Measuring DEA Conditional Efficiency in agri-food through economical and physical territorial capital: a local analysis on in-the-Consortia Firms

Firms and territories are considered extremely interrelated, especially approaching the market of agri-food products detaining the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) label. In order to reduce their costs and simultaneously exploit potential benefits, entrepreneurial realities often collaborate through consortia. This aspect takes on a crucial relevance when considering the Italian context, widely known for its high-quality products, the vocation to cooperate, and high adaptability to insidious locations. In this light, the study uses conditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) by considering, besides the traditional input and output of the production function, also mediating factors catching physical and economic territorial capital. By exploring more than 600 in-the-consortia firms in 419 municipalities within the 2011-2020 period, huge territorial disparities emerge. Accordingly, physical riskiness and attitude to cooperate are examined, in terms of their potential impact on the transformation process of inputs (i.e., the number of employees and tangible assets) into outputs (i.e. revenues) in Italian firms belonging to consortia in fresh meat and cold cuts, and dairy products industries. Practical implications arise in terms of huge support of the impulse to collaborate, in order to take additional advantages from consortia.