IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/agecon/v53y2022i4p633-647.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nitrate leaching and efficiency measurement in intensive farming systems: A parametric by‐production technology approach

Author

Listed:
  • Michail Tsagris
  • Vangelis Tzouvelekas

Abstract

This paper develops a novel empirical framework for estimating individual emission levels in a nonpoint source (NPS) pollution problem. For doing so, we build upon the sequential GME model suggested by Kaplan et al. using a specific theoretical structure describing both crop production technology and nature's residual generating mechanism in line with the multiple production relations model suggested by Murty et al. Our empirical model is fitted into a parametric stochastic framework and it is applied to a nitrogen leaching problem in a sample of 257 small‐scale greenhouse farms in Crete, Greece during the 2005–2006 cropping period. Empirical results indicate a great dispersion of individual nitrate leaching levels, which are associated with low‐ and high‐profit margins. Improvements in nitrate leaching and fertilizer application efficiency can decrease significantly individual leaching levels providing a more cost effective way to improve water quality in the area.

Suggested Citation

  • Michail Tsagris & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2022. "Nitrate leaching and efficiency measurement in intensive farming systems: A parametric by‐production technology approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(4), pages 633-647, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:53:y:2022:i:4:p:633-647
    DOI: 10.1111/agec.12698
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12698
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/agec.12698?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. Golan, Amos & Perloff, Jeffrey M., 2002. "Comparison of maximum entropy and higher-order entropy estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 107(1-2), pages 195-211, March.
    2. Y. Farzin & Jonathan Kaplan, 2004. "Nonpoint Source Pollution Control under Incomplete and Costly Information," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 28(4), pages 489-506, August.
    3. Hansen, Lars Garn & Romstad, Eirik, 2007. "Non-point source regulation -- A self-reporting mechanism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 529-537, May.
    4. Kaplan, Jonathan D. & Howitt, Richard E. & Farzin, Y. Hossein, 2003. "An information-theoretical analysis of budget-constrained nonpoint source pollution control," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 106-130, July.
    5. Murty, Sushama, 2010. "Externalities and fundamental nonconvexities: A reconciliation of approaches to general equilibrium externality modeling and implications for decentralization," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(1), pages 331-353, January.
    6. Randall Campbell & Kevin Rogers & Jon Rezek, 2008. "Efficient frontier estimation: a maximum entropy approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 213-221, December.
    7. Larry Karp, 2005. "Nonpoint Source Pollution Taxes and Excessive Tax Burden," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 31(2), pages 229-251, June.
    8. Huffman, Wallace E & Mercier, Stephanie, 1991. "Joint Adoption of Microcomputer Technologies: An Analysis of Farmers' Decisions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(3), pages 541-546, August.
    9. Keith C. Knapp & Kurt A. Schwabe, 2008. "Spatial Dynamics of Water and Nitrogen Management in Irrigated Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 524-539.
    10. Knapp, Keith C. & Schwabe, Kurt A., 2008. "AJAE Appendix: Spatial Dynamics of Water and Nitrogen Management in Irrigated Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 1-17.
    11. Segerson, Kathleen, 1988. "Uncertainty and incentives for nonpoint pollution control," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 87-98, March.
    12. Golan, Amos & Judge, George G. & Miller, Douglas, 1996. "Maximum Entropy Econometrics," Staff General Research Papers Archive 1488, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    13. Stijn Reinhard & C.A. Knox Lovell & Geert Thijssen, 1999. "Econometric Estimation of Technical and Environmental Efficiency: An Application to Dutch Dairy Farms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(1), pages 44-60.
    14. Murty, Sushama & Robert Russell, R. & Levkoff, Steven B., 2012. "On modeling pollution-generating technologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 117-135.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhu, Ning & Streimikis, Justas & Yu, Zhiqian & Balezentis, Tomas, 2023. "Energy-sustainable agriculture in the European Union member states: Overall productivity growth and structural efficiency," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    2. Haleh Delnava & Kristiaan Kerstens & Timo Kuosmanen & Zhiyang Shen, 2024. "Semi-parametric Estimation of Convex and Nonconvex By-Production Technologies," Working Papers 2024-EQM-02, IESEG School of Management.

    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. Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2011. "The Economics of Non-Point-Source Pollution," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 355-373, October.
    2. Suter, Jordan F. & Vossler, Christian A. & Poe, Gregory L., 2009. "Ambient-based pollution mechanisms: A comparison of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups of emitters," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1883-1892, April.
    3. Hansen, Lars Gårn, 2020. "A Montero payment mechanism for regulating non-point pollution emissions," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. Wang, Jingjing, 2022. "Harnessing natural attenuation to reduce CAFOs nitrate emissions: An integrated modeling approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    5. Pedro Macedo & Elvira Silva & Manuel Scotto, 2014. "Technical efficiency with state-contingent production frontiers using maximum entropy estimators," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 131-140, February.
    6. Juan Aparicio & Magdalena Kapelko & Lidia Ortiz, 2021. "Modelling environmental inefficiency under a quota system," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 1097-1124, June.
    7. Sushama Murty, 2015. "On the properties of an emission-generating technology and its parametric representation," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 60(2), pages 243-282, October.
    8. Kenneth Rødseth, 2014. "Efficiency measurement when producers control pollutants: a non-parametric approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 211-223, October.
    9. Holtkamp, A.M. & Brummer, B., 2018. "Environmental efficiency of smallholder rubber production," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277518, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Kumbhakar, Subal C. & Badunenko, Oleg & Willox, Michael, 2022. "Do carbon taxes affect economic and environmental efficiency? The case of British Columbia’s manufacturing plants," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    11. Zografos, K. & Nadarajah, S., 2005. "Expressions for Rényi and Shannon entropies for multivariate distributions," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 71-84, January.
    12. Murty, Sushama & Robert Russell, R. & Levkoff, Steven B., 2012. "On modeling pollution-generating technologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 117-135.
    13. Pamela Katic, 2015. "Groundwater Spatial Dynamics and Endogenous Well Location," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(1), pages 181-196, January.
    14. Millock, Katrin & Xabadia, Angels & Zilberman, David, 2012. "Policy for the adoption of new environmental monitoring technologies to manage stock externalities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 102-116.
    15. Laureti, Tiziana & Secondi, Luca & Biggeri, Luigi, 2014. "Measuring the efficiency of teaching activities in Italian universities: An information theoretic approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 147-164.
    16. Harald Dyckhoff & Rainer Souren, 2023. "Are important phenomena of joint production still being neglected by economic theory? A review of recent literature," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(6), pages 1015-1053, August.
    17. Jeanneaux, Philippe & Latruffe, Laure, 2016. "Modelling pollution-generating technologies in performance benchmarking: Recent developments, limits and future prospects in the nonparametric frameworkAuthor-Name: Dakpo, K. Hervé," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(2), pages 347-359.
    18. Stergios Athanassoglou & Glenn Sheriff & Tobias Siegfried & Woonghee Huh, 2012. "Optimal Mechanisms for Heterogeneous Multi-Cell Aquifers," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 52(2), pages 265-291, June.
    19. K Hervé Dakpo, 2016. "On modeling pollution-generating technologies: a new formulation of the by-production approach," Working Papers SMART 16-06, INRAE UMR SMART.
    20. Larry Karp, 2005. "Nonpoint Source Pollution Taxes and Excessive Tax Burden," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 31(2), pages 229-251, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:agecon:v:53:y:2022:i:4:p:633-647. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.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.