182-1189.
    6. Giancarlo Moschini & Paolo Sckokai, 1994. "Efficiency of Decoupled Farm Programs Under Distortionary Taxation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(3), pages 362-370.
    7. Teresa Serra & Barry K. Goodwin & Allen M. Featherstone, 2005. "Agricultural Policy Reform and Off‐farm Labour Decisions," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 271-285, July.
    8. Beard, Nick & Swinbank, Alan, 2001. "Decoupled payments to facilitate CAP reform," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 121-145, April.
    9. Hugo Fuentes & Emili Grifell-Tatjé & Sergio Perelman, 2001. "A Parametric Distance Function Approach for Malmquist Productivity Index Estimation," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 79-94, March.
    10. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    11. Barry K. Goodwin & Ashok K. Mishra, 2006. "Are “Decoupled” Farm Program Payments Really Decoupled? An Empirical Evaluation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(1), pages 73-89.
    12. Subal C. Kumbhakar & Gudbrand Lien & Ola Flaten & Ragnar Tveterås, 2008. "Impacts of Norwegian Milk Quotas on Output Growth: A Modified Distance Function Approach," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 350-369, June.
    13. Ahmad, Munir & Boris E., Bravo-Ureta, 1996. "Technical efficiency measures for dairy farms using panel data: a comparison of alternative model specifications," MPRA Paper 37703, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Hung-Jen Wang, 2002. "Heteroscedasticity and Non-Monotonic Efficiency Effects of a Stochastic Frontier Model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 241-253, November.
    15. Boris E. Bravo-Ureta & Laszlo Rieger, 1991. "Dairy Farm Efficiency Measurement Using Stochastic Frontiers and Neoclassical Duality," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(2), pages 421-428.
    16. Belen Iraizoz & Isabel Bardaji & Manuel Rapun, 2005. "The Spanish beef sector in the 1990s: impact of the BSE crisis on efficiency and profitability," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 473-484.
    17. Catherine J. Morrison Paul & Warren E. Johnston & Gerald A. G. Frengley, 2000. "Efficiency in New Zealand Sheep and Beef Farming: The Impacts of Regulatory Reform," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(2), pages 325-337, May.
    18. Greene, William H., 1980. "Maximum likelihood estimation of econometric frontier functions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 27-56, May.
    19. Teresa Serra & David Zilberman & Barry K. Goodwin & Keijo Hyvonen, 2005. "Replacement of Agricultural Price Supports by Area Payments in the European Union and the Effects on Pesticide Use," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(4), pages 870-884.
    20. Teresa Serra & David Zilberman & Barry K. Goodwin & Allen Featherstone, 2006. "Effects of decoupling on the mean and variability of output," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 33(3), pages 269-288, September.
    21. Woldehanna, Tassew & Lansink, Alfons Oude & Peerlings, Jack, 2000. "Off-farm work decisions on Dutch cash crop farms and the 1992 and Agenda 2000 CAP reforms," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 163-171, March.
    22. Xueqin Zhu & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2010. "Impact of CAP Subsidies on Technical Efficiency of Crop Farms in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 545-564, September.
    23. Werner Kleinhanß & Carmen Murillo & Carlos San Juan & Stefan Sperlich, 2007. "Efficiency, subsidies, and environmental adaptation of animal farming under CAP," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 36(1), pages 49-65, January.
    24. Cornelis Gardebroek & María Daniela Chavez & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2010. "Analysing Production Technology and Risk in Organic and Conventional Dutch Arable Farming using Panel Data," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 60-75, February.
    25. Tzouvelekas, Vangelis & Pantzios, Christos J. & Fotopoulos, Christos, 2001. "Technical efficiency of alternative farming systems: the case of Greek organic and conventional olive-growing farms," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 549-569, December.
    26. Bernhard Brümmer & Jens‐Peter Loy, 2000. "The Technical Efficiency Impact of Farm Credit Programmes: A Case Study of Northern Germany," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 405-418, September.
    27. Ky–sti Pietola & Minna V”re & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2003. "Timing and type of exit from farming: farmers' early retirement programmes in Finland," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 30(1), pages 99-116, March.
    28. Rezitis, Anthony N. & Tsiboukas, Kostas & Tsoukalas, Stauros, 2003. "Investigation of Factors Influencing the Technical Efficiency of Agricultural Producers Participating in Farm Credit Programs: The Case of Greece," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1-13, December.
