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This thesis comprises three essays on “The Economic impact of adult mortality and morbidity on smallholder farm households in Malawi.” The first essay estimates the levels of technical efficiency of AIDS-affected and non-affected smallholder farm households, and examines the technical efficiency differentials. The study uses time-varying and timeinvariant inefficiency models of production. The results show that among both female and male headed households, for both affected and non-affected households, fertilizer and seeds are the only variables that contribute significantly towards technical efficiency. The mean efficiency levels of affected and non-affected households are statistically not different. The second essay examines the maize production differentials between AIDS-affected and nonaffected farm households using the difference in difference estimation method. The results show that, for both affected and non-affected households, the mean maize production levels are higher during 2006/07 compared to 2004/05 However, the difference between the mean maize production levels of affected and non-affected households over the 2004/05 and 2006/07 period is not statistically significant. The third essay examines the coping strategies used by households facing food security problems. The results from the multinomial logistic model show that during 2004/05 and 2006/07, the most dominant coping strategy used by both AIDS-affected and non-affected households facing food security problems, is buying food from market. This is followed by casual labour, obtaining food from relatives and friends, eating unripe maize before harvest, and irrigation farming. The results from logistic discriminant analysis function indicate that, for all households, ordinary coping strategies are dominant among food-insecure households with a total score of close to 80 percent, much higher than survival strategies at around 20 percent during 2004/05. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

A cadeia produtiva do leite no Brasil se caracteriza pela carência na utilização de ferramentas de gestão e financeiras para o controle da atividade. Atualmente algumas linhas de pesquisa estão trazendo para o meio rural a utilização de indicadores de origem econômica e financeira para complementarem os já utilizados de origem técnica como indicadores de produtividade, escala de produção etc. Este trabalho objetivou correlacionar indicadores técnicos, econômicos e financeiros de propriedades produtoras de leite localizadas em Minas Gerais para buscar quais seriam os de eleição para acompanhamento e quais estariam mais relacionados à rentabilidade e retorno financeiro. Foram coletados dados mensais de 15 propriedades mineiras do período correspondido entre julho de 2012 e junho de 2013, além de visita e aplicação de questionário às mesmas. Os dados obtidos foram utilizados para o cálculo de índices técnicos, econômicos e financeiros e também para caracterização das propriedades. Sobre os indicadores foram aplicados os testes de Kruskal Wallis e Wilcoxon para comparar as médias entre as propriedades em relação aos três níveis de retorno sobre o Investimento da propriedade. Em seguida aplicou-se o teste de correlação de Spearman para cálculo dos indicadores de correlação de todas variáveis em relação aos indicadores de cunho econômico financeiro. Os indicadores econômicos e financeiros revelaram altos índices de correlação e diferenças entre médias entre si. Dos demais se destacaram, a relação de gasto com mão de obra /receita bruta e a perda com morte de animais. De acordo com os testes de correlação, a variável MARGEM DE EBITDA foi a que mais se correlacionou com os demais indicadores relacionados ao retorno financeiro da atividade e por isso foi a considerada a principal no controle financeiro das atividades produtivas. / Milk production chain in Brazil is characterized by deficiency in the use of financial management and to control the activity tools. Nowadays some researches are bringing to the rural environment the using of indicators of economic and financial source to complement those already used from technical origin as indicators of productivity, production scale etc. This study aimed to correlate technical, economic and financial indicators of milk-producing farms located in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, to find what indicators would be elected to follow and which would be more related to profitability and financial returns. Monthly data of 15 properties from Minas Gerais was collected between July 2012 and June 2013, as well as visiting and apllying questionnaire to all of them. The data were used to calculate the technical, economical and financial ratios and also to characterize the properties. The indicators were compared using Kruskal Wallis and Wilcoxon tests to compare means between the properties on three levels of return on investment. Then the Spearman correlation test was applied to calculate the indicators correlation of all variables in relation to financial end economical indicators. The economic and financial indicators showed high levels of correlation and mean differences between each other. The others that stood out was the ratio of spending on labor/gross income and losts with animal death. According to the correlation tests, the variable MARGIN OF EBITDA was more correlated with other indicators related to the financial return of the activity and therefore was considered the main financial control to use on productive activities.

