TECHNICAL,ECONOMIC, AND ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY IN PEASANT FARMING: EVIDENCE FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

This paper presents measures of technical (TE), economic (EE), and allocative (AE) efficiency for a sample of sixty peasant farmers in the Dajabon region of the Dominican Republic. Maximum likelihood techniques are used to estimate a Cobb-Douglas production frontier, which is then used to derive its corresponding dual cost frontier. These frontiers are the basis for obtaining farm level efficiency estimates. The results reveal average levels of TE, AE, and EE equal to 70 per cent, 44 per cent, and 31 per cent, respectively. In a second step analysis, two-limit tobit regression techniques are used to estimate three separate equations where TE, EE, and AE are expressed as functions of the following farm/farmer characteristics: contract farming, agrarian reform status, farm size, schooling, producer's age, and household size.     

Gender Inequalities and Economic Efficiency: New Evidence from Cassava‐based Farm Holdings in Rural South‐western Nigeria

Abstract: It is a widely accepted fact that persistent inequality between men and women constrains a society's productivity and ultimately slows its rate of economic growth. The economy pays for this inequality in reduced labour productivity today and diminished national output tomorrow. Motivated by this, the study aim is to assess the possibilities of enhancing productivity gains by improving the efficiency of small‐scale agriculture through gender‐responsive intra‐household allocation of resources in south‐western Nigeria. The study adopts a stochastic parametric decomposition method which yields efficiency measures that are not distorted by statistical noise to estimate the efficiency level of resource allocation by small‐scale cassava producers. The results indicate that average overall productive efficiency in the sample was 75.78 per cent, implying that small‐scale cassava farmers in the sample could reduce total variable cost by 24.22 per cent if they reduce labour, fertilizer, land and capital applications to levels observed in the changing input mix (technical efficiency) and then obtain optimal input mix for the given input prices and technology (allocative efficiency). The average technical efficiency and allocative efficiency indexes for the sample were 82.2 per cent and 92.2 per cent respectively. Also, evidence from empirical analysis of data from the male respondents showed that the average economic, technical and allocative efficiency indexes were 88.06 per cent, 89.34 per cent and 78.67 per cent respectively while the same computed for the female sample were 94.9 per cent, 74.85 per cent and 71.03 per cent respectively. Labour was the most limiting factor in cassava production suggesting that the technologies that enhance the productivity of labour are likely to achieve significant positive effects on cassava production. The paper shares the notion that producers' control over the means of production and impact of development are related and has influence on the economic efficiency and growth of society. Again, technical inefficiency constituted a more serious problem than allocative inefficiency, thus most cost savings will accrue to improvement in technical efficiency.     

Agricultural productivity and rural incomes in England and the Yangtze Delta,c.1620–c.18201

The productivity of agriculture in England and the Yangtze Delta are compared c.1620 and c.1820 in order to gauge the performance of the most advanced part of China vis‐à‐vis its counterpart in Europe. The value of real output is compared using purchasing power parity exchange rates. Output per hectare was nine times greater in the Yangtze Delta than in England. More surprisingly, output per day worked was about 90 per cent of the English performance. This put Yangtze farmers slightly behind English and Dutch farmers c.1820, but ahead of most other farmers in Europe—an impressive achievement. There was little change in Yangtze agricultural productivity between 1620 and 1820. In 1820, the real income of a Yangtze peasant family was also about the same as that of an English agricultural labourer. All was not rosy in the Yangtze, however, for incomes there were on a downward trajectory. Agriculture income per family declined between 1620 and 1820, even though income per day worked changed little since population growth led to smaller farms and fewer days worked per year. The real earnings of women in textile production also declined, since the relative price of cotton cloth dropped—possibly also because a larger population led to greater production. The implication is that the Yangtze family, unlike the English family, had a considerably higher real income c.1620, and that period was the Delta's golden age.     

