Date of Award

2018

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Science (MS)

Program

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

Department

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

College

Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources

Faculty Advisor

Hanson, Erik

Description

Industries related to agricultural cooperatives record some of the highest injury rates in the U.S. Therefore, agricultural cooperatives are highly motivated to invest in occupational health and safety (OHS). This thesis examines the economic efficiency of OHS investments at agricultural cooperatives and identifies cooperative characteristics leading to greater economic efficiency of OHS investments. A multiple input-output data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to estimate technical efficiency. The effects of cooperative characteristics on the efficiency of OHS investments are estimated using ordinary least squares, censored regression, truncated regression, and the Simar and Wilson (2007) bootstrap procedure. Results show that the mean technical efficiency score was 0.833. Furthermore, a cooperative’s annual insurance premia has a significant, negative relationship with technical efficiency. In contrast, the experience levels of a cooperative’s top safety person and top managerial person and a location’s total workers employed have significant, positive relationships with efficiency in all estimated models.

Rights

NDSU policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/28861

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