A cadeia produtiva do leite no Brasil se caracteriza pela carência na utilização de ferramentas de gestão e financeiras para o controle da atividade. Atualmente algumas linhas de pesquisa estão trazendo para o meio rural a utilização de indicadores de origem econômica e financeira para complementarem os já utilizados de origem técnica como indicadores de produtividade, escala de produção etc. Este trabalho objetivou correlacionar indicadores técnicos, econômicos e financeiros de propriedades produtoras de leite localizadas em Minas Gerais para buscar quais seriam os de eleição para acompanhamento e quais estariam mais relacionados à rentabilidade e retorno financeiro. Foram coletados dados mensais de 15 propriedades mineiras do período correspondido entre julho de 2012 e junho de 2013, além de visita e aplicação de questionário às mesmas. Os dados obtidos foram utilizados para o cálculo de índices técnicos, econômicos e financeiros e também para caracterização das propriedades. Sobre os indicadores foram aplicados os testes de Kruskal Wallis e Wilcoxon para comparar as médias entre as propriedades em relação aos três níveis de retorno sobre o Investimento da propriedade. Em seguida aplicou-se o teste de correlação de Spearman para cálculo dos indicadores de correlação de todas variáveis em relação aos indicadores de cunho econômico financeiro. Os indicadores econômicos e financeiros revelaram altos índices de correlação e diferenças entre médias entre si. Dos demais se destacaram, a relação de gasto com mão de obra /receita bruta e a perda com morte de animais. De acordo com os testes de correlação, a variável MARGEM DE EBITDA foi a que mais se correlacionou com os demais indicadores relacionados ao retorno financeiro da atividade e por isso foi a considerada a principal no controle financeiro das atividades produtivas. / Milk production chain in Brazil is characterized by deficiency in the use of financial management and to control the activity tools. Nowadays some researches are bringing to the rural environment the using of indicators of economic and financial source to complement those already used from technical origin as indicators of productivity, production scale etc. This study aimed to correlate technical, economic and financial indicators of milk-producing farms located in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, to find what indicators would be elected to follow and which would be more related to profitability and financial returns. Monthly data of 15 properties from Minas Gerais was collected between July 2012 and June 2013, as well as visiting and apllying questionnaire to all of them. The data were used to calculate the technical, economical and financial ratios and also to characterize the properties. The indicators were compared using Kruskal Wallis and Wilcoxon tests to compare means between the properties on three levels of return on investment. Then the Spearman correlation test was applied to calculate the indicators correlation of all variables in relation to financial end economical indicators. The economic and financial indicators showed high levels of correlation and mean differences between each other. The others that stood out was the ratio of spending on labor/gross income and losts with animal death. According to the correlation tests, the variable MARGIN OF EBITDA was more correlated with other indicators related to the financial return of the activity and therefore was considered the main financial control to use on productive activities.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Analyzes the technical efficiency and economic profitability of commercial dairy farmers from Ceara State. The stochastic frontier production methodology was used to estimate milk producersâ technical efficiency. As primary conclusion, the study observed a high rate of mean technical efficiency in the set of companies, about 80%, which points, however, to a relevant space to the unitiesâ efficiency growth, especially considering the efficiency rates dispersion. As it regards to the variables used to define the production frontier, all of them were statistically significant, and the expense with labor was the variable that presented the main contribution to the production growth. Among variables used to explain technical inefficiency, all resulted significant, and the genetic group of the herd was the one that presented the main participation at decreasing inefficiency. After the estimative of each companyâs efficiency, the present research analyzed the behavior of some technical indicators of productivity and economic profitability. It found that as the technical efficiency of the unities increased the indexes of productivity also improved, as well as a reduction of operational expenses and an elevation of profit margins. Finally, the research focused the important correlation between the efficiency level and the volume produced, suggesting a scale effect on milk production. / Analisa a eficiÃncia tÃcnica e a rentabilidade econÃmica dos produtores comerciais de leite do Estado do CearÃ. A metodologia de fronteiras estocÃsticas de produÃÃo foi utilizada para estimar a eficiÃncia tÃcnica dos produtores. Como principais conclusÃes, observou-se elevada taxa de eficiÃncia tÃcnica mÃdia para o conjunto das firmas, em torno de 80%, indicando, contudo, um espaÃo relevante para o crescimento da eficiÃncia das unidades, principalmente se for considerada a dispersÃo das taxas de eficiÃncia. Em relaÃÃo Ãs variÃveis utilizadas para definir a fronteira de produÃÃo, todas foram estatisticamente significativas, sendo a despesa com mÃo-de-obra aquela que apresentou maior contribuiÃÃo para o crescimento da produÃÃo, enquanto, das variÃveis utilizadas para explicar a ineficiÃncia tÃcnica, todas se mostraram significativas, sendo a composiÃÃo racial do rebanho aquela que apresentou maior participaÃÃo para a reduÃÃo da ineficiÃncia. ApÃs a estimativa da eficiÃncia de cada firma, estudou-se o comportamento de alguns indicadores tÃcnicos de produtividade e de rentabilidade econÃmica, percebeu-se que, Ã medida que crescia a eficiÃncia tÃcnica das unidades, observava-se tambÃm melhora nos Ãndices de produtividade, uma reduÃÃo dos custos operacionais e elevaÃÃo das margens de rentabilidade. Por fim, foi observada importante correlaÃÃo entre o nÃvel de eficiÃncia e o volume produzido, indicando um efeito-escala na produÃÃo de leite.

