Efficiency and productivity of Vietnamese pangasius processing and exporting firms

Abstract

This study aims to measure the efficiency and productivity of Vietnamese pangasius processing and exporting firms, using variables of assets and liabilities in 2009-2014. The results show that the average resource use efficiency of the firms in this period is about 67.7% with a constant returns-to-scale, 79.4% with a variable returns-to-scale, and a scale efficiency (SE) of 85.5%. Firms need to increase their efficiency by 14.5% to achieve the optimal SE. More than half of the firms have efficiency lower than the industry average, suggesting that they were wasting their asset and liability resources, especially the long-term debt. The improvement of technical efficiency and technological advancement on average help increase total factor productivity by 14.1%. About 40% of firms experienced a decline in average productivity and 60% experienced an increase. This research, therefore, recommends firms to use there resources economically or efficiently, especially the long-term debt. In addition, firms also need to improve their technology to boost productivity, thereby enhancing their competitiveness.