Environmental Efficiency Measurement of Grassland Grazing using Stochastic Distance Function on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China

Environmental Efficiency Measurement of Grassland Grazing using Stochastic Distance Function on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China

Wei Huang

Doctoral thesis

Date of Examination: 2015-07-23

Date of issue: 2015-09-09

Advisor: Brümmer, Bernhard Prof. Dr.

Referee: Glauben, Thomas Prof. Dr.

Referee: Yu, Xiaohua Prof. Dr.

Referee: Qaim, Matin Prof. Dr.

Persistent Address: http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-1735-0000-0023-9613-8

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Abstract

English

With the use of first hand field survey data from yak grazing households combined with remotely sensed Net Primary Productivity data on the Qinghai-Tibetan-Plateau, stochastic distance functions are developed with grazing pressure as the undesirable output, in the sense that the more efficient producer would achieve higher productivity at lower grazing pressure. After the estimates of directional distance function and technical inefficiency model, we derive shadow prices of grazing pressure to grazing economic revenue, and elasticity of complementary or substitutionary relationships among inputs. The goal is to help producer to achieve higher productivity with lower grazing pressure in the use of the available grassland resource.

Keywords: environmental efficiency, grazing pressure, stochastic frontier analysis, livestock grazing, technical efficiency