The main objective of the study was to estimate non-market value of irrigation water as an input in sugar cane production in the Lowveld of Swaziland. This study used two independent approaches to non-market valuation, the residual value and production function approaches, to calculate the value that sugar cane farmers in the Lowveld region of Swaziland attach to irrigation water. The former estimated the average value of water, while the latter estimated the marginal value. The study also estimated the output elasticity of irrigation water, identified factors determining irrigation water values, and used stochastic frontier analysis to estimate farmers’ technical efficiency (TE) scores, and investigated the relationship hypothesised between irrigation water values and TE. Irrigated sugar cane production was specifically selected for this study on account of its socio-economic importance in Swaziland. Using data obtained from 78 sugar cane farms, the mean estimated value of irrigation water, measured in Emalangeni per metre cubed, was E1.60/m3 using the residual value approach, and E1.51/m3 using the production function approach. A t-test showed that the observed differences between the values estimated from the two independent approaches were not statistically significant, suggesting that either method can be used to value irrigation water employed in sugar cane production in Swaziland. The results from the t-test, in conjunction with the economic theory of duality, also allow us to conclude that the production technology employed by irrigation sugar cane farmers exhibits constant returns to scale. Irrigation water was output inelastic (0.711), lending additional credence to the constant returns technology conclusion. The value calculated for irrigation water was negatively related to irrigation water quantity, suggesting that price can be used as an instrument to directly regulate the quantity of irrigation water the farmer employs. The value calculated for irrigation water was negatively related to quantities of labour, quantity of irrigation water used, fertilizer and chemicals employed, suggesting that price can be used as an instrument to indirectly regulate the quantity of irrigation water the farmer employs. The value imputed for irrigation water was positively related to farm size and total revenue, suggesting that the more resourceendowed farmers can potentially pay higher for irrigation water. It is thus conceivable to design irrigation water pricing policies with equity considerations. TE scores ranged from 0.397 to 0.955, with a mean of 0.840. Farmers with higher TE scores also had higher implicit values for irrigation water, suggesting that irrigation water pricing can be used as a tool for motivating resource use efficiency. The key policy implication derived from this study is that price-based instruments have a potential in the management of scarce irrigation water resources in Swaziland. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Background: High-tech's rapid growth and prioritization of expansion over profitability can lead to vulnerability in economic downturns. The SaaS market, a part of the high-tech industry, offers affordable and flexible software solutions but is also susceptible to market volatility. To succeed, SaaS startups must strike a balance between growth and profitability. Stochastic frontier analysis can measure technical efficiency and productivity in the SaaS market, offering insights into resource and labor utilization. We present an empirical study that explores factors that influence a firm's profitability, aiming to inform decision-making for SaaS companies. Purpose: Our academic work is centered around gaining a comprehensive understanding of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market and the role of labor and research and development expenses toexplore these factors and their influence on a firm's profitability. This study seeks to address this gap in knowledge by conducting an empirical analysis to examine the technical efficiency distribution among SaaS firms, with the aim of gaining insights into resource and labor utilization. By analyzing technical efficiency distribution among SaaS firms, the study will provide insights into resource and labor utilization and its effect on profitability. The research questions will focus on the relationship between technical efficiency, labor utilization, and production functions on profitability. Methodology: We utilized Model I - Cobb Douglas Panel Data Regression with Fixed Effects, Model II - Cobb Douglas Panel Data Stochastic Frontier Analysis using the Kumbhakar and Lovell (1990), and Model III - Transcendental Logarithmic Panel Data Cobb Douglas Stochastic Frontier Analysis using the Kumbhakar and Lovell (1990). These models allowed us to measure the technical efficiency of SaaS firms and examine the interplay between various variables, such as employee count and R&D expenseswith liabilities and assets as control variables. Results and analysis: The three models revealed that labor, assets, and R&D expenses positively and significantly affect profitability in SaaS firms. The SaaS industry also exhibits decreasing returns to scale in two models, suggesting that increasing all inputs proportionally leads to a less-than-proportional increase in output with the third model exhibiting an increasing return to scale. Also, top performers in technical efficiency tend to have higher marginal product of labor (MPL) values than bottom performers.Conclusions: Technical efficiency is positively correlated with profitability, indicating that more efficient SaaS firms achieve higher profitability levels. The relationship between technical efficiency and profitability is stronger when using the Translog model compared to the Cobb-Douglas model. The study also found that the factors contributing most to profitability in SaaS firms are the number of employees and assets, followed by research and development expenses.  Recommendations for future research: Further studies could explore the extent to which factors such as the quality of the workforce, technology, and business processes impact MPL and technical efficiency in SaaS firms. Additionally, future research could investigate the effects of market competition, firm size, and industry regulation on profitability in the SaaS industry. Finally, research could investigate the potential benefits of diversifying investment portfolios to include SaaS stocks, given the significant impact of labor, assets, and R&D expenses on profitability.

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Achieving efficiency, or maximizing the outputs achieved per unit of resource invested, is of great interest to governments, donors and other stakeholders in the health sector. Many studies consider efficiency in public health using Cost Effectiveness Analyses which estimate the health outcomes achieved per unit of cost. Others employ Technical Efficiency Analysis to understand which health system units, usually hospitals, provide the most health services per unit of resource. However, very little is known about demand-side efficiency or how efficiently individuals convert available health resources into health outcomes. To address this gap, I developed and piloted a two-stage methodology using Amartya Sen's Capability Approach as a theoretical framework mapping the process by which individuals convert resources into outcomes. The first stage estimates conversion efficiency using Order-m Efficiency Analysis then identifies the social groups most likely to be efficient using regression analysis. The second stage undertakes focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews to investigate how and why the social groups identified in the quantitative stage were more likely to be efficient. I conducted my analysis in Ba Vi district, northern Vietnam looking specifically at how efficiently pregnant women converted maternal health resources—including health facilities and human resources for health—into both appropriate care and healthy pregnancy and delivery. I found that ethnic minorities and women in non-mountainous areas were more likely to be efficient at achieving appropriate care while ethnic minorities and less educated women are more likely to be efficient at achieving healthy pregnancy and delivery outcomes. Through qualitative feedback, women who were ethnic majorities, better educated and generally more affluent expressed stronger technology preference, greater use of the private sector, less continuity of care, tendencies towards overnutrition, less focus on mental and emotional health and more varied sources of health information including advertising and the internet. Evidence links each of these themes to adverse care and/or health outcomes. Consequently, the more affluent populations, who also have a greater endowment of public health resources, may be less likely to achieve good outcomes—explaining at least in part why they are found to be less efficient. My findings highlight that the development process and attendant epidemiological and nutrition transitions give rise to a new set of challenges not solely for public health, but also for the efficiency with which it is achieved using existing health system resources.

