Spatially Explicit Efficiency of Agricultural Land Use: A Two-Stage DEA Approach

Agriculture provides commodities and has an influence on the environment. However, even if the value of agricultural production is easy to evaluate, it is difficult to estimate the efficiency of agricultural production at site level. Furthermore, the valuation of environmental impact is complex. Non-parametric approaches such as DEA allow for an estimation of environment and economic performance. We suggest a plot-specific approach combining GIS and DEA models. This allows a spatially explicit assessment of agricultural land use for different subjects such as ecology and economy. In a second stage DEAmodel, the impact of farm- and site-specific characteristics on efficiency is analysed.