Technical inefficiency and reduction of livestock effluents: the case of pig production

Abstract

A brief review of the economic literature introduces the notion of inefficiency. This concept is defined by the distance between the observed production level and the maximum attainable level of output, which could be reached when inputs use is technically efficient. In the literature, many parametric and nonparametric approaches are developed. Next, we employ a nonparametric method, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) based on linear programming to estimate the technical efficiency of a cross-section of 107 French pig farms. DEA permits a classification of the farms according to their technical efficiency. Half of these are estimated to be efficient with a score equal to 1. The results show that technical inefficiency is linked to low levels of education characterising the oldest farmers. A more complete approach would require a larger sample to compute both scale efficiency and technical efficiency.