Os pequenos estabelecimentos, apesar de mais numerosos e ocuparem menor área que os médios e grandes estabelecimentos, geram parcela muito importante da produção agrícola brasileira, a despeito de as políticas agrícolas brasileiras terem, de meados dos anos 1960 a meados dos anos 1980, criado mais mecanismos para a modernização dos médios e grandes produtores e pouco terem estimulado a modernização da pequena produção. Isto poderia implicar essa última ser ineficiente em relação à média e grande produção. No entanto, essa avaliação da diferença entre a eficiência da pequena produção em relação às médias e grandes produções ainda não foi realizada para toda a agropecuária brasileira. Theodore W. Schutz, em importante livro de 1965, alegava que o pequeno produtor era pobre, mas eficiente. Mas S.M. Sherlund, C.B. Barrett e A.A. Adesina, em artigo de 2002, mostram várias evidências para países em desenvolvimento (mas não incluindo o Brasil) de que os pequenos produtores não são eficientes. Dentro desse contexto, o objetivo geral desta tese é investigar se há (e se existirem, quantificá-las) diferenças na eficiência técnica entre o pequeno, o médio e o grande estabelecimento agropecuário no Brasil. Classifica-se com pequeno estabelecimento agropecuário aquele que tem até 50 ha de área total, sendo que o médio estabelecimento tem de 50 a 500 ha e o grande estabelecimento tem 500 ou mais ha. Como há grande diversidade entre os pequenos estabelecimentos no Brasil, o seu nível de eficiência também foi avaliado para três subdivisões (com até 10 ha, de 10 a 20 ha e de 20 a 50 ha). Os dados do Censo Agropecuário de 2006 evidenciam que os pequenos, médios e grandes estabelecimentos, agregados por microrregiões homogêneas (MRH), possuem dotações e produtividades diferentes dos fatores de produção. Para medir a eficiência técnica, fronteiras estocásticas de produção foram estimadas e constatou-se que a eficiência técnica na agropecuária brasileira varia entre as regiões geográficas e dentro delas a eficiência técnica é diferente entre os estratos de estabelecimentos. Para toda a agropecuária brasileira, a eficiência técnica foi de 96,49% sendo de 96,68% para o conjunto dos pequenos estabelecimentos do país. A eficiência técnica atingiu, em 2006, níveis acima de 99% para todos os estratos de produtores das regiões Sul, Sudeste e Nordeste, sendo que nessas regiões a ET dos estabelecimentos com até 50 ha foram ligeiramente superiores às dos estabelecimentos com 500 ou mais ha. Há, no entanto, expressivas ineficiências técnicas para os pequenos e médios estabelecimentos agropecuários da região Norte e para os muito pequenos estabelecimentos agropecuários do Centro-Oeste. Esses dados mostram que não se pode rejeitar, para toda a pequena produção agropecuária brasileira, a argumentação de Theodore W. Schultz do pequeno ser eficiente. O trabalho encerra-se com algumas sugestões de medidas visando eliminar os poucos resquícios de ineficiência técnica na agropecuária das regiões Sul, Sudeste e Nordeste do Brasil e sugerindo o que poderia ser adotado para eliminar os focos de ineficiências supracitados no Norte e Centro-Oeste. / Although being more numerous and occupying smaller share of farming area than the medium and large farms, the small farms generate very important share of the Brazilian agricultural production, despite Brazils agricultural policies have, from the middle 1960s to the middle 1980s, had created more stimulus to the modernization of medium and large producers and had little stimulated the modernization of small farms. This would imply the latters to be inefficient related to medium and large production. However, the evaluation of the difference among small farm efficiency production compared to the medium and large farms efficiency production has not yet been studied for the total Brazilian agriculture. Theodore W. Schultz, in an important book published in 1965, stated that the small producer was poor, but efficient. But S.M. Sherlund, C.B. Barrett and A.A. Adesina, in an article from 2002, show evidence for several developing countries (but not including Brazil) small farmers are not efficient. In the middle of this context, the objective of this thesis is to investigate whether there are (and if they exist, to quantify them) differences in technical efficiency (TE) among small, medium and large farms in Brazil. We classify small farms as the one up to 50 ha of total area and the medium farm has from 50 to 500 ha and large farm are the one with 500 or more hectares. Due to there is a great diversity among small farms in Brazil, efficiency was also evaluated considering three other subdivisions (up to 10 ha, from 10 up to 20 ha and from 20 up to 50 ha). The 2006 Brazilian Agricultural and Livestock Census shows that small, medium and large farms, aggregated into homogeneous micro regions (HMR), have different endowments and productivities of production factors. To measure technical efficiency, stochastic frontier production was run and technical efficiencies vary among geographic regions and within them the technical efficiency is different among the three groups of farms. For the entire Brazilian agriculture, the technical efficiency index was 96.49% and 96.68% for the whole group of small farms in the country. The technical efficiency reached, in 2006, levels above 99% for all strata of producers in the South, Southeast and Northeast, and in those regions farms with up to 50 ha had TE slightly higher than farms with 500 or more hectare. There is, however, significant technical inefficiency for small and medium farms in the North and for the very small farms in Center-West. These data show that one can not reject, for the all small Brazilian agricultural production, the argument of Theodore W. Schultz of small farms are efficient. The thesis concludes with some suggestions to remove the few remnants of technical inefficiency in the agricultural of South, Southeast and Northeast of Brazil and also suggesting what could be adopted to eliminate the sources of inefficiencies for some groups of farms in North and Center-West.