IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/eec/wpaper/1501.html

Assessing conventional and organic citrus farming systems eco-efficiency: a metafrontier directional distance function approach using Life Cycle Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Mercedes Beltrán Esteve

    (Department of Applied Economics II, Universitat de València)

  • Ernest Reig Martínez

    (Department of Applied Economics II, Universitat de València)

  • Vicent Estruch Guitart

    (Universitat Politècnica de València)

Abstract

In this paper, the eco-efficiency of citrus farms operating under two different conventional and organic technological systems is analyzed. The methodology combines Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), to estimate the environmental impacts associated with the production process, and Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) to estimate the position of each holding in relation to a frontier formed by the best farming practices. The use of the directional distance function concept allows us to calculate farms’eco-efficiency scoring with respect to specific environmental impacts, and not only for the whole of them. The metafrontier concept is also used in order to compare the relative eco-efficiency of each of the two cultivation technologies used. Our results show a wide superiority of the organic farming system in relation to the conventional. An eco-efficient('green') organic technology represents, in relation to an eco-efficient use of conventional citrus cultivation techniques, a potential reduction of environmental impacts by 80% without worsening economic performance. In contrast, when the performance of organic and conventional citrus farms is only analyzed in relation to best practices within each system, average eco-efficiency scores are similar for both types of farms.

Suggested Citation

  • Mercedes Beltrán Esteve & Ernest Reig Martínez & Vicent Estruch Guitart, 2015. "Assessing conventional and organic citrus farming systems eco-efficiency: a metafrontier directional distance function approach using Life Cycle Analysis," Working Papers 1501, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    • Handle: RePEc:eec:wpaper:1501
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repecsrv.uv.es/paper/RePEc/pdf/eec_1501.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2014
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mercedes Beltrán-Esteve & José Gómez-Limón & Andrés Picazo-Tadeo & Ernest Reig-Martínez, 2014. "A metafrontier directional distance function approach to assessing eco-efficiency," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 69-83, February.
    2. Joe Zhu, 2014. "Data Envelopment Analysis," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, edition 3, chapter 1, pages 1-9, Springer.
    3. Chien-Ming Chen, 2014. "Evaluating eco-efficiency with data envelopment analysis: an analytical reexamination," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 214(1), pages 49-71, March.
    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. Trinks, Arjan & Mulder, Machiel & Scholtens, Bert, 2020. "An Efficiency Perspective on Carbon Emissions and Financial Performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    2. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Yuan, Yan & Goto, Mika, 2017. "A literature study for DEA applied to energy and environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 104-124.
    3. Carlucci, Fabio & Corcione, Carlo & Mazzocchi, Paolo & Trincone, Barbara, 2021. "The role of logistics in promoting Italian agribusiness: The Belt and Road Initiative case study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Beltrán-Esteve, Mercedes & Picazo-Tadeo, Andrés J., 2017. "Assessing environmental performance in the European Union: Eco-innovation versus catching-up," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 240-252.
    5. Yande Gong & Joe Zhu & Ya Chen & Wade D. Cook, 2018. "DEA as a tool for auditing: application to Chinese manufacturing industry with parallel network structures," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 263(1), pages 247-269, April.
    6. Quintano, Claudio & Mazzocchi, Paolo & Rocca, Antonella, 2021. "Evaluation of the eco-efficiency of territorial districts with seaport economic activities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    7. Ying Li & Yung-Ho Chiu & Tai-Yu Lin & Tzu-Han Chang, 2020. "Pre-Evaluating the Technical Efficiency Gains from Potential Mergers and Acquisitions in the IC Design Industry," International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making (IJITDM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(02), pages 525-559, April.
    8. Daysi Sanmartín-Durango & Maria Alejandra Henao-Bedoya & Yair Tadeo Valencia-Estupiñan & Jairo Humberto Restrepo-Zea, 2019. "Efficiency of health expenditure in the OECD and LAC: a data envelopment analysis," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 91, pages 41-78, Julio - D.
    9. Yiming Zhuang & Meltem Denizel & Frank Montabon, 2023. "Examining Firms’ Sustainability Frontier: Efficiency in Reaching the Triple Bottom Line," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, May.
    10. Park, Jaehun & Lee, Dongha & Zhu, Joe, 2014. "An integrated approach for ship block manufacturing process performance evaluation: Case from a Korean shipbuilding company," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 214-222.
    11. Imanirad, Raha & Cook, Wade D. & Aviles-Sacoto, Sonia Valeria & Zhu, Joe, 2015. "Partial input to output impacts in DEA: The case of DMU-specific impacts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(3), pages 837-844.
    12. Francisco Javier Santos Arteaga & Debora Di Caprio & David Cucchiari & Josep M Campistol & Federico Oppenheimer & Fritz Diekmann & Ignacio Revuelta, 2021. "Modeling patients as decision making units: evaluating the efficiency of kidney transplantation through data envelopment analysis," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 55-71, March.
    13. Guccio, Calogero & Martorana, Marco & Mazza, Isidoro & Pignataro, Giacomo & Rizzo, Ilde, 2020. "An assessment of the performance of Italian public historical archives: Preservation vs utilisation," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1270-1286.
    14. Walker, Nathan L. & Styles, David & Coughlan, Paul & Williams, A. Prysor, 2022. "Cross-sector sustainability benchmarking of major utilities in the United Kingdom," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Beltrán-Esteve, Mercedes, 2013. "Assessing technical efficiency in traditional olive grove systems: a directional metadistance function approach," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 13(02), pages 1-24, December.
    16. Geng, ZhiQiang & Dong, JunGen & Han, YongMing & Zhu, QunXiong, 2017. "Energy and environment efficiency analysis based on an improved environment DEA cross-model: Case study of complex chemical processes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 465-476.
    17. Xianmei Wang & Hanhui Hu, 2017. "Sustainability in Chinese Higher Educational Institutions’ Social Science Research: A Performance Interface toward Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-18, October.
    18. Babak Daneshvar Rouyendegh & Asil Oztekin & Joseph Ekong & Ali Dag, 2019. "Measuring the efficiency of hospitals: a fully-ranking DEA–FAHP approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 278(1), pages 361-378, July.
    19. Maha Kalai, 2019. "Nonparametric Measures of Capacity Utilization of the Tunisian Manufacturing Industry: Short- and Long-Run Dual Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(1), pages 318-334, March.
    20. Kaffash, Sepideh & Azizi, Roza & Huang, Ying & Zhu, Joe, 2020. "A survey of data envelopment analysis applications in the insurance industry 1993–2018," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 284(3), pages 801-813.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:eec:wpaper:1501. 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: Vicente Esteve (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dsvales.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.