Testing for intermediate outputs in dynamic DEA models: Accounting for soil capital in rotational crop production and productivity measures

In agricultural production, a stylized fact known as the rotation effect says crop rotations generate higher yields or productivity than identical crops grown in isolated monocultures. This paper develops a dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) model of crop production that accounts for the rotation effect. The model is applied to data from an experimental farm in Pennsylvania to investigate the role soil capital plays in observed productivity growth and the rotation effect.