Environmental factors affecting technical efficiency in Norwegian steep terrain logging crews: a stochastic frontier analysis

Abstract

This study presents the analysis of panel data on steep terrain logging productivity in Norway. Given the specification of a Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier production function in which the technical inefficiency is a function of six different environmental factors, it was found that only one (terrain hindrance) decreased the efficiency significantly. The estimated efficiencies for the sample crews ranged from 0.43 to 0.99. Because of the nature of the inefficiency factors, one way to improve the efficiency could be to train the crews for working on steep slopes. This would also improve the safety when exposing workers to these types of environmental hazards.

Keywords:

• Norway
• Steep terrain
• Stochastic frontier analysis
• Team performance
• Technical efficiency

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Scientific Engineer Morten Nitteberg and Researcher Jorn Lilleng for collecting the data, Dr. Olvar Bergland for his support with the statistical revision and, last but not least, Mr. Torbjørn Frivik for having made available teams and the equipment.