Technical Efficiency Measures and Its Determinants for Olive Producing Farms in Tunisia: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Abstract: This paper investigates farm level technical efficiency of production and its determinants in a sample of 178 olive producing farms in Tunisia using a stochastic frontier production function approach applied to cross‐section data. Results indicate that technical efficiency of production in the sample of olive producing farms investigated ranges from a minimum of 58.5 per cent to a maximum of 95.5 per cent with an average technical efficiency estimate of 82 per cent. This suggests that olive producers may increase their production by as much as 18 per cent through more efficient use of production inputs. Further, the estimated coefficients in the technical inefficiency model indicate the positive effect on technical efficiency of the share of productive trees, the share of skilled labour and agricultural training. However, a negative relationship between technical efficiency and fruit trees is found.     

What are the Determinants of Large‐scale Farming in China?

The Chinese Government has increased its focus on expanding farm scale to promote agricultural development since 2010. A series of favorable polices has been adopted to support large‐scale farming. Using a multivariate probit model and 2015 and 2016 rural household survey data, the present paper examines the factors that influence small farmers' decision to become large‐scale farmers. The empirical regression results suggest that the decision to become a large‐scale farmer is significantly influenced by household human capital, cooperative membership, marketing channels, land‐transfer contracts and government policies. However, the influence of these factors differs with respect to becoming large‐scale grain and non‐grain farmers. These results imply that policy tools should target these factors and the appropriate group of small‐scale farmers. Generally, both central and local governments should promote large‐scale farming by enhancing rural households' human capital, improving marketing channels and providing agricultural social services, as well as encouraging returning migrant workers to engage in large‐scale farming.     

发达地区新型农民农业科技培训需求及意愿分析——基于宁波市的调查和分析

提高农民的农业生产技能是解决农民增收和国家粮食安全问题的有效手段,2009年一号文件提出要“开展农业科技培训,培养新型农民”。宁波市作为东部沿海发达城市,农民培训工作起步早,而且根据培训对象不同,制定形式多样的培训内容和培训方式,取得了明显的成效。文章通过问卷调查方式调查了宁波市新型农民对农业科技培训的需求及意愿,总结发达地区农民科技培训的特点,为其他地区提供参考。     

Comparing the technical efficiency of farms benefiting from different agricultural interventions in Kenya's drylands

Farmers in Kenya's drylands have difficulty accessing farm production resources and in consequence farm productivity is low. It is therefore important to find strategies for improving access to these scarce resources to help farmers use them efficiently. This paper analyses and compares the technical efficiency of five groups of small farms affected by five different agricultural interventions. The aim of the study was to identify intervention strategies that significantly improve farm efficiency. Data envelopment analysis was used to compute farm-level average technical efficiencies for each of the intervention groups. The results showed that average technical efficiency was highest for the farms that had participated in an irrigation intervention. The findings suggest that the strategies promoted by this intervention, such as access to irrigation, inputs and markets, have the most significant effect on farm efficiency.     

Comparative Economics of Maize and Rice Production among Resource-Poor Farmers in Anambra State of Nigeria

Abstract: Maize and Rice are some of the most important grains in Nigeria. Although Nigeria has the potential to become self-sufficient in their production, maize and rice production currently lags behind demand. This study has examined the characteristics of resource-poor maize and rice farmers, (defined in terms of land availability, estimated income per farmer, access to credit and capital) in Anambra State of Nigeria, the impact of these characteristics on yield, and the efficiency of use of stated inputs by the farmers. It was found that low income farmers (both maize and rice) had smaller farm size, smaller loan size (credit), adopted a smaller number of recommended production technologies, had lower levels of formal education, are younger, had a smaller household size, and less number of years of farming experience than high income farmers. The regression analysis result shows that farm size, credit, level of adoption of recommended production technologies, level of formal education of fanners, and age of farmers are significantly related to the maize farmers' output, but household size and number of years of farming experience account for less. In the case of rice farmers, the regression analysis result reveals that farm size, level of adoption of recommended production technologies and number of years of farming experience are significantly related to the farmers' output, but level of formal education of farmers, age of farmers, household size, and credit account for less. The results of gross margin analysis reveal that maize and rice production are not very profitable when the present value of the Naira in relation to cost of living in Nigeria is considered.     

