Alfons Oude Lansink

Performance measurement in agri‐food supply chains: a case study

Purpose – Measurement of the performance of entire supply chains is an important issue because it allows for “tracking and tracing” of efficacy and efficiency failures and leads to more informed decision making with regard to chain design. However, the choice of appropriate supply chain performance indicators is rather complicated due to the presence of multiple inputs and multiple outputs in the system. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the usefulness of a novel conceptual model for supply chain performance measurement in an agri‐food supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model for integrated supply chain performance measurement is evaluated in a Dutch‐German tomato supply chain by means of a case study approach.Findings – The proposed conceptual framework is found to be useful for measuring performance of the tomato supply chain. From the case study it is concluded that four main categories of performance measures (i.e. efficiency, flexibility, responsiveness, and food quality) ar...

Analysis of Seed Potato Systems in Ethiopia

This study aimed to analyze the seed potato systems in Ethiopia, identify constraints and prioritize improvement options, combining desk research, rapid appraisal and formal surveys, expert elicitation, field observations and local knowledge. In Ethiopia, informal, alternative and formal seed systems co-exist. The informal system, with low quality seed, is dominant. The formal system is too small to contribute significantly to improve that situation. The informal seed system should prioritize improving seed quality by increasing awareness and skills of farmers, improving seed tuber quality of early generations and market access. The alternative and formal seed systems should prioritize improving the production capacity of quality seed by availing new varieties, designing quality control methods and improving farmer’s awareness. To improve overall seed potato supply in Ethiopia, experts postulated co-existence and linkage of the three seed systems and development of self-regulation and self-certification in the informal, alternative and formal cooperative seed potato systems.ResumenEste estudio tuvo el propósito de analizar los sistemas de producción de papa en Etiopia, identificar limitantes, y priorizar opciones de mejorar, mediante la combinación de investigación de escritorio, apreciaciones rápidas y estudios formales, encuestas a expertos, observaciones de campo y conocimiento local. En Etiopia co-existen sistemas de semilla informal, alternativo y formal. Domina el sistema informal, con baja calidad de semilla. El sistema formal es muy pequeño como para contribuir significativamente al mejoramiento de esa situación. El sistema informal de semilla debería tener como prioridad el mejoramiento en la calidad de la semilla mediante el aumento en la atención y habilidades de los productores, mejorando la calidad de la semilla-tubérculo de las generaciones tempranas y el acceso al mercado. Los sistemas alternativo y formal de semilla deberían priorizar el mejoramiento en la capacidad de producción de semilla de calidad, mediante la validación de nuevas variedades, el diseño de métodos de control de calidad, y mejorando la atención del productor. Para mejorar el suministro general de semilla de papa en Etiopia, los expertos postularon la co-existencia y asociación de los tres sistemas de semillas y el desarrollo de autorregulación y autocertificación en los sistemas cooperativos de semilla de papa informal, alternativo y formal.

The source of productivity growth in Dutch agriculture: a perspective from finance

In corporate finance, the impact of capital structure on firm performance has been widely studied. This article extends the capital structure study to the situation in agriculture, explicitly addressing the difference between family farms and corporate firms. We use the Malmquist productivity growth index as a proxy for performance to study the impact of capital structure (debt) on farm performance. We compare the results with those from the traditional performance model that uses profitability (e.g., return on equity (ROE)) as performance measure. Using data from Dutch arable farms, results show that debt has no effect on ROE, whereas it has a positive effect on productivity growth. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

Non-parametric production analysis of pesticides use in the Netherlands

Many previous empirical studies on the productivity of pesticides suggest that pesticides are under-utilized in agriculture despite the general held believe that these inputs are substantially over-utilized. This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate non-parametric measures of the value of the marginal product of pesticides. Furthermore, the effect of pesticides on the value of the marginal product of productive inputs is investigated in order to analyze technical interdependence between pesticides and productive inputs. Results suggest, in general, substantial under-utilization of pesticides, which is consistent with earlier findings of parametric specifications.

