IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v74y2019i3d10.1007_s10640-019-00367-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Efficiency and Pollution Costs of Nitrogen Surplus in Dairy Farms: A Parametric Hyperbolic Technology Distance Function Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Adewale Henry Adenuga

    (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI))

  • John Davis

    (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI))

  • George Hutchinson

    (Queen’s University Belfast)

  • Trevor Donnellan

    (Teagasc, Rural Economy and Development Centre)

  • Myles Patton

    (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI))

Abstract

Negative externalities such as nitrogen (N) surplus that accompany dairy production activities are not usually accounted for in the market place since they are not costed. Using a parametric hyperbolic environmental technology distance function approach, we estimate the environmental efficiency and farm-specific abatement costs (shadow price) of nitrogen surplus in dairy farms on the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). The methodology, unlike previous approaches (output/input distance functions), allows for asymmetric treatments of production outputs (desirable and undesirable outputs). We also analyse the farm level nitrogen pollution costs ratio and its determinants. The results of our analyses showed that the average environmental technical efficiency estimates for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are 0.89 and 0.92 and the mean abatement costs per kg of N surplus is €4.02 and €6.2 respectively. We found a reasonable degree of variation in the spectrum of abatement costs across the dairy farms with a relative increase observed over the years.

Suggested Citation

  • Adewale Henry Adenuga & John Davis & George Hutchinson & Trevor Donnellan & Myles Patton, 2019. "Environmental Efficiency and Pollution Costs of Nitrogen Surplus in Dairy Farms: A Parametric Hyperbolic Technology Distance Function Approach," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(3), pages 1273-1298, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:74:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10640-019-00367-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-019-00367-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10640-019-00367-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-019-00367-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gale Boyd & George Tolley & Joseph Pang, 2002. "Plant Level Productivity, Efficiency, and Environmental Performance of the Container Glass Industry," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 23(1), pages 29-43, September.
    2. Peng Zhou & Kim Leng Poh & Beng Wah Ang, 2016. "Data Envelopment Analysis for Measuring Environmental Performance," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Shiuh-Nan Hwang & Hsuan-Shih Lee & Joe Zhu (ed.), Handbook of Operations Analytics Using Data Envelopment Analysis, chapter 0, pages 31-49, Springer.
    3. Farnsworth, K.D. & Adenuga, A.H. & de Groot, R.S., 2015. "The complexity of biodiversity: A biological perspective on economic valuation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 350-354.
    4. Hadley, David, 1998. "Estimation Of Shadow Prices Of Undesirable Outputs: An Application To Uk Dairy Farms," 1998 Annual meeting, August 2-5, Salt Lake City, UT 20977, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    5. Suta, Cornelia Madalina & Bailey, Alastair & Davidova, Sophia, 2010. "Environmental efficiency of small farms in selected EU NMS," 118th Seminar, August 25-27, 2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia 95323, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Jérôme Dupras & Jérémy Laurent-Lucchetti & Jean-Pierre Revéret & Laurent DaSilva, 2018. "Using contingent valuation and choice experiment to value the impacts of agri-environmental practices on landscapes aesthetics," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 679-695, July.
    7. Cuesta, Rafael A. & Lovell, C.A. Knox & Zofío, José L., 2009. "Environmental efficiency measurement with translog distance functions: A parametric approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2232-2242, June.
    8. Aragon, Y. & Daouia, A. & Thomas-Agnan, C., 2005. "Nonparametric Frontier Estimation: A Conditional Quantile-Based Approach," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 358-389, April.
    9. Battese, George E. & Coelli, Tim J., 1988. "Prediction of firm-level technical efficiencies with a generalized frontier production function and panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 387-399, July.
    10. Atakelty Hailu & Robert Chambers, 2012. "A Luenberger soil-quality indicator," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 145-154, October.
    11. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Noh, Dong-Woon & Weber, William, 2005. "Characteristics of a polluting technology: theory and practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 469-492, June.