非农兼业、耕地特征与农业社会化服务需求意愿——以病虫害专业化统防统治为例

基于安徽省粮食主产区农户的实地调查数据,利用多项Logit模型的研究发现农药施用决策者的非农就业状况是影响小规模农户病虫害专业化统防统治服务需求意愿的主要因素:非农业就业距离越远、时间越长、收入越高的农户,购买"承包防治"意愿越强;而种植大户倾向于选择"代防代治"方式解决临时性、季节性的农药施用劳动力短缺;但农户个体特征变量对病虫害专业化统防统治服务需求意愿影响不显著。     

Farmer clubs and smallholder agricultural development in Malawi

In 1978, the Malawi Government through its Ministry of Agriculture introduced farmer clubs into the smallholder agricultural system. These clubs were intended to be channels through which credit facilities and agricultural advice would be made available to larger numbers of farmers than hitherto.

This paper suggests that apart from their present functions, fanner clubs could form the basis of joint action for the construction of infrastructure, purchase of farm equipment, pooling of labour and the representation of small farmers’ interests. It is further suggested that these additional functions might make farmer clubs more attractive and make people want to belong to them, and more importantly, to remain members.     

Determinants of Smallholder Farmers' Marketing Channel Choice: Evidence from the Vietnamese Rice Sector

Cash crops such as specialty rice and other high‐value varieties produced for domestic and international markets are considered an increasing source of income for smallholder farmers in many Asian countries. The present study focuses on the factors affecting Vietnamese specialty rice farmers' choice of marketing channel and how their choice influences farm performance. The analysis has been conducted using multinomial logit and linear regression models on quantitative data collected from 280 specialty rice farmers in the Red River Delta, one of the main rice production regions in Vietnam. Results reveal that even though local collectors and wholesalers are still the most common recipients of farmers' goods in rural areas, reduction in transaction costs with regard to uncertainty influences farmers to choose modern marketing channels through collective action (via specialty rice farmer associations). This collective marketing channel helps farmers increase average prices received by US$0.028 per kg of paddy. Based on the results, manifold political implications are derived.     

城市社会的开放与农民的城市化

城市社会在对农民的开放与封闭之中徘徊。改革开放后城市社会对农民的开放已经使很多农民城市化。城市社会对农民的封闭已由政策性封闭转向经济性封闭。城市社会对农民的封闭增加了农民城市化的成本和社会风险。必须加强城市社会对农民的开放,逐步消除对农民的封闭政策,以推进农民的城市化。     

Non‐farm employment and incomes in rural Cambodia

Rural households in Cambodia derive income from various sources. On average, non‐farm income accounts for more than 60 per cent of total household income. However, the average masks the substantial heterogeneity of non‐farm employment. We account for this heterogeneity and find significant differences in non‐farm participation and incomes across segments of the income distribution. The poor and the less well‐educated participate less in the non‐farm sector, and when they do work in the non‐farm sector, they work in low‐paid jobs and earn lower incomes. Accounting for endogeneity and sample selection issues, we conduct an empirical enquiry of the determinants of participation in non‐farm activities and of non‐farm incomes. As expected, we find that education plays a major role in accessing more remunerative non‐farm employment. Interestingly, we do not find evidence that women, ethnic minorities, or the land‐poor are disadvantaged in access to the non‐farm sector. Geographical location plays a role in access to and income from non‐farm employment, indicating the importance of local context.     

‘Voice’ and ‘exit’ in Japanese firms during the Second World War: Sanpo revisited*

During the Second World War, the Japanese government and private sector searched for and implemented new mechanisms for coordination and motivation. One of these was sangyo hokokukai (sanpo). The Sanpo unit was basically an organization of the employer and employees of each firm, which held meetings to moderate labour relations. As a result of government policy to promote sanpo units, around 70 per cent of the total workers in Japan were organized into sanpo units in the early 1940s. As the members of trades unions and the workers of the companies that had factory committees were only 7 per cent and 5 per cent of the total workers in 1936 respectively, sanpo was the first large‐scale mechanism for Japanese employees to have a voice. This article examines the role of sanpo, using prefecture‐level and firm‐level data, based on a framework integrating the ‘voice view’ of unionism and transaction cost economics. It was found that sanpo reduced the participation rate in labour disputes, and enhanced labour productivity at least for some of the time.     