CO2 and Energy Efficiency of Different Heating Technologies in the Dutch Glasshouse Industry

This paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis tocompute input-based technical efficiencymeasures and CO2 and energy technicalefficiency of specialised vegetable firms inthe Netherlands over the period 1991–1995. Input-based scale efficiency is also calculatedfor each firm. These efficiency measures aregenerated for firms with different heatingtechnologies. The empirical results indicatethat firms use energy quite efficiently and areless efficient in terms of CO2 emissions. Differences in CO2 (energy) efficiencyacross different technologies are (not)statistically significant. In particular,firms using traditional heating technologiesare less efficient in terms of CO2. Scaleadjustments can provide an importantcontribution to further efficiencyimprovements.

Investigating technical efficiency and potential technological change in Dutch pig farming

This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to investigate the possibilities for improving the technical, economic and environmental performance of Dutch pig farms relative to currently applied technologies and relative to currently available but not yet applied technologies. First, the efficiency is computed relating observed pig farms to the current best practice frontier. This frontier is computed from a sample of observed pig farms, using DEA based on linear programming. Second, potential technological change is computed as the change of the frontier due to addition of virtual farms (based on technologies that are available but not applied in practice yet) to the dataset. It is found that the mean technical efficiency of farms is rather high relative to the currently available technologies. Overall technical performance increases slightly when new technologies are introduced. Environmental performance increases importantly when applying new technologies. In particular, the ammonia emissions can be reduced largely by utilising the up-to-date housing techniques.

A Generic Bio-Economic Farm Model for Environmental and Economic Assessment of Agricultural Systems

Bio-economic farm models are tools to evaluate ex-post or to assess ex-ante the impact of policy and technology change on agriculture, economics and environment. Recently, various BEFMs have been developed, often for one purpose or location, but hardly any of these models are re-used later for other purposes or locations. The Farm System Simulator (FSSIM) provides a generic framework enabling the application of BEFMs under various situations and for different purposes (generating supply response functions and detailed regional or farm type assessments). FSSIM is set up as a component-based framework with components representing farmer objectives, risk, calibration, policies, current activities, alternative activities and different types of activities (e.g., annual and perennial cropping and livestock). The generic nature of FSSIM is evaluated using five criteria by examining its applications. FSSIM has been applied for different climate zones and soil types (criterion 1) and to a range of different farm types (criterion 2) with different specializations, intensities and sizes. In most applications FSSIM has been used to assess the effects of policy changes and in two applications to assess the impact of technological innovations (criterion 3). In the various applications, different data sources, level of detail (e.g., criterion 4) and model configurations have been used. FSSIM has been linked to an economic and several biophysical models (criterion 5). The model is available for applications to other conditions and research issues, and it is open to be further tested and to be extended with new components, indicators or linkages to other models.

Integrating Agronomic Principles into Production Function Specification: A Dichotomy of Growth Inputs and Facilitating Inputs

This article presents a general conceptual framework for integrating agronomic principles into economic production analysis. We categorize inputs in crop production into growth inputs and facilitating inputs. Based on this dichotomy we specify an asymmetric production function. The robustness of the asymmetric framework is tested using crop-level panel data on potato production in the Netherlands. The test results do not reject the proposed framework, and the asymmetric specification better represents the underlying production technology.

The effect of heating technologies on CO2 and energy efficiency of Dutch greenhouse firms

This paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis to compute measures of the efficiency (relative to a frontier) in terms of the use of all inputs as well as for single inputs like CO(2) and energy for a sample of greenhouse firms in the Netherlands over the period 1991-1995. These efficiency measures are generated for different firms specialised in production of vegetables, flowers, and potplants and with different heating technologies. The empirical results indicate that firms use energy quite efficiently and are less efficient in terms of CO(2) emissions. Firms using conventional heating are overall less efficiently using energy and CO(2) than firms using more advanced heating technologies. Most differences in efficiency between firm types and firms using different heating technologies are statistically significant. Scale adjustments can provide an important contribution to further efficiency improvements.

Asymmetric Adjustment of Dynamic Factors at the Firm Level

This study provides a framework for consistent estimation of a dynamic dual model of investment for the case where data reveal zero and nonzero investments. The threshold model that is developed maintains that investments are zero if the shadow value of machinery is between a lower and an upper threshold. Separate equations are estimated for the investment and the disinvestment regime. A significant difference between the parameters of the investment and disinvestment equations is found. The stock of machinery adjusts slower toward the long-run equilibrium target during an investment regime than during a contracting regime. Copyright 1997, Oxford University Press.