Changes in productivity in the virgin olive oil sector: An application to Protected Designations of Origin in Spain

Abstract

to the population´s growing concerns related to healthy aspects of food, there is also a growing interest taken in the origin or provenance of products as a source of information and significance in the sale of products and brands (Brugarolas et al., 2010). Without a doubt, one of the most successful formulas that agri-food operators have when it comes to competing in increasingly global markets, consists of emphasising all those aspects related to origin or provenance of products through different figures of protection. These figures are the Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) and the Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs), both RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS AbstractVirgin olive oil is a key ingredient of the renowned Mediterranean diet. In this context, the main objective of this study was to estimate and decompose productivity change for Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) in the Spanish virgin olive oil sector for the period 2008-2013. To this end, we introduced a Luenberger-type indicator based on a specific weighted additive model in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which, in contrast to previous studies, captured all sources of inefficiency and avoided infeasibilities. Regarding the results, we found a reduction in productivity, in average terms, in the first periods analyzed (-0.12 and -1.65), followed by an improvement (0.79 and 0.54), that in the last period analyzed (2012)(2013), however, returned to adverse figures (-0.47). In Spain, where foreign competition is weak, the most productive PDOs were those with an important number of oil mills and packaging/marketing companies such as "Montes de Toledo" and "Siurana"; productivity changes were mainly the consequence of downwards and upwards of the frontier of the technology over time. These changes were explained, to a certain extent, by the evolution of the economic crisis; and the productivity of the sector declined, in general, from 2008 to 2010, improving thereafter except for the last registered period, 2012-2013, where expectations for market recovery exceeded actual sales.

Technical Efficiency Assessment of Intensive and Traditional Olive Farms in Southern Italy

“…Also, the Authors observed that the inefficiency is caused by the fact that the farms do not use minimum input or do not raise the maximum output from the actual inputs. In another study by Aparicio et al (2016), a Luenberger-type indicator based on a specific weighted additive model in DEA was used to estimate and decompose productivity change for Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) in the Spanish virgin olive oil sector. According to their results, the most productive PDOs were those with an important number of oil mills and packaging/marketing companies.…”

The measurement of revenue inefficiency over time: An additive perspective

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Profitability, Productivity, and Technical Efficiency of Cretan Olive Groves across Alternative Ecological Farm Types

“…Efficiency analysis is central to many studies that aim to evaluate the economic performance of olive farms [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] and the olive sector [32,33]. A common methodological approach to estimate the TE of olive groves is data envelopment analysis (DEA), initially developed by Charnes et al [34].…”