Application of network DEA in the assessment of operating performances of farmers associations in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper applies Network Data Envelopment Analysis (Network DEA) in the assessment of the operating performances of 199 farmers’ associations in Taiwan during the period 2006˜2008. The assessment concerns four departments: marketing & distributions, financing (credit), insurance, and agricultural promotion; it also refers to the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) to measure the productivity changes of different associations over time and performs variance analyses to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of individ-ual farmers’ associations. The purposes include providing a reference for their operational strategies and setting an objective benchmark for operational efficiency. This paper finds that as far as MPI is concerned, (2) village-type farmers associations outperformed city-type and hybrid-type farmers associations in 2006˜2008. (2) In 2006˜2008, only farmers associations in central Taiwan saw their productivity improve. According to Network DEA, (1) the total Efficiency of city-type farmers associations is 0.553. The efficiency of hybrid-type farmers associations is lower than the average. Village-type farmers associations report a better-than-average efficiency in marketing & distribution and insurance functions. (2) Geographically speaking, farmers associations in northern Taiwan perform the best, followed by those in central Taiwan and then those in southern Taiwan.