Characteristics of agricultural input package users in communal clubs serviced by Acat in KwaZulu: A note

Characteristics of communal club members who use input packages are studied using a survey of communal clubs serviced by Africa Co‐operative Action Trust (Acat) in KwaZulu during 1989. Discriminant analysis shows that full input package adopters tend to belong to older clubs, have less formal savings and receive more visits each year from KwaZulu Department of Agriculture (KDA) extension officers. They also have a greater proportion of land under sugar‐cane, larger farm sizes and a higher rand monetary value of livestock.

Members of older clubs benefit from greater club experience in ordering inputs and liquidity for securing discounts on bulk orders. Clubs also enable scarce KDA extension manpower resources to be used more effectively by focusing extension efforts on groups rather than individual farmers. Sugar‐cane production probably indicates member willingness to innovate and the availability of funds to buy complete input packages for other crops. Increased access to land promotes input package adoption which can raise agricultural productivity. Development of institutional arrangements for a land rental market in KwaZulu should be considered. Higher monetary values of livestock reflect Increased ability to bear risk associated with technology adoption and that adopters have the means to purchase input packages     

农民参与新型农村合作医疗的意愿及影响因素分析——基于河北省唐山、保定、沧州三地的调查

对河北省409户农户问卷调查分析显示，虽然大多数农民已经参合，但是农民对合作医疗的知晓度、合作医疗制度的报销比例、参合点的药价水平以及农民本身的健康状况等都会影响农民的参合意愿，进而影响合作医疗制度的可持续发展。     

Managerial failure in late Victorian Britain?: Land use and English agriculture

This article focuses upon the neglected role of agriculture in Britain's relative economic decline. Landlords and farmers stand accused of responding inadequately to the flood of American cereal imports. Land‐use changes are analysed by soil type and access to urban markets, revealing a range of opportunities and restraints, and an appropriate variety of responses. Other aspects of agriculturalists' responses to depression remain to be examined, but this exercise finds no evidence of significant managerial shortcomings. Rather, the interim verdict is similar to that on the performance of those British industrialists whose once‐savaged reputations have been partly redeemed by the researches of McCloskey, Sandberg, et al.     

公平与效率视域下的“三农问题”探讨

从经济哲学理论方面来看,三农问题的实质是公平和效率的问题。改变我国现行的“效率优先,兼顾公平”,倡导“公平与效率并重”的原则,三农问题才能够得到有效的解决。三农问题的核心是农民问题,关键是农民增收,在现行的政策、制度的基础上加大对农民的扶持力度,使农民的收入有     

Economies of size in sugar cane production in KwaZulu‐Natal

This article examines how efficiency of resource use on sugar cane farms varies with the size of a farm business, and what implications variations in performance may hold for the reallocation of resources between size‐groups in the pursuit of land redistribution. A non‐parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) research procedure is employed to analyse farm‐size efficiency using inputs valued at opportunity cost. Results indicate that sugar cane farms producing less than 500 tons of cane exhibit substantial economies of size, and require significantly more resources to produce a rand's worth of output than farms producing more than 2 500 tons of cane. Therefore, if commercial farms are subdivided in the land resettlement programme, significant loss of efficiency may occur if the resettled farms produce less than 500 tons. Finally, results of an econometric model suggest significant links between scale efficiency and farmers’ education, managerial adeptness, training, age, and the size of farm holdings.     

Measuring Potential Output for the South African Economy: Embedding Information About the Financial Cycle

Borio et al. show that information embedded in the financial cycle can serve to improve measures of potential output and output gaps. They show that incorporating information on the financial cycle yields measures of potential output and output gaps for the United States, United Kingdom and Spain that are estimated more precisely and are more robust in real time. With its well‐developed financial markets and relatively open capital markets, the South African economy is potentially susceptible to the build‐up of the sort of financial imbalances that characterised the recent financial crisis. Using the framework developed in Borio et al., a finance‐neutral measure of the output gap is estimated for South Africa. The traditional Hodrick–Prescott filter is extended to incorporate information on credit and property prices. Including financial cycle proxies result in output gaps that are estimated more precisely and are more robust to data revisions and the arrival of new data points (i.e. estimated output gaps are more robust in real time), while also reflecting the impact of financial variables on economic activity. As such, the estimated finance‐neutral output gap seems to represent a more appropriate measure on which to base monetary policy decisions.