Economic Efficiency in the Tunisian Olive Oil Sector

Domingo Fernández-Uclés,Saker Ben Abdallah,Enrique Bernal-Jurado,Adoración Mozas-Moral,Miguel Jesús Medina-Viruel,Saida Elfkih

doi:10.3390/agriculture10090391

Domingo Fernández-Uclés, Saker Ben Abdallah + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10090391

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Journal: Agriculture	Publication Date: Sep 3, 2020
Citations: 13	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Córdoba, University of Jaén

Abstract

This study aims to assess the economic efficiency of Tunisian olive oil firms in order to identify the organizational and technological variables that are directly associated with greater efficiency. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and fuzzy sets Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method were used to achieve this. We find the managing director’s education level and information and communication technologies (ICT) training, the longevity of the company in inverse relationship with efficiency, the company’s presence on and use of virtual social networks, and the outsourcing of ICT management in combination have significant explanatory power in the companies that display greater economic efficiency.

Highlights

The olive is a crop native to the Mediterranean basin, where its main products, olive oil and table olives, are key staples of what is commonly referred to as the “Mediterranean diet”
This study aims to assess the economic efficiency of Tunisian olive oil firms in order to identify the organizational and technological variables that are directly associated with greater efficiency
As a first approach to the Tunisian olive oil sector, the average value was determined of the variables that were used to determine economic efficiency through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

The olive is a crop native to the Mediterranean basin, where its main products, olive oil and table olives, are key staples of what is commonly referred to as the “Mediterranean diet”. Olive oil production is undergoing constant growth on an international level, tied to a steady worldwide increase of the olive growing area, with more intensive plantations, and to improvements in irrigation systems and technological advances [1]. The benefits and attributes associated with olive oil have boosted consumption, olive oil still represents scarcely 2% of total worldwide consumption of oils and fats [2,3]. Olive Council [5], total world consumption of olive oil is expected to reach 3,094,000 tons by 2019–20 and production 3,144,000 tons. The most widely consumed oils in the world are soybean and palm, which together account for more than 50% of total consumption [2,3]

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