    12. Luis Orea & Alan Wall, 2017. "A Parametric Approach to Estimating Eco-Efficiency," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 901-907, September.
    13. Russell W. Pittman, 1981. "Issue in Pollution Control: Interplant Cost Differences and Economies of Scale," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(1), pages 1-17.
    14. Limin Du & Aoife Hanley & Chu Wei, 2015. "Marginal Abatement Costs of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in China: A Parametric Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 61(2), pages 191-216, June.
    15. Mamardashvili, Phatima & Emvalomatis, Grigorios & Jan, Pierrick, 2016. "Environmental Performance and Shadow Value of Polluting on Swiss Dairy Farms," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 41(2), May.
    16. Mundlak, Yair, 1978. "On the Pooling of Time Series and Cross Section Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 69-85, January.
    17. M. Murty & Surender Kumar & Kishore Dhavala, 2007. "Measuring environmental efficiency of industry: a case study of thermal power generation in India," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 38(1), pages 31-50, September.
    18. Duman, Yavuz Selman & Kasman, Adnan, 2018. "Environmental technical efficiency in EU member and candidate countries: A parametric hyperbolic distance function approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 297-307.
    19. Federico Belotti & Silvio Daidone & Giuseppe Ilardi & Vincenzo Atella, 2013. "Stochastic frontier analysis using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 13(4), pages 718-758, December.
    20. Coggins, Jay S. & Swinton, John R., 1996. "The Price of Pollution: A Dual Approach to Valuing SO2Allowances," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 58-72, January.
    21. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Zaim, Osman, 2002. "Hyperbolic efficiency and return to the dollar," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(3), pages 671-679, February.
    22. Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf, 1998. "Shadow Pricing of Good and Bad Commodities," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(3), pages 584-590.
    23. Kumbhakar,Subal C. & Wang,Hung-Jen & Horncastle,Alan P., 2015. "A Practitioner's Guide to Stochastic Frontier Analysis Using Stata," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107029514.
    24. Mela, Giulio & Longhitano, Davide & Povellato, Andrea, 2016. "Agricultural and non-agricultural determinants of Italian farmland values," 2016 Fifth AIEAA Congress, June 16-17, 2016, Bologna, Italy 242327, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    25. Reinhard Schunck, 2013. "Within and between estimates in random-effects models: Advantages and drawbacks of correlated random effects and hybrid models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 13(1), pages 65-76, March.
    26. Zhou, P. & Zhou, X. & Fan, L.W., 2014. "On estimating shadow prices of undesirable outputs with efficiency models: A literature review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 799-806.
    27. J. Colin Glass & Donal G. McKillop & Barry Quinn & John Wilson, 2014. "Cooperative bank efficiency in Japan: a parametric distance function analysis," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 291-317, March.
    28. Fare, Rolf, et al, 1989. "Multilateral Productivity Comparisons When Some Outputs Are Undesirable: A Nonparametric Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 90-98, February.
    29. Skevas, Ioannis & Zhu, Xueqin & Shestalova, Victoria & Emvalomatis, Grigorios, 2018. "The Impact of Agri-Environmental Policies and Production Intensification on the Environmental Performance of Dutch Dairy Farms," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 43(3), September.
    30. Joseph L Dieleman & Tara Templin, 2014. "Random-Effects, Fixed-Effects and the within-between Specification for Clustered Data in Observational Health Studies: A Simulation Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    31. Rafael Cuesta & José Zofío, 2005. "Hyperbolic Efficiency and Parametric Distance Functions: With Application to Spanish Savings Banks," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 31-48, September.
    32. Macpherson, Alexander J. & Principe, Peter P. & Smith, Elizabeth R., 2010. "A directional distance function approach to regional environmental-economic assessments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1918-1925, August.
    33. Wei, Chu & Löschel, Andreas & Liu, Bing, 2013. "An empirical analysis of the CO2 shadow price in Chinese thermal power enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 22-31.
    34. Pittman, Russell W, 1983. "Multilateral Productivity Comparisons with Undesirable Outputs," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 93(372), pages 883-891, December.
    35. Vassilis Markantonis & Kostas Bithas, 2010. "The application of the contingent valuation method in estimating the climate change mitigation and adaptation policies in Greece. An expert-based approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 12(5), pages 807-824, October.
