Tracking carbon footprint in French vineyards: A DEA performance assessment

The proposed approach is applied to 38 wine producing companies in the Bordeaux region of France to estimate technical efficiency in the presence of carbon footprint. Research results show the percentage of carbon footprint contribution in average terms, from pesticides, fertilizers and fuel. Our results confirm that the carbon footprint effect in vineyards caused by the use of fuel is more than double the impact of pesticides and fertilizers. This strong vulnerability on fuel could do matter to factors guiding farmers' choice of vineyard practices. Additionally, clear improvement targets for the firms, which are inefficient in terms of labor force, net-fixed assets, and carbon footprint, are provided for enhancing their performance. We discuss managerial implications to be put in practice, and outline the suggestions for future studies.