World´s 24 Biggest Agricultural Producers` Eco-Efficiency Considering Undesirable Outputs

Eva RichterováMartin RichterJozef Palkovič

DOI 10.7160/aol.2021.130309
No 3/2021, September
pp. 89-100

Richterová, E., Richter, M and Palkovič, J. (2021) “World´s 24 Biggest Agricultural Producers` Eco-Efficiency Considering Undesirable Outputs", AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 89-100. ISSN 1804-1930. DOI 10.7160/aol.2021.130309.

Abstract

There is still a lack of studies, which are comparing the eco-efficiency of the world`s biggest agricultural producers, which affect the development of agricultural policy the most, not just EU countries. Therefore, the main goal of this article is to evaluate and compare the eco-efficiency of the world`s 24 biggest agricultural producers in time and space and verifying the hypothesis that all the biggest agriculture producers are eco-efficient. Due to the improvement of technologies, we expect a positive development of agricultural eco-efficiency during the time. Eco-efficiency of the world’s 24 biggest agricultural producers is computed for the years 2007 and 2017, using an output-oriented DEA model with two undesirable outputs. Data are obtained from FAOSTAT for the years 2007 and 2017. 15 countries have an eco-effective agricultural sector in both years 2007 and 2017 and could be considered as sustainable efficient countries. On average the agricultural eco-efficiency is decreasing over time. Based on the eco-efficiency values, the biggest agricultural producers are divided into three eco-efficiency agricultural groups – eco-efficiency leaders, eco-efficiency followers, and eco-efficiency laggards. According to the results, the research hypothesis that all the biggest agriculture producers are eco-efficient is not confirmed. Likewise, in general, technology improvement during time does not lead to a positive development of agricultural eco-efficiency.

Keywords

Agricultural eco-efficiency, DEA, undesirable output.

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