Technical efficiency, the ratio of physical inputs to outputs, is a popular means of assessing agricultural performance. Benchmarking of these efficiencies is a fundamental tool for the farming industry. More sophisticated techniques have been developed recently which offer a greater degree of...

In this paper the cost efficiency of Scottish farms is determined, variables that explain the relative cost efficiency by farm type are identified and implications discussed. A cost efficiency approach was selected as it can deal with farms producing multiple outputs (in contrast to production...

Thirtle et al (2003) have provided a Total Factor Productivity (TFP) index for UK agriculture. This note follows a similar methodology to construct a TFP index for Scottish agriculture beginning in 1973 and ending in 2004. Essentially, Scottish agricultural growth grew strongly during the 1970s...

Thirtle et al (2003) have provided a Total Factor Productivity (TFP) index for UK agriculture. This note follows a similar methodology to construct a TFP index for Scottish agriculture beginning in 1973 and ending in 2004. Essentially, Scottish agricultural growth grew strongly during the 1970s...

In this paper the cost efficiency of Scottish farms is determined, variables that explain the relative cost efficiency by farm type are identified and implications discussed. A cost efficiency approach was selected as it can deal with farms producing multiple outputs (in contrast to production...

Technical efficiency, the ratio of physical inputs to outputs, is a popular means of assessing agricultural performance. Benchmarking of these efficiencies is a fundamental tool for the farming industry. More sophisticated techniques have been developed recently which offer a greater degree of...

Dairy is a key investment sector for the Government of Malawi. Advocacy institutions operating in the country have successfully lobbied for increasing the duty applied for powder milk, with the aim of improving the price received by farmers. It should be noted that whilst an increase of the...

Traditional regulation in the food safety domain has been in the form of mandatory, inflexible food safety controls that are applied to firms. There has been a trend away from this regulatory paradigm towards more co-regulation and self-regulation by industry. This paper investigates the...

The work presented here was conducted as part of an EU-funded five year project investigating pathogens in the food chain, called "Control and prevention of emerging and future pathogens at cellular and molecular level throughout the food chain". Using a questionnaire, research was carried out...

A basic right of both a consumer and a citizen is the right to be heard, and their voiced concerns have to be taken into account when developing policies and obtaining trust for government actions. Therefore this study focuses on consumers’ interests, opinions and expectations which are...