ANALYZING THE EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF SLOVAK FARMS SPECIALIZING IN LIVESTOCK

Abstract

This paper aims to estimate productivity, efficiency, and especially the estimation of managerial performance among 284 farms specializing in livestock in Slovakia. Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) is used to estimate farm efficiency and related economies of scale. Taking full advantage of the panel structure, changes in farm productivity are provided by the Malmquist index and are divided into technological progress, scale effects, and managerial decision-making. Empirical results show that, on average, a 31% reduction in input use could be achieved, provided that all livestock farms operate efficiently, without further restrictions on this adjustment. In 2012 farms specialized in livestock improved their performance compared to the best farms by 17%, mainly due to improvement of the managerial efficiency by 12% and improvement of scale efficiency by 4%.