Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin

Guofeng Wang, Nan Lin, Xiaoxue Zhou, Zhihui Li and Xiangzheng Deng
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Guofeng Wang: Faculty of International Trade, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan 030060, China
Nan Lin: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Xiaoxue Zhou: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Zhihui Li: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Aiming to inspect the water use-related situation in the Heihe River Basin, we used a three-stage data envelopment analysis to examine agricultural water use efficiency (WUE) and related issues in the Heihe River Basin from 2004 to 2012. This method calculates technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE), and scale efficiency (SE). Results show that water use-related efficiency varies according to scale. TE and SE decreased in the study area, while PTE increased. This means that the effects of pure technology on improving overall technology are very limited, and scale adjustment is vitally important to the agricultural production area in the Heihe River Basin. The results provide recommendations for decision-makers to plan the efficient use of water resources in arid and semiarid areas; in addition, this method will contribute to calculations of water use-related efficiency.

Keywords: agricultural water use efficiency; three-stage data envelopment analysis; moderate scale; Heihe River Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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