Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis

This article estimates technical and environmental efficiencies using the stochastic frontier analysis with panel data of twenty-two main apple production provinces in China during 1992–2014. Results show that the environmental efficiency for pesticide input alone has lower mean value of 0.337 than...

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Main Authors: Bai, Xiuguang, Salim, Ruhul, Bloch, Harry
Format: Journal Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2019
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75509
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author Bai, Xiuguang
Salim, Ruhul
Bloch, Harry
author_facet Bai, Xiuguang
Salim, Ruhul
Bloch, Harry
author_sort Bai, Xiuguang
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This article estimates technical and environmental efficiencies using the stochastic frontier analysis with panel data of twenty-two main apple production provinces in China during 1992–2014. Results show that the environmental efficiency for pesticide input alone has lower mean value of 0.337 than environmental efficiency for the two environmentally detrimental inputs, pesticide and chemical fertilizer, which is 0.782. Furthermore, all efficiency scores have decreasing trends over time. Loess Plateau is more environmentally efficient than the Bohai bay region. Results of output elasticities show that chemical fertilizer has a mean value of 0.225, which is higher than for material, labor, and pesticide input. Also, apple production in China experiences decreasing returns to scale. Finally, it is also discovered that labor and chemical fertilizer have a substitute relationship, while material and labor have a complementary relationship, as do chemical fertilizer and pesticide. The results from the study should prove useful for reallocating input resources and improving environmental efficiency.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2019
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-755092019-05-15T08:31:46Z Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis Bai, Xiuguang Salim, Ruhul Bloch, Harry This article estimates technical and environmental efficiencies using the stochastic frontier analysis with panel data of twenty-two main apple production provinces in China during 1992–2014. Results show that the environmental efficiency for pesticide input alone has lower mean value of 0.337 than environmental efficiency for the two environmentally detrimental inputs, pesticide and chemical fertilizer, which is 0.782. Furthermore, all efficiency scores have decreasing trends over time. Loess Plateau is more environmentally efficient than the Bohai bay region. Results of output elasticities show that chemical fertilizer has a mean value of 0.225, which is higher than for material, labor, and pesticide input. Also, apple production in China experiences decreasing returns to scale. Finally, it is also discovered that labor and chemical fertilizer have a substitute relationship, while material and labor have a complementary relationship, as do chemical fertilizer and pesticide. The results from the study should prove useful for reallocating input resources and improving environmental efficiency. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75509 10.1017/age.2018.25 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cambridge University Press fulltext
spellingShingle Bai, Xiuguang
Salim, Ruhul
Bloch, Harry
Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis
title Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis
title_full Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis
title_fullStr Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis
title_short Environmental Efficiency of Apple Production in China: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Analysis
title_sort environmental efficiency of apple production in china: a translog stochastic frontier analysis
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75509