Socioeconomic efficiency of the Araguaia River Valley – Goiás: a deterministic frontier and Malmquist index approach

The present study aimed to evaluate socioeconomic efficiency in 41 Brazilian municipalities in the years 2014 and 2016 in the area comprised by the Araguaia River Valley, in the Central-West, Goiás state, Brazil.  We used the data envelopment analysis and Malmquist index methods to estimate municipality efficiency and its intertemporal variation. In the frontier model, average income, per capita GDP, and average agricultural income were used as input, and for outputs, the following Municipality Performance Indexes: MPI-Work, MPI-Formal Work, MPI-per capita GDP, and MPI-Agriculture. Results obtained showed a desirable socioeconomic efficiency advance in municipalities, related to a period when agriculture impacted positively on indexes of productivity, per capita GDP, population's average gains, and municipal development index (MPI), with average efficiency in 2014 at 0.92 and 0.93 in 2016. The number of municipalities for each sample that obtained Malmquist index with Mₒ> 1 progress was higher than that with regression (Mₒ <1). Results are relevant considering the novelty in the analysis and show, in the period studied, the productivity and efficiency dynamics in municipalities as for inclusive and sustainable economic and social growth of a region so important in Brazil's Central-West context, and can aid effectively public policies for the Araguaia River Valley, in the state of Goiás, Brazil.