Faculty of Economics and Management of the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra and the Association of Agricultural Economists in Slovakia
Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics
1336-9261
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WHAT IS BEHIND BIASED TECHNICAL CHANGE IN PRODUCTION OF CEREAL AND OILSEED CROPS IN SLOVAKIA?
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Full Text URL
Peter FANDEL
This study investigates the productivity change in the production of cereal and oilseed crops in Slovakia with special emphasis on technical change analysis. It employs a non-parametric distance function approach to measure Malmquist productivity index which is decomposed into technical efficiency change and technical change. Technical change is further decomposed into technical change magnitude and input- and output-bias indices. The productivity change components provide more detailed information about character of productivity change itself and its sources. Our results indicate that productivity in the analysed sector decreased approximately by 20% within the examined period of 1998-2007. The decrease was caused mostly by worsening the technical change (-41,6%). Indices of input- and output bias of technical change were various from unity what suggests that technical change was not Hicks’- neutral. Results of further analysis of the direction of technical change bias indicate that farms in average tend to apply fertilizers-using/seed-saving, seed-using/labour-saving, and fertilizers-using/labour-saving technical change bias over the whole sample period, as well as in the EU pre-accession and EU post-accession periods.
Malmquist index
technical efficiency change
technical change
output bias
input bias
magnitude of technical change