Annual and cropping season environmental production conditions effects on smallholder technical efficiency in sub‐Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ethiopia

This article investigates the impact of environmental production conditions on smallholder farmers’ technical efficiency in Ethiopia for wheat, maize, and sorghum farming. We use a household panel data set with annual and cropping season environmental production conditions to estimate the technical efficiency scores. The results show that including environmental production conditions in the stochastic frontier has a significant impact on farmers’ technical efficiency scores. Technical efficiency scores improve when environmental production conditions are incorporated in the stochastic frontier. Thus, accounting for environmental production conditions reduces the inefficiencies that otherwise may be attributed to the characteristics of smallholder farmers.     

IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THE TECHNICAL INEFFICIENCY OF INDIAN FARMERS

The agricultural production of Indian farmers is investigated using a stochastic frontier production function which incorporates a model for the technical inefficiency effects. Farm-level data from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) are used. Variables considered in the model for the inefficiency effects include the age and level of education of the farmers, farm size and the year of observation. The parameters of the stochastic frontier production function are estimated simultaneously with those involved in the model for the inefficiency effects. This approach differs from the usual practice of predicting farm-level inefficiency effects and then regressing these upon various factors in a second-stage of modelling. The results indicate that the above factors do have a significant influence upon the inefficiency effects of farmers in two of the three villages considered.     

土地细碎化、多样化种植与农业生产技术效率--基于随机前沿生产函数和中介效应模型的实证研究

本文基于安徽省农村固定观察点2013—2017年农户层面的面板数据,使用效率时变型随机前沿生产函数模型对农业生产技术效率进行测算,并利用中介效应模型分析了土地细碎化对农业生产技术效率的直接效应以及通过农户多样化种植行为传导的中介效应。研究结果显示:(1)样本农户的平均生产技术效率为0.386%,效率损失较为严重;(2)土地细碎化对农业生产技术效率存在"倒U"型的直接效应;(3)多样化种植在土地细碎化对农业生产技术效率的影响中发挥了非线性的中介效应,土地细碎化与农户多样化种植行为存在"倒U"型关系,多样化种植程度与农业生产技术效率存在"U"型关系。在我国农业劳动力短缺和老龄化压力日趋严重的背景下,为提高农业生产效率,应从促进土地相对集中和支持开展专业化生产两个方面加大政策支持力度。     

农机社会化服务对玉米生产技术效率的影响研究

[目的]农业现代化离不开农业生产效率的提升,研究农机社会化服务对玉米生产技术效率的作用效果,从而推动农机社会化服务与粮食生产的共同发展。[方法]文章基于2019年对12省区农户调查数据,通过随机前沿模型和倾向得分匹配法(PSM),分析农机社会化服务对玉米生产技术效率的影响效果。[结果]目前整体上我国农户玉米生产技术效率较高,不同农户间技术效率差异较大;农机社会化服务对玉米生产技术效率存在正向影响效应,Rosenbaum边界估计结果与敏感性分析说明变量的选择性偏差控制在合理范围之内,即使无法完全避免遗漏变量,其研究结果依然稳健可信。[结论]农机社会化服务对玉米种植技术效率的影响净效应为11.2%～11.6%。因此在玉米种植中进一步推广农机社会化服务,确实将有助于我国玉米种植的技术效率、提升要素配置水平,有效实现小规模农户和现代农业发展有机衔接,助力我国实现农业现代化与保障粮食安全。     

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FRONTIER MODELLING AND EFFICIENCY MEASUREMENT

In this paper recent developments in the estimation of frontier functions and the measurement of efficiency are surveyed, and the potential applicability of these methods in agricultural economics is discussed. Frontier production, cost and profit functions are discussed, along with the construction of technical, allocative, scale and overall efficiency measures relative to these estimated frontiers. The two primary methods of frontier estimation, econometric and linear programming, are compared. A survey of recent applications of frontier methods in agriculture is also provided.     

The Effects of Direct Payments on Technical Efficiency of Irish Beef Farms: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

The 2003 Mid‐Term Review of the CAP sought to refocus the EU's farm support policy to foster a more competitive and market‐orientated agricultural sector. The foundation of this reform comprised the introduction of decoupled payments to farmers, replacing the EU's previous system of supports that were directly linked to production of designated crops and livestock. This paper explores the effect of coupled payments and their subsequent replacement by decoupled support, on the technical efficiency of specialist beef farms in Ireland. Given the high reliance of beef farmers in Ireland on CAP payments, the decoupling of payments has been especially important for the sector. A stochastic production frontier is estimated using a panel dataset comprising detailed accountancy data for Irish beef farms between the years 2000 and 2013. Our results indicate that technical efficiency in the beef farming sector has been consistently poor, with an average efficiency score of only 0.53 during the period analysed. However, we found that direct income received in the form of coupled payments had a positive impact on farm efficiency, and that this positive effect was maintained after their replacement with decoupled income support.     

