Assessment of Efficiency and Total Factor Productivity Changes for Korea’s Regional Fruit Juice Exports: An Input-Oriented Malmquist DEA

The main objective of this study is to measure the changes of technical efficiency and total factor productivity in the Korean fruit-juice export sector using the DEA and Malmquist index approach. This paper analyses the relative efficiency and total factor productivity growth of the regional fruit-juice exports in Korea by using the input-oriented Malmquist productivity index. The Malmquist index evaluates the total facor productivity change of decision-making units between two time periods, which can be decomposed into a catch-up effect and a frontier shift effect. The results showed that during the analysis period, total factor productivity (TFP) of fruit juice increased driven by greater efficiency gains despite technological regression, indicating that productivity increased due to efficiency improvements without technological progress. This efficiency growth, in turn, was largely driven by larger scale efficiency rather than operational management. This study also revealed that the changes in total factor productivity and efficiency varied by region. The TFP increased in Gyeonggi, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Kyeongnam, and Jeju. Both efficiency gains and technological progress occurred For Gyeonggi, Chungnam, and Jeju, while the efficiency gains but technological regression occurred for Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, and Kyeongnam.