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Impact of diversification on technical efficiency of organic farming in Switzerland, Austria and Southern Germany

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  • Lakner, Sebastian
  • Kirchweger, Stefan
  • Hoop, Daniel
  • Brümmer, Bernhard
  • Kantelhardt, Jochen

Abstract

The paper investigates the impact of subsidies and of para-agriculture on the technical efficiency of organic farms in Switzerland, Austria and Southern Germany. The data-set consists of bookkeeping data with 1,704 observations in the years 2003 to 2005. Technical efficiency is modelled using a stochastic distance-frontier model combined with a Metafrontier-model. The results show almost no efficiency differences among the farms in the three countries. Para-agriculture shows a strong impact on farm's efficiency and output in Austria and Switzerland, whereas in Germany the effect is rather small. The study confirms that agricultural subsidies have a direct impact on farm's efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Lakner, Sebastian & Kirchweger, Stefan & Hoop, Daniel & Brümmer, Bernhard & Kantelhardt, Jochen, 2015. "Impact of diversification on technical efficiency of organic farming in Switzerland, Austria and Southern Germany," DARE Discussion Papers 1508, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (DARE).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:daredp:1508
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Hayatullah Ahmadzai, 2017. "Crop Diversification and Technical Efficiency in Afghanistan: Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Discussion Papers 2017-04, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Technical Efficiency; Organic Farming; Grassland Farming; Para-Agriculture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • C54 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Quantitative Policy Modeling

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