Off‐farm work,technical efficiency,and rice production risk in Taiwan

This article investigates the differences in yield production, production efficiency, and yield risk for farmers both with and without off‐farm work. Using a nationwide survey of rice farmers in Taiwan, we estimate two stochastic production frontier models that accommodate technical inefficiency and production risk simultaneously for farmers both with and without off‐farm work. The stochastic dominance criterion is then applied to compare the differences in the distributions of the estimated technical efficiency and yield risk between groups. The empirical results indicate that these two groups of farmers use resources in different ways, and off‐farm work is not necessarily associated with lower technical efficiency. For farmers in the lower percentiles of the efficiency distribution, those with off‐farm work are more efficient than their counterparts without off‐farm work. In addition, farmers with off‐farm work face higher production risk and this result is robust for the entire distribution.     

农业生产性服务对玉米生产技术效率的影响研究——基于微观数据的实证分析

[目的]探究农业生产性服务对玉米生产技术效率的影响,引导农业生产性服务精准化发展,有助于维稳国家粮食安全,尽早实现农业现代化和乡村振兴发展目标。[方法]文章利用对黑龙江省13市47村298个玉米种植户的微观数据,构建随机前沿生产函数模型对玉米生产技术效率进行测算,并在此基础上构建技术无效率模型,实证检验农业生产性服务对玉米生产技术效率是否产生重要影响。[结果]目前玉米生产技术效率平均值在75%左右,有较大提升空间;农资供应服务、农业技术服务、农业信息服务、农机作业服务均能够显著提高玉米生产技术效率,但影响程度存在一定差异,其中农业信息服务对玉米生产技术效率的作用效果最为明显,其次是农机作业服务、农业技术服务和农资供应服务;性别、年龄、受教育程度、是否担任村干部、是否有农地流转、玉米收入占比对提高玉米生产技术效率有显著正向影响,是否兼业对提高玉米生产技术效率有显著负向影响。[结论]提高玉米生产技术效率要从完善农业生产性服务体系、建立农村信息服务平台、提高农户认知水平等方面入手。     

Modern Rice Technologies and Productivity in the Philippines: Disentangling Technology from Managerial Gaps

Using cross‐sectional farm‐level data from 3,164 rice‐farming households in the Philippines, we measure the impact of modern rice technologies on farm productivity while disentangling technology gaps (the distance between production frontiers) from managerial gaps (differences in technical efficiency). To do so, we combine a recently developed stochastic production frontier framework with impact evaluation techniques to control for biases stemming from observables and unobservables. First, we find an adequate control group using propensity score matching to mitigate the effect of biases from observable variables. Then, we test for biases that might arise from unobserved variables using a stochastic frontier framework corrected for self‐selection. Finally, we estimate meta‐frontiers to assess productivity differences between adopters and non‐adopters. The analysis shows that the adoption of certified seeds has a significant and positive impact on productivity, efficiency and net income in rice farming.     

Measuring technical efficiency of Spanish pig farming: Quantile stochastic frontier approach

The pig meat production plays a significant role in the Spanish agrofood system. The assessment of the efficiency performance with which farmers are operating is necessary to define adequate policy and management strategies. In this context, this study aimed to determine the technical efficiency (TE) performance of pig farms and to examine the key factors that may affect the production system in Spain. To do so, the analysis relies on the quantile stochastic frontier model using a sample of Spanish pig farms. Results show a significant difference between production frontier parameters across the selected quantiles, which support the relevance of using the quantile regression approach. The optimal quantile for the stochastic frontier indicates an average TE level of 75%. In addition, empirical findings suggest that pig farmers in Spain give more importance to the adoption of high technology to improve their economic and technical performance as well as their competitiveness at the European pig market.     

产品质量认证能否提高农户技术效率——基于山东、河北典型蔬菜种植区的证据

本文基于河北廊坊、山东寿光两地典型蔬菜种植区的1388份微观数据,利用超越对数随机前沿生产函数构建技术效率微观分析框架,在此基础上运用倾向得分匹配法构建反事实假设,估计三种不同类型的产品质量认证对农户技术效率的平均处理效应,并基于回归调整方法对产品质量认证影响农户技术效率的内部机制进行分解,评价产品质量认证对技术效率提升的具体作用路径。研究结果表明:有机农产品认证与绿色食品认证对农户技术效率具有显著的提升作用,农户的技术效率分别提高0.218和0.196;而无公害农产品认证没有显著提升农户的技术效率。考虑到某些不可观测的因素并采用稳健性估计后,该结论仍然稳健成立。此外,对效率增长的分解结果显示,有机农产品认证和绿色食品认证对技术效率的提升作用按贡献率大小依次来源于溢价激励的提升、成本压力的作用、组织支持的增强。     

The Coal Crisis in Appalachia: Agrarian Transformation,Commodity Frontiers and the Geographies of Capital

Capital's commodity frontiers strategy has at once woven together regional differences within an expanding world‐system and remade the productive and reproductive activities of humans and the rest of nature. The development of successive commodity frontiers gave way to long waves of economic expansion that have been pivotal to accelerating accumulation and transcending capital's recurrent crises. In short, commodity frontiers are constitutive of world‐ecological moments premised on booms and crises of accumulation. In this paper, I examine the coal commodity frontier in Appalachia, to illustrate the region's history as one of succeeding frontiers in and out of the region over the long twentieth century of American capitalism. I argue that the origin of Appalachia's coal frontier was decisively made through the nineteenth‐century agricultural revolution expressed outside of the region. Appalachia's full‐fledged development was an outcome of capital's under‐reproduction strategies. The crisis of the region's frontier turned on a lack of surplus from under‐reproduction strategies, competing coal basins, economic diversification and competing energy sources. I find that the commodity frontier concept not only illuminates regional political economies and ecologies of difference, but also explains the production of nature of historical capitalism.     

