The Efficiency of Poultry Farms Based on a Stochastic Frontier Approach and Panel Data

What is it about?

Understanding how efficiently firms utilize their inputs to generate increasing outputs is crucial and takes on greater importance in periods of market turbulence ( the avian influenza and the COVID-19 ) that can affect the performances of firms.

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Why is it important?

Global poultry production has seen a dramatic rise over the last 50 years and is expected to increase further to satisfy growing demand. Understanding how efficiently firms utilize their inputs to generate increasing outputs is crucial and takes on greater importance in periods of market turbulence that can affect the performances of firms, such as the recent years, characterized by avian influenza outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study indicate that the efficiency of Italian poultry farms during this period was attributable to the management of farms’ assets, the availability of resources, and some characteristics of farms. Improving the management of capital endowment and current costs is essential for supporting farms’ economic performance and resilience, as well as for ensuring product quality and safety and animal welfare.