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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare technical efficiency and metatechnology ratios (MTR) in three production systems confronted with different technological and resource endowments in Bangladesh to identify the suitable production systems for increasing productivity. Design/methodology/approach – The primary data collected by authors from 180 dairy farmers were sampled and modeled in a stochastic metafrontier framework due to its ability to estimate and compare the efficiency of firms among various groups with possibly different group-specific technologies and heterogeneous production environments. Findings – The empirical results show that farms from intensive system were closer to their production frontier than extensive and traditional system. Regarding productivity differences among systems, the MTR is by far highest for intensive, indicating the technological advantage of this system over others two systems. The estimation of farm-specific inefficiency model revealed that farmers’ access to extension and credit services are assumed to be significant determinants in reducing inefficiency. Practical implications – This study concludes that the ability of the farmers to increase productivity vary depending on the production systems due to variation in resource endowments and access to various inputs and support services. Thus, improving productivity depends on effective policy design on harmonizing access to resources and delivery of extension and credit services. Originality/value – The empirical analysis of data representing different production endowments by stochastic metafrontier make it possible to identify the efficiency level as well as technology gap, thus, ways to identify the possible policy options reducing those gaps and improving productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural characteristics are a valuable asset for the production of wine grapes, but the availability of quality water and the composition of the soil are decisive in semi-arid areas. The province of Mendoza is a prestigious region for the production of wine that is going through a period of water scarcity, which implies a greater use of groundwater that could compromise the availability of resources and trigger salinity levels. This paper evaluates the environmental performance of winegrowers in the face of a productive threat such as the saline content in irrigation water. We estimate environmental efficiency based on a directional output distance function using the salinity hazard of irrigation as an undesirable output. The average environmental performance is 0.88 and it can be reduced by participating in producer groups, receiving technical assistance, increasing the density of the vineyard, and receiving an energy subsidy for irrigation. In addition, the shadow price of the salinity hazard reveals that higher salinity content in irrigation water and soil characteristics cause excessive irrigation at the expense of environmental and economic performance. Furthermore, the pre-existing market price relationship, water balance and district characteristics can deflate shadow prices, but only vineyards with joint water sources can benefit from this. • Analyzed ways to increase wine grape production without compromising salinity levels of irrigation. • We identified drivers of environmental inefficiency and production uncertainties. • Estimated district disaggregated shadow prices of undesirable output. • Patterns of shadow prices and environmental drivers revealed. • Analyzed implications from water sources, irrigation technology and vineyard management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyse the price transmission between German and Hungarian wheat producer prices using weekly prices. Markov-Switching Vector Error Correction Model (MS-VECM) with three regimes seems to appropriately capture the dynamics in the price relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A steep decline in coffee prices at the producer level led to considerable pressure for farmers in Costa Rica and producer countries all over the world. One possible reaction was moving to specialty markets, where price pressure was perceived to be lower. We use original survey data from 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 to analyze the factors influencing participation in specialty markets and to estimate separate production functions for specialty and conventional coffee farmers allowing for farm-specific inefficiencies. Applying a sample selection framework, we find significant selection bias in the sub-sample of specialty farmers and evidence for the overestimation of efficiency, if this bias is not adequately controlled for. Among the most important factors that influence farm-specific efficiency levels in the two sub-samples are the availability of additional income activities, experience in coffee cultivation, and membership in cooperatives. Based on the results, we derive policy recommendations to improve farmers’ production performance and ability to cope with the effects of the coffee crisis. These policy measures include the provision of extension services with respect to farm management skills, the creation of income opportunities in rural areas, and the support of farmer-owned cooperatives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