    36. Chambers, Robert G. & Chung, Yangho & Fare, Rolf, 1996. "Benefit and Distance Functions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 407-419, August.
    37. Hailu, Atakelty & Veeman, Terrence S., 2000. "Environmentally Sensitive Productivity Analysis of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry, 1959-1994: An Input Distance Function Approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 251-274, November.
    38. Ke Wang & Linan Che & Chunbo Ma & Yi-Ming Wei, 2017. "The Shadow Price of CO2 Emissions in China's Iron and Steel Industry," CEEP-BIT Working Papers 105, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology.
    39. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    40. Shaik, Saleem & Helmers, Glenn A. & Langemeier, Michael R., 2002. "Direct And Indirect Shadow Price And Cost Estimates Of Nitrogen Pollution Abatement," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 27(2), pages 1-13, December.
    41. Bokusheva, Raushan & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2014. "A Distance Function Model with Good and Bad Outputs," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182765, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    42. R. G. Chambers & Y. Chung & R. Färe, 1998. "Profit, Directional Distance Functions, and Nerlovian Efficiency," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 98(2), pages 351-364, August.
    43. Bell, Andrew & Jones, Kelvyn, 2015. "Explaining Fixed Effects: Random Effects Modeling of Time-Series Cross-Sectional and Panel Data," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 133-153, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yao Hu & Tai-Hua Yan & Feng-Wen Chen, 2020. "Energy and Environment Performance of Resource-Based Cities in China: A Non-Parametric Approach for Estimating Hyperbolic Distance Function," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-23, July.
    2. Asghar, Sobia & Tsusaka, Takuji W. & Jourdain, Damien & Saqib, Shahab E. & Sasaki, Nophea, 2022. "Assessing the efficiency of smallholder sugarcane production: The case of Faisalabad, Pakistan," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    3. Qunli Wu & Shuting Gu, 2021. "Exploring the focus of future CO2 emission reduction in China's industrial sectors," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 11(4), pages 682-696, August.
    4. Zapico, Emma & Baños-Pino, José F. & Mayor, Matías, 2024. "Optimal toll rates accounting for traffic accidents: A productive efficiency approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    5. Adenuga, Adewale Henry & Davis, John & Hutchinson, George & Patton, Myles & Donnellan, Trevor, 2020. "Analysis of the effect of alternative agri-environmental policy instruments on production performance and nitrogen surplus of representative dairy farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    6. K. Hervé Dakpo & Yann Desjeux & Laure Latruffe, 2023. "Cost of abating excess nitrogen on wheat plots in France: An assessment with multi‐technology modelling," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 800-815, September.
    7. Piotr Bórawski & Marek Bartłomiej Bórawski & Andrzej Parzonko & Ludwik Wicki & Tomasz Rokicki & Aleksandra Perkowska & James William Dunn, 2021. "Development of Organic Milk Production in Poland on the Background of the EU," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-25, April.
    8. Amer Ait Sidhoum & Philipp Mennig & Johannes Sauer, 2023. "Do agri-environment measures help improve environmental and economic efficiency? Evidence from Bavarian dairy farmers," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(3), pages 918-953.
    9. Dalheimer, Bernhard & Parikoglou, Iordanis & Brambach, Fabian & Yanita, Mirawati & Kreft, Holger & Brümmer, Bernhard, 2024. "On the palm oil-biodiversity trade-off: Environmental performance of smallholder producers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    10. Vogel, Everton & Dalheimer, Bernhard & Beber, Caetano Luiz & de Mori, Claudia & Palhares, Julio Cesar Pascale & Novo, André Luiz Monteiro, 2023. "Environmental efficiency and methane abatement costs of dairy farms from Minas Gerais, Brazil," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Czyżewski, Bazyli & Kryszak, Łukasz, 2023. "Can a pursuit of productivity be reconciled with sustainable practices in small-scale farming? – Evidence from central and eastern Europe," MPRA Paper 117642, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 May 2023.
    12. Imane Bounadi & Khalil Allali & Aziz Fadlaoui & Mohammed Dehhaoui, 2023. "Water Pollution Abatement in Olive Oil Industry in Morocco: Cost Estimates and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-19, February.
    13. Wen, Xiaojie & Yao, Shunbo & Sauer, Johannes, 2022. "Shadow prices and abatement cost of soil erosion in Shaanxi Province, China: Convex expectile regression approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).

