A modelling of the number of almazaras by municipality in Andalusia

Abstract

An almazara (oil mill) is an essential piece in the production of olive oil since it is the place where the olive is milled and the olive oil is obtained. They are usually linked to producer cooperatives. They are structures that require specialized machinery and that on multiple occasions are underutilised, given the presence of several of them at very close distances. In addition, they characterise the mainly olive grove municipalities and their study provides a valuable information of economic interest.

From a statistical point of view, the “number of oil mills per municipality” is a count data variable that exhibits overdispersion. In this study, we focus on the oil mills found in municipalities of Andalusia. First, we make a descriptive study of the variable. Second, we model this data according to the most suitable probabilistic model. Finally, several generalized linear regression models based on different geographic and socioeconomic variables are proposed and the best one (using the Akaike information criterion) is selected.