European cattle markets have recently undergone significant change. We explore the simultaneous impacts of agricultural policy reform and the occurrence of an animal health crisis on spatial interdependencies of calf prices of four major European Union markets. The markets are found to be integrated. Price shocks are rapidly absorbed. We find that the member state specific implementations of the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy reforms significantly affected prices of both the national market and of other member states. The blue tongue disease further induced structural change. Using counterfactual scenarios, we show that the decoupling of payments from production led to reduced calf prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of price transmission in transition countries is often complicated by unstable policy environments. We use a Markov-switching vector error-correction model (MSVECM) to model multiple regime shifts in the relationship between wheat and wheat flour prices in Ukraine from June 2000 to November 2004. Unlike common alternative error correction specifications, the MSVECM does not require an explicit transition variable but rather permits changes between regimes to depend on an unobserved state variable. The analysis reveals four regimes whose timing coincides with political and economic events in Ukraine. Strong coincidence between a ‘high-uncertainty’ regime and discretionary policy interventions suggests that policy responses to fluctuations in Ukrainian harvests may have amplified instability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses the technical efficiency of private farms in Slovenia. Both parametric and non‐parametric frontier techniques are employed. The results of the competing methods are compared, and variables that might determine the differences in efficiency are identified. Special attention is directed to the construction of confidence intervals for the individual efficiency estimates. For this purpose, distributional assumptions as well as bootstrapping methods are employed. The analysis reveals a significant degree of inefficiency. However, the confidence intervals suggest a more cautious interpretation of the efficiency scores. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• The study combines agricultural modeling with TFP estimates to project productivity changes. • The study explores the productivity implications of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. • The ratio of cropland expansion to productivity growth impacts changes in food prices. • Investing in productivity improvement is an effective means of ensuring food availability. • Different measures highlight different parts of the productivity changes in the scenarios. Productivity growth is essential to meet the increasing global agricultural demand in the future, driven by the growing world population and income. This study develops a hybrid approach to assess future global crop productivity in a holistic way using different productivity measures and improves the understanding of productivity implications of socioeconomic factors by contrasting different shared socioeconomic pathway assumptions. The results show that the global productivity is likely to continue to grow, whereas the productivity growth varies pronouncedly among different future socioeconomic conditions. The fast growth of total factor and partial factor productivity can be reached when slow population growth and high economic growth entail moderate food demand and low investment risks. In contrast, high population growth and low economic growth could lead to relatively high land-use intensity due to the extreme pressure on agricultural production, however, associated with low total factor productivity growth. The model results indicate that the ratio of the total factor productivity growth to cropland expansion has significant impacts on food prices, with increasing prices when cropland increases faster than productivity, and vice versa. Investing in productivity improvement appears to be an effective means of ensuring food availability and sparing cropland, which can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Intra-regional diversification has an inverted U-shaped relationship with performance. • Inter-regional diversification has an inverted U-shaped relationship with performance. • Product diversification has a positive effect on performance. • Product diversification negatively moderates inter-regional diversification performance. • Product diversification does not moderate intra-regional diversification performance. This study examines individually the effects of intra- and inter-regional geographic diversification on the export performance of firms from the Chilean fresh fruit sector. It also explores the direct effect of related product diversification on export performance and its role as a moderator in the relationship between geographic diversification and export performance. By employing panel trade data of 279 purely exporting firms over a six-years period (2010–2015), we found that both intra- and inter-regional diversification have an inverted U-shaped relationship with export performance, where moderate levels of diversification have positive effects on export performance, but higher levels may be counterproductive. Results also showed that related product diversification has a positive effect on firm export performance and a negative moderating effect on the relationship between inter-regional diversification and export performance. In the case of intra-regional diversification, we did not find any moderating effect from product diversification. By focusing on firms from the agricultural sector based in an emerging economy, this study offers practical implications for firm managers, trade organizations and private export associations, that may also be applicable to other export-based activities and emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses a theory‐based translog gravity model to investigate the heterogeneous effects of food standards on aggregate agricultural trade. We revisit the 'standards‐as‐barriers‐to‐trade' debate with a distinctive twist. In contrast to existing works, we show that standards reduce trade but even more so for countries that trade smaller volumes. Our identification strategy exploits the within‐country variation in specific trade concerns. We confirm that stricter importer standards are indeed trade‐restrictive. However, the estimated trade cost elasticity varies depending on how intensively two countries trade. Specifically, it decreases in magnitude with an increasing import share of the exporter in the importing country's total imports. The reason is simple but intuitive; bigger trading partners find it more profitable to invest in meeting the costs of importer‐specific standards. This work is novel in showing that the standards–trade debate misses out on an important heterogeneity driven by existing import shares. Liberalising non‐tariff measures will favour smaller trading partners more than well‐established ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversification of farms can