    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. Adenuga, A. & Davis, J. & Hutchinson, G. & Donnellan, T. & Patton, M., 2018. "Valuing Agricultural Externalities: Nitrogen Surplus in the Dairy Sector on the Island of Ireland," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277434, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Vogel, Everton & Dalheimer, Bernhard & Beber, Caetano Luiz & de Mori, Claudia & Palhares, Julio Cesar Pascale & Novo, André Luiz Monteiro, 2023. "Environmental efficiency and methane abatement costs of dairy farms from Minas Gerais, Brazil," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Imane Bounadi & Khalil Allali & Aziz Fadlaoui & Mohammed Dehhaoui, 2023. "Water Pollution Abatement in Olive Oil Industry in Morocco: Cost Estimates and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-19, February.
    4. Lee, Sang-choon & Oh, Dong-hyun & Lee, Jeong-dong, 2014. "A new approach to measuring shadow price: Reconciling engineering and economic perspectives," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 66-77.
    5. Dalheimer, Bernhard & Parikoglou, Iordanis & Brambach, Fabian & Yanita, Mirawati & Kreft, Holger & Brümmer, Bernhard, 2024. "On the palm oil-biodiversity trade-off: Environmental performance of smallholder producers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    6. Tang, Kai & Yang, Lin & Zhang, Jianwu, 2016. "Estimating the regional total factor efficiency and pollutants’ marginal abatement costs in China: A parametric approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 230-240.
    7. Rakesh Kumar Jain & Surender Kumar, 2018. "Shadow price of CO2 emissions in Indian thermal power sector," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(4), pages 879-902, October.
    8. Di Maria, Corrado & Zarkovic, Maja & Hintermann, Beat, 2020. "Are Emissions Trading Schemes Cost-effective?," Working papers 2020/13, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    9. Zapico, Emma & Baños-Pino, José F. & Mayor, Matías, 2024. "Optimal toll rates accounting for traffic accidents: A productive efficiency approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    10. Zhou, P. & Zhou, X. & Fan, L.W., 2014. "On estimating shadow prices of undesirable outputs with efficiency models: A literature review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 799-806.
    11. Du, Limin & Hanley, Aoife & Wei, Chu, 2015. "Estimating the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve of CO2 Emissions in China: Provincial Panel Data Analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 217-229.
    12. Llorca, Manuel & Rodriguez-Alvarez, Ana, 2024. "Economic, environmental, and energy equity convergence: Evidence of a multi-speed Europe?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    13. Surender Kumar & Rakesh Kumar Jain, 2021. "Cost of CO2 emission mitigation and its decomposition: evidence from coal-fired thermal power sector in India," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 693-717, August.
    14. Chunbo Ma and Atakelty Hailu, 2016. "The Marginal Abatement Cost of Carbon Emissions in China," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(China Spe).
    15. Cuesta, Rafael A. & Lovell, C.A. Knox & Zofío, José L., 2009. "Environmental efficiency measurement with translog distance functions: A parametric approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2232-2242, June.
    16. Wang, Zhaohua & Song, Yanwu & Shen, Zhiyang, 2022. "Global sustainability of carbon shadow pricing: The distance between observed and optimal abatement costs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    17. Bokusheva, Raushan & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2014. "A Distance Function Model with Good and Bad Outputs," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182765, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Wei, Xiao & Zhang, Ning, 2020. "The shadow prices of CO2 and SO2 for Chinese Coal-fired Power Plants: A partial frontier approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    19. Du, Limin & Mao, Jie, 2015. "Estimating the environmental efficiency and marginal CO2 abatement cost of coal-fired power plants in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 347-356.
    20. Ma, Chunbo & Hailu, Atakelty & You, Chaoying, 2019. "A critical review of distance function based economic research on China’s marginal abatement cost of carbon dioxide emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    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:kap:enreec:v:74:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10640-019-00367-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.