    29. Findeis, Jill L., 2002. "Subjective Equilibrium Theory of the Farm Household: Theory Revisited and New Directions," Workshop on the Farm Household-Firm Unit: Its Importance in Agriculture and Implications for Statistics, April 12-13,2002, Wye Campus, Imperial College 15723, International Agricultural Policy Reform and Adjustment Project (IAPRAP).
    30. Bernhard Brümmer & Thomas Glauben & Geert Thijssen, 2002. "Decomposition of Productivity Growth Using Distance Functions: The Case of Dairy Farms in Three European Countries," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(3), pages 628-644.
    31. Catherine Benjamin & Alexandre Gohin & Hervé Guyomard, 1999. "The Future of European Union Dairy Policy," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 47(5), pages 91-101, December.
    32. Laure Latruffe & Kelvin Balcombe & Sophia Davidova & Katarzyna Zawalinska, 2005. "Technical and scale efficiency of crop and livestock farms in Poland : does specialization matte r?," Post-Print hal-02392195, HAL.
    33. A Oude Lansink & E Silva & S Stefanou, 2000. "Decomposing productivity growth allowing efficiency gains and price-induced technical progress," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 27(4), pages 497-518, December.
    34. Coelli, Tim & Perelman, Sergio, 1999. "A comparison of parametric and non-parametric distance functions: With application to European railways," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 326-339, September.
    35. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-332.
    36. Hallam, David & Machado, Fernando, 1996. "Efficiency Analysis with Panel Data: A Study of Portuguese Dairy Farms," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 23(1), pages 79-93.
    37. Joe Dewbre, 2006. "The Impact of Coupled and Decoupled Government Subsidies on Off-Farm Labor Participation of U.S. Farm Operators," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(2), pages 393-408.
    38. Lansink, Alfons Oude & Peerlings, Jack, 1996. "Modelling the New EU Cereals and Oilseeds Regime in the Netherlands," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 23(2), pages 161-178.
    39. Teresa Serra & David Zilberman & José M. Gil, 2008. "Farms' technical inefficiencies in the presence of government programs ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(1), pages 57-76, March.
    40. Irina V. Bezlepkina & Alfons G. J. M. Oude Lansink & Arie J. Oskam, 2005. "Effects of subsidies in Russian dairy farming," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(3), pages 277-288, November.
    41. G. Karagiannis & V. Tzouvelekas & A. Xepapadeas, 2003. "Measuring Irrigation Water Efficiency with a Stochastic Production Frontier," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 26(1), pages 57-72, September.
    42. David Hadley, 2006. "Patterns in Technical Efficiency and Technical Change at the Farm‐level in England and Wales, 1982–2002," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 81-100, March.
    43. Antonio Alvarez & Carlos Arias, 2003. "Diseconomies of Size with Fixed Managerial Ability," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(1), pages 134-142.
    44. C. Edwin Young & Paul C. Westcott, 2000. "How Decoupled Is U.S. Agricultural Support for Major Crops?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(3), pages 762-767.
    45. Poppe, Krijn J. & Wijnands, Jo H.M. & van der Meulen, Bernd M.J. & Bremmers, Harry J., 2007. "Struggle for Leadership: the Competitiveness of the EU and US Food Industry," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon 9919, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    46. Kumbhakar, Subal C & Ghosh, Soumendra & McGuckin, J Thomas, 1991. "A Generalized Production Frontier Approach for Estimating Determinants of Inefficiency in U.S. Dairy Farms," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 9(3), pages 279-286, July.
    47. Andrew Barnes, 2008. "Technical Efficiency Estimates of Scottish Agriculture: A Note," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 370-376, June.
    48. Awudu Abdulai & Hendrik Tietje, 2007. "Estimating technical efficiency under unobserved heterogeneity with stochastic frontier models: application to northern German dairy farms," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 34(3), pages 393-416, September.
    49. Paolo Sckokai & Daniele Moro, 2006. "Modeling the Reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy for Arable Crops under Uncertainty," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(1), pages 43-56.
    50. Hisham El-Osta & Ashok Mishra & Mary Ahearn, 2004. "Labor Supply by Farm Operators Under “Decoupled” Farm Program Payments," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 367-385, August.