be a result of multifunctional farming, however, in some cases at the cost of lower farm efficiency. In our paper we investigate the influence of para-agricultural diversification on productivity and the technical efficiency of organic farms in Austria, Switzerland, and Southern Germany. We show the benefits and drawbacks of diversification for organic farms, which go beyond the core agricultural production (para-agriculture). We do this by estimating a Stochastic Frontier (SF) combined with a metafrontier model. The data-set consists of bookkeeping data with 1704 observations in the years 2003 to 2005. Para-agricultural diversification activities have a significant effect on both productivity and technical efficiency of organic farms: The farm output in Austria and Switzerland is positively influenced by diversification, whereas we observe a rather small effect in Southern Germany. On the other hand, diversification can reduce farms’ technical efficiency, as it is the case in Switzerland and Germany. Furthermore, our study confirms previous results that agricultural subsidies significantly influence the technical efficiency of organic farms. We also show expected changes of input use driven by increased farm diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In parametric efficiency studies, two alternative approaches exist to provide an estimate of the long‐run efficiency of firms: the dynamic stochastic frontier model and the generalised true random‐effects model. We extend the former in order to allow for heterogeneity in the long‐run technical efficiency of firms. This model is based on potential differences in firm‐specific characteristics and in firms’ inefficiency persistence. The model is applied to an unbalanced micro‐panel of German dairy farms over the period 1999 to 2009. Estimation of long‐run technical efficiency and inefficiency persistence is based on an output distance function representation of the production technology and estimated in a Bayesian framework. The results suggest that heterogeneity in long‐run technical efficiency of farms is mostly attributed to discrepancies in farm‐specific factors rather than differences in farms’ inefficiency persistence. Farm size is positively related to long‐run technical efficiency while subsidies exert a negative effect on the long‐run technical efficiency of farms. Inefficiency persistence is found to be very high, but heterogeneity in this persistence is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Overlapping circumstances in Bamenda, Cameroon, caused a supply chain disruption in the dairy sector. • Producers continued selling milk (Sellers), stopped selling milk but kept the cattle (Non-Sellers), or sold all their dairy animals (Quitters). • Sedentary and pastoral milk producers' approaches are analyzed separately to avoid one-size-fits-all policies. • Pastoral Sellers are associated with greater access to production factors and sedentary Sellers with livestock diversity and land titles. • Dairy-focused trainings offered within functional cooperatives could help both groups maintain their livelihood post-disruption. The Northwest is the second largest milk producing region of Cameroon. In Bamenda, the region's capital, the shutdown of the only milk processing plant in mid-2016 and political unrest later that year disrupted its dairy supply chain. Producers had to decide whether to continue selling milk, to momentarily stop selling milk, or to quit the dairy business entirely. We investigate the approaches considered by producers in response to the supply chain disruption using household survey data from 2017 with 320 active and inactive dairy market participants. By means of binary and multinomial logit models, we examine household characteristics, farm resources, and institutional factors that may have driven producers' responses one year after the disruption. Our analysis reveals that pastoral and sedentary milk producers should be examined separately. Results show that livestock diversity, land titles, and dairy-focused trainings are helpful to sedentary producers to continue milk sales, whereas pastoral sellers are encouraged by greater access to production factors, and by being members of cooperatives. Generally, younger producers in non-urban areas are most likely to remain milk sellers, regardless of production system. This study sheds light on producers' different approaches after supply chain disruptions and highlights farm-level factors that help them stabilize and maintain their livelihoods. This knowledge can contribute to the design of more appropriate mitigation strategies against the repercussions of such events in the future, particularly for cattle and dairy development programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm remains an important source of rural income in South East Asia. At the same time, Indonesia has become a hotspot for large-scale species extinction and a loss of biodiversity in favor of agricultural production. The present study sets out to assess the environmental performance of smallholder oil palm production with respect to biodiversity. Using a panel dataset that combines conventional farm data together with an account of plant diversity, we estimate a restricted hyperbolic environmental distance function. We integrate loss of biodiversity as an undesirable output into the production model which allows explaining shortfalls in environmental performance and the derivation of shadow prices of biodiversity conservation. We find a substantial environmental inefficiency, which is partly explained by both chemical and manual weeding practices, highlighting the potential for improvements in both the environmental and the economic dimension. Moreover, the value for conserving one species of the average biodiversity on a farmers plantation was 325 USD in 2018. Payments for ecosystem services schemes could be a viable policy response to conserve meaningful levels of biodiversity while simultaneously allowing smallholders to increase palm oil output. In general, addressing drivers of environmental performance in PES designs amplifies its effect without reducing output. • We investigate the environmental performance of small palm oil producers in Indonesia • Smallholders are responsible for