Urban Influence on Costs of Production in the Corn Belt

This article determines the relative technical efficiency of rural- and urban-influenced crop/livestock enterprises in the Corn Belt. Farmers in urban-influenced locations are less technically efficient than farmers in rural locations. During 1998–2000, stochastic production frontier procedures indicate that a 10% increase in urban influence leads to a close to 4% decrease in technical efficiency. The most successful urban-influenced farms have controlled costs as effectively as rural farms. They have tended to de-emphasize that nondairy livestock activities—particularly beef and hogs—do not rely extensively on off-farm income, and have relatively large, less residential/lifestyle operations compared to less successful urban-influenced farmers. However, our statistical analysis clearly bears out the refrain in popular literature that urban proximity raises the cost for, and decreases the viability of, traditional farms.     

中国农业用水效率及影响因素——基于1997—2006年省区面板数据的SFA分析

本文利用1997-2006年的省级面板数据,采用随机前沿生产函数(SFA)方法测算了中国农业生产的技术效率与灌溉用水效率,并利用Tobit模型对灌溉用水效率的影响因素进行了分析.结果表明,中国农业用水效率远低于生产技术效率,平均农业用水效率仅为0.49,这意味着在其他投入保持不变的情况下,达到目前的产量可减少一半的用水量;而且农业用水效率与生产技术效率相比地区间差异更大;西北地区是全国最具节水潜力的区域.进一步的实证分析表明,减少水密集型作物的种植、新建和改造农田水利设施、调整农业用水供给系统、加强农业水资源需求管理、采取有利于增加农民节水积极性的经济措施,对农业用水效率的提高均有积极作用.     

Value versus Volume in the Catch of the Spanish South‐Atlantic Trawl Fishery

An understanding of the link between the level of inputs and resultant level of outputs is of considerable importance when trying to manage fisheries through input controls. To this end, studies of several fisheries have been undertaken to examine this relationship through the estimation of production functions and frontiers, using either catch weight or revenue as the dependent variable. The choice of the appropriate output variable to use in the analysis will depend on the objectives of the fishermen. Maximisation of catch weight is often proposed as an objective of fishermen rather than maximisation of profits. In this paper, the technical efficiency scores of vessels operating in the Spanish south‐Atlantic trawl fishery are estimated using the stochastic production frontier approach. The production frontiers are estimated with both the weight and the value of the catch as the dependent variable. The results of the analysis suggest that fishermen adopt a range of strategies but relatively few aim to maximise catch weight only. The differences in strategies may reflect heterogeneous attitudes towards risk, with more risk averse fishermen aiming to trade‐off some potential catch value for a more certain quantity of catch.     

Tenure Security and Farm Efficiency Analysis Correcting for Biases from Observed and Unobserved Variables: Evidence from Benin

We analyse the impact of land tenure security on the technical efficiency of a sample of smallholder farmers in Benin, based on an output‐oriented stochastic distance function. We use propensity score matching to correct for selection bias from observed variables. The Greene ( 2010 ) sample selection model is used to correct for selection bias due to unobserved variables. We estimate meta‐frontiers to analyse agricultural productivity and efficiency differences between landowners and non‐owners. Our results show that non‐owners have consistently higher levels of technical efficiency and productivity.     

Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Village Reservoir Irrigation Systems of Sri Lanka

Given the importance of water for rice production, this study examines the factors affecting the technical efficiency (TE) of irrigated rice farmers in village irrigation systems (VIS) in Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected from 460 rice farmers in the Kurunagala District, Sri Lanka, to estimate a stochastic translog production frontier for rice production. The mean TE of rice farming in village irrigation was found to be 0.72, although 63% of rice farmers exceeded this average. The most influential factors of TE are membership of Farmer Organisations (FOs) and the participatory rate in collective actions organised by FOs. The results suggest that enhancement of co‐operative arrangements of farmers by strengthening the membership of FOs is considered important for increasing TE in rice farming in VIS.     

Productivity improvement in Korean rice farming: parametric and non‐parametric analysis†

The published empirical literature on frontier production functions is dominated by two broadly defined estimation approaches – parametric and non‐parametric. Using panel data on Korean rice production, parametric and non‐parametric production frontiers are estimated and compared with estimated productivity. The non‐parametric approach employs two alternative measures based on the Malmquist index and the Luenberger indicator, while the parametric approach is closely related to the time‐variant efficiency model. Productivity measures differ considerably between these approaches. It is discovered that measures of efficiency change are more sensitive to the choice of the model than are measures of technical change. Both approaches reveal that the main sources of growth in Korean rice farming have been technical change and productivity improvements in regions of the country that have been associated with low efficiency.