The relative efficiency of slave agriculture: a comment

In their book Time on the Cross, Fogel and Engerman (FE) present evidence that average factor productivity was greater for larger Southern slave farms in 1860 than for both free farms and smaller slave farms. In a recent article, Field (1988) lends support to the FE theory by finding that an upward shift in the production function occurs for slave farms at 15 slaves, the size at which FE propose that gang labour became feasible. In a more recent article, Grabowski and Pasurka (GP) contradict both FE and Field by finding that there was no relationship between the size of slave farms and their efficiency. The present paper extends both GP's and Field's work and refines a point made by FE. We distinguish between a technological advantage due to the gang labour system and revenue inefficiency due both to the incentive structure of slavery and the repugnance of gang labour, two factors which foster rational shirking and resistance by slaves. That is, we propose that relative to small slave farms, large slave farms may have enjoyed a higher revenue frontier but that actual output and revenue fell farther below their frontier. Our construction is consistent with the historical view that emphasizes the harshness of slavery, the repugnance of the gang labour system, and the rational resisting behaviour of the slaves. We test this hypothesis with the stochastic frontier function approach as did GP. However, our findings contradict them. We find, consistent with both FE and Field, that large slave farms exhibited superior technology over small farms. More importantly, we find empirical confirmation of our theory that large slave farms suffered greater revenue inefficiency than smaller slave farms.     

Biology, Diseases, and Economics: An Epidemiological History of Slavery in the American South

The economic history of antebellum southern slavery has been and is the subject of ongoing debates among scholars. The literature includes assessments about the efficiency of slavery as well as about the adequacy of slave living standards and diets. Yet this literature under appreciates the important biologic and historical role that parasitic diseases played in the history of slavery. Recognizing the role of parasitic diseases calls into question some prevailing interpretations of slavery. Lacking direct evidence on slave diets, scholars turned to anthropometric evidence as proxies for the living standards of slaves, leading to the prevailing view that adult slaves were given adequate sustenance, but slave infants and children were severely malnourished. We argue it was not slave diets, but the combination of the plantation system and diseases that caused abnormally small slave children. The diseases that concern us, primarily hookworm and malaria, affected slaves ('blacks') and free labor ('whites') differently. Many slaves were concentrated on large plantations with infants and younger children crowded into 'nurseries.' This system allowed the maintenance and spread of diseases that adversely affected younger slaves. Southern white children however were less likely to be raised in conditions so conductive to parasitic diseases. The disease ecology of the antebellum South has implications for the prevailing view that slavery was more efficient than free labor. Biologic evidence indicates that people of tropical West African ancestry are more resilient to the effects of hookworm and malaria than European descendents. Thus when whites did contract these diseases, they were more afflicted than blacks. When slaves entered the adult work force they were taken from disease breeding grounds (slave nurseries) and sent into relatively (for blacks) healthy fields, while whites that went into the fields found a disease environment that was typically worse than that of their childhood. If black adults were more productive than were white adults because of a greater resilience to parasitic diseases, then part of any measured difference in productivity between slave and free farms should be attributed to the disease resistance of African descendents, rather than to any inherent efficiencies of slavery.     

Measuring technical efficiency in the Greek agricultural sector

This paper measures the degree of technical efficiency of Greek farms at discrete points in time. Stochastic frontier production functions are estimated from four annual Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) surveys of the 1992–1995 period. From the results, a measure of technical efficiency is calculated for each farm for each year. The four distributions of technical efficiency values are examined and compared. All four samples show a wide range of farm-specific technical efficiency but efficiency is improving over the period. The paper also presents frontier estimates for small and large farms classified according to economic size. In that case, technical efficiency measures are calculated and their distributions are examined and compared. The results show that large farms are more efficient than small farms. However, efficiency is improving in both size farms over the period. In general, the results of this study indicate that there is substantial scope for improving technical efficiency of Greek farms.     

The measurement of entry rates: Reply

The purpose of this paper is to respond to the comment by James H. Love on our 1991 paper inEmpirica explicitly examining the impact that the two distinct methods used to measure entry rates have had in influences made from statistical analyses. While we generally concur with Love's extension of our original paper, we do suggest that both theecological approach to measuring entry rates as well as thelabor market approach has an important contribution to make. What determines which method should be used to measure entry is the fundamental question being addressed.     