more than one third of palm oil output in Indonesia • Farmers can reduce biodiversity loss and increase palm oil output at given input use • PES are viable policy options to conserve biodiversity while improving rural incomes • The shadow price of conserving one species is one fifth of average annual farm income [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variable import levy for corn imports in the European Union aims to support European producers by insulating domestic prices from low international prices. Such price-insulating policies have been associated with an increase in global market volatility. Eliminating these distortions has been one of the key issues in international negotiations on agricultural trade liberalization, e.g., the commitment of WTO member states to follow the principle of tariffication as part of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. Nevertheless, the Blair House Agreement effectively allowed the EU to maintain a variable import levy regime for grain imports, although the magnitude of this levy is substantially smaller than in the past. Notwithstanding that this policy has been a cornerstone of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, empirical evidence on the magnitude of its effects on price volatility is largely missing. This paper employs a multivariate asymmetric volatility model to assess these effects on domestic and foreign corn markets, using Argentina – a large exporter of corn – as an example. In line with the relevant theoretical literature, we find empirical evidence for the 2002–2017 period that the variable import levy reduced corn price volatility in the EU market, while significantly increasing volatility to the same extent in Argentina. In a distorted sense, the import levy of the EU has thus been a success, as its variable application rate has stabilized prices in the EU domestic market. However, our results show that this policy has merely shifted price volatility abroad since it has led to increases in price volatility in Argentina. A less distortionary policy to target the problems of agricultural price volatility should shift its focus away from direct price interventions. For instance, domestic policies that improve farmers' ability to cope with price-related risks would avoid the negative effects of domestic price stabilization in foreign countries. • The Blair House Agreement effectively allowed the EU to maintain a variable import levy regime for grain imports. • The effect of trade reducing policy was analyzed by a multivariate volatility model and a simultaneous modeling of market integration. • Price insulation policies are capable of shifting price volatility from one country to another. • The EU's variable import levy on corn diminished price volatility in EU and exacerbated price volatility in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical regions, such as Sumatra, experiencing extensive transformation of natural ecosystems, are close to complete exhaustion of available land. Agroecosystems strongly modify water and nutrient cycles, leading to losses of soil fertility, C sequestration and biodiversity. Although large companies are the main drivers of deforestation and plantation establishment, smallholders account for 40% of the oil palm and the majority of the rubber production in Indonesia. Here, we assess the extent and mechanisms of soil degradation under smallholder oil palm and rubber plantations in a context of land scarcity. The topsoil properties (C and N contents, C stocks, C/N ratio, bulk density) in 207 oil palm and rubber plantations in the Jambi province of Sumatra were determined beside trees, inside rows and interrows. Soils under oil palms were on average more degraded than under rubber, showing lower C content and stocks, lower N and higher bulk density. While soil properties were homogenous under rubber, two opposite trends were observed under oil palm plantations: the majority of soils had C content <2.2%, but about one fifth of the plantations had >9% C. This resulted from the establishment of oil palms under conditions of land scarcity. Because the oil palm boom started when rubber was already well-established, oil palms were frequently planted in marginal areas, such as peatlands or riparian areas (high C) or soils degraded by previous use (low C). The management of oil palms led to subsequent soil degradation, especially in interrows: C content decreased and bulk density increased in older oil palm plantations. This was not observed in rubber plantations because of a C input from leaf litter spread homogeneously all over the plantation, higher ground cover and a limited use of motorized vehicles. Considering that 10% of soils under oil palms had very low C content (<1%), we conclude that intensive cultivation can lead to intensive soil degradation and expect future degradation of soils under young oil palms. This challenges the sustainability of agricultural intensification in Sumatra. Because Sumatra is a pioneer of tropical land-use change, this should be regarded as potential threats that other tropical regions may face in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use transitions can enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers but potential economic-ecological trade-offs remain poorly understood. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study of the environmental, social and economic consequences of land-use transitions in a tropical smallholder landscape on Sumatra, Indonesia. We find widespread biodiversity-profit trade-offs resulting from land-use transitions from forest and agroforestry systems to rubber and oil palm monocultures, for 26,894 aboveground and belowground species and whole-ecosystem multidiversity. Despite variation between ecosystem functions, profit gains come at the expense of ecosystem multifunctionality, indicating far-reaching ecosystem deterioration. We identify landscape compositions that can mitigate trade-offs under optimal land-use allocation but also show that intensive monocultures always lead to higher profits. These findings suggest that, to reduce losses in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, changes in economic incentive structures through well-designed policies are urgently needed.