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Subsidies and Technical Efficiency in Agriculture: Evidence from European Dairy Farms

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Listed:
  • Laure Latruffe
  • Boris E. Bravo-Ureta
  • Alain Carpentier
  • Yann Desjeux
  • Víctor H. Moreira

Abstract

The objective of this article is to examine the association between agricultural subsidies and dairy farm technical efficiency in the European Union, and in so doing we make novel contributions to the literature. We include in the analysis nine diverse western European Union (EU) countries over an 18-year period (1990–2007) encompassing the various Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms enacted since the inception of the EU. Further, we account for input endogeneity using an original method of moments estimator. Our results show that the effect of subsidies on technical efficiency may be positive, null, or negative, depending on the country. The analysis reveals that the introduction of decoupling with the 2003 CAP reform weakens the effect that subsidies have on technical efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Laure Latruffe & Boris E. Bravo-Ureta & Alain Carpentier & Yann Desjeux & Víctor H. Moreira, 2017. "Subsidies and Technical Efficiency in Agriculture: Evidence from European Dairy Farms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(3), pages 783-799.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:99:y:2017:i:3:p:783-799.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dairy production; endogeneity; European Union; technical efficiency; stochastic production frontier; subsidies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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