    51. Richard Harris & Mary Trainor, 2005. "Capital Subsidies and their Impact on Total Factor Productivity: Firm‐Level Evidence from Northern Ireland," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 49-74, February.
    52. Catherine Benjamin & Alexandre Gohin & Hervé Guyomard, 1999. "The future of European Union dairy policy," Post-Print hal-01931505, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhu, Xueqin & Demeter, Robert Milan & Oude Lansink, Alfons G.J.M., 2008. "Competitiveness of dairy farms in three countries: the role of CAP subsidies," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44143, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Xueqin Zhu & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2010. "Impact of CAP Subsidies on Technical Efficiency of Crop Farms in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 545-564, September.
    3. Moro, Daniele & Sckokai, Paolo, 2013. "The impact of decoupled payments on farm choices: Conceptual and methodological challenges," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 28-38.
    4. Boris Bravo-Ureta & Daniel Solís & Víctor Moreira López & José Maripani & Abdourahmane Thiam & Teodoro Rivas, 2007. "Technical efficiency in farming: a meta-regression analysis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 57-72, February.
    5. Jerzy Marzec & Andrzej Pisulewski, 2017. "The Effect of CAP Subsidies on the Technical Efficiency of Polish Dairy Farms," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 9(3), pages 243-273, September.
    6. Zhu, Xueqin & Oude Lansink, Alfons G.J.M., 2008. "Technical Efficiency of the Crop Farms under the Various CAP Reforms: Empirical Studies for Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden," 107th Seminar, January 30-February 1, 2008, Sevilla, Spain 6589, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Frýd, Lukáš & Sokol, Ondřej, 2021. "Relationships between technical efficiency and subsidies for Czech farms: A two-stage robust approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Latruffe, Laure & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Moreira, Victor H. & Desjeux, Yann & Dupraz, Pierre, 2011. "Productivity and Subsidies in European Union Countries: An Analysis for Dairy Farms Using Input Distance Frontiers," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114396, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Areal, Francisco J. & Tiffin, Richard & Balcombe, Kelvin G., 2012. "Provision of environmental output within a multi-output distance function approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 47-54.
    10. Mariarosaria Agostino & Ercan Enzo Comert & Federica Demaria & Sabrina Ruberto, 2024. "What kinds of subsidies affect technical efficiency? The case of Italian dairy farms," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 116-138, January.
    11. Kellermann, Magnus A., 2015. "Total Factor Productivity Decomposition and Unobserved Heterogeneity in Stochastic Frontier Models," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 44(1), pages 1-25, April.
    12. Minviel, Jean Joseph & Latruffe, Laure, 2014. "Meta-regression analysis of the impact of agricultural subsidies on farm technical efficiency," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182767, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Bhaskar, Arathi & Beghin, John C., 2009. "How Coupled Are Decoupled Farm Payments? A Review of the Evidence," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 1-24, April.
    14. Bhaskar, Arathi & Beghin, John C., 2007. "How Coupled are Decoupled Farm Payments? A Review of Coupling Mechanisms and the Evidence," Working Papers 7347, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    15. Jun Ho Seok & Hanpil Moon & GwanSeon Kim & Michael R. Reed, 2018. "Is Aging the Important Factor for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Korea? Evidence from the Relationship between Aging and Farm Technical Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-15, June.
    16. Latruffe, Laure & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Moreira, Victor H. & Desjeux, Yann & Dupraz, Pierre, 2012. "Productivity and Subsidies in the European Union: An Analysis for Dairy Farms Using Input Distance Frontiers," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126846, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Basurto Hernandez, Saul & Maddison, David & Banerjee, Anindya, 2018. "The effect of PROCAMPO on farms’ technical efficiency: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274376, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Narangerel Ganbold & Shah Fahad & Hua Li & Tumendemberel Gungaa, 2022. "An evaluation of subsidy policy impacts, transient and persistent technical efficiency: A case of Mongolia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 9223-9242, July.
    19. Minviel, Jean Joseph & De Witte, Kristof, 2017. "The influence of public subsidies on farm technical efficiency: A robust conditional nonparametric approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 259(3), pages 1112-1120.
    20. Zier, Patrick, 2013. "Econometric impact assessment of the Common Agricultural Policy in East German agriculture," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 71, number 71.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aergaa:253496. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/etagrea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.