Short supply chain, technical efficiency, and technological change: Insights from cucumber production

Abstract

This study examines the impact of participation in short supply chains (SSCs) on technical efficiency (TE) and technological change (TC) in cucumber production in China, using data for the period 2011–2016. The meta‐frontier model and the two‐stage residual inclusion approach are utilized to examine the association between SSC participation, comparable TE, and TC. Accounting for selection bias, we show that SSC participation significantly decreased the comparable TE of cucumber production but accelerated TC. The disaggregated analysis reveals that the comparable TE for SSC participants was generally smaller than that for nonparticipants. Furthermore, comparable TE for nonparticipants consistently increased year‐over‐year, whereas, for SSC participants, it increased during some years and decreased during others. Last but not least, TC for both SSC participants and nonparticipants increased over time.