Consistent aggregation of generalized sustainable values from the firm level to sectoral, regional or industry levels

Abstract

This study presents a systematic method for aggregating firm level sustainable value indicators to sector, region or industry levels. The proposed method applies the generalized sustainable value that is based on frontier production functions. The method is illustrated by an empirical application to the Finnish crop and dairy sectors, where the benchmark technology is estimated by data envelopment analysis. Our efficiency assessment shows that the representative crop farm achieves only about a half of its potential output. Efficiency of the representative dairy farm is somewhat higher. © 2013 by the authors.