Hyytiäinen, A., Viitanen, J. and Mutanen, A. 2011. Production Efficiency of Independent Finnish Sawmills in the 2000’s. Baltic Forestry 17(2): 280-287

Using stochastic frontier analysis and unbalanced panel data from 2000–2007, this study assesses Finnish independent sawmills' technical efficiency. The estimation results indicate that sawmills function under their efficient production frontier. The average technical efficiency has been 0.81 during the study period implying a moderate possibility to increase production by rationalising and optimising the use of current production technology. The results also show that although the sawmills are heterogeneous in their production efficiency, the average technical efficiency has neither improved nor worsened during the study period.

Keywords: Sawmills, efficiency, stochastic frontier analysis