Grain and sunflower on Russian farms in 2001: how efficient is crop production?

An unusually detailed sample of large farms in Rostov, Ivanovo and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia in 2001 allows microeconomic examination of the production of grain and sunflower crops on Russian farms. Farms are found to have some excess capital and labour, but not land and other types of capital. New operators are found to be more efficient than other farms thought they do not necessarily produce more output. Neither rural infrastructure, location nor specialisation has a clear impact on farm efficiency. How workers are paid is found to be a potential short‐term method for improving farm efficiency that would not involve major farm restructuring.     

信息不对称、分成契约与超限额采伐--中国国有森林资源变化的理论分析和实证考察

本文回顾了改革开放以来国有林业企业管理体制的演变 ,通过多任务委托代理模型探讨了这一演变过程中利润分成和采伐限额两个不相容的政府政策激励对国有林业企业经营者激励的影响 ,特别是信息不对称条件下其对木材采伐的影响 ,从而解释了国有林业企业普遍存在的超限额采伐的经济原因。通过全国 2 8个省 5次全国森林资源普查的面板数据 ,通过使用国有林业企业的平均面积作为政府与国有林业企业委托—代理关系中信息不对称的代理变量 ,从实证上验证了信息不对称将会导致超限额采伐和国有林资源增长率下降的假说     

Measuring farm sustainability and explaining differences in sustainable efficiency

A major objective of European agricultural policy is to have a sustainable and efficient farming sector that is applying environmentally-friendly production methods. Policy makers aim to combine a strong economic performance and a sustainable use of natural resources. Therefore, it is important to measure and to assess farm sustainability. For a large dataset of Flemish dairy farms, a valuation method that is based on the concept of opportunity costs is used to calculate and analyze differences among the sample farms with respect to the creation of “sustainable value”. But more important than measuring the creation of sustainable value is to analyze differences in sustainable efficiency. Therefore, sustainable efficiency measures are calculated and differences in sustainable efficiency are explained. Using panel data, an effect model captures the determinants of sustainable efficiency of the studied farms. The empirical model shows that, in general, larger farms have a higher sustainable efficiency. Also farmer's age and dependency on support payments proved to be determining characteristics for observed differences in sustainable efficiency.     

Towards a sustainable and efficient use of manure in agriculture: The Dutch case

Rapid increases in livestock production in the Netherlands have changed manure from a valuable input into a mere waste product. This is especially true for the southern and eastern parts of the country, where specialized pig and poultry farms have concentrated on sandy soils. As these farms generally own very little land, they largely depend on imported feedstuffs. As a consequence, manure is applied to the land in such large quantities that serious environmental problems have resulted: (1) eutrophication of surface water by phosphate emissions; (2) pollution of groundwater by nitrate emissions; and (3) acidification by ammonia emissions.In the last few years the Dutch government has developed a manure policy to counteract these effects. Our analysis of that policy has revealed at least three fundamental defects, which render the manure policy ineffective and inefficient. In this paper proposals are made to remove the defects in current manure policy. Much attention is paid to the problem of designing a mixture of policy instruments which is both effective as well as efficient in limiting the environmental problems caused by manure. It is shown that the use of financial incentives in regulation can substantially improve the efficiency of the manure policy. Finally, the main economic consequences of the proposed policy are examined for the public sector as well as for the agricultural sector.     

Can a Contract Solve Hold-Up When Investments Have Externalities? A Comment on De Fraja (1999)

This comment finds an error in De Fraja (1999), the correction of which overturns its main result. In contrast to his claim, under a mild condition, the suggested contract is not only unable to solve the hold-up problem but it can provide almost no incentive for specific investments, when they exhibit sufficiently large direct externalities. His result holds primarily when the investments have no externalities. We remark on a related result in the literature and propose an alternative contract that achieves efficiency. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C70, J41, K12, L22.     

Sharecropping and the capitalist transition in agriculture: Some evidence from the highlands of Ecuador

Sharecropping has been the subject of much debate among economists concerned with static efficiency and, to some extent, with equity. This paper shifts the focus to the dynamics of structural change. The research reported adds to the discussion a detailed account of a large number of sharecropping contracts and why they vary, and offers a theory of the relationship between sharecropping as practised in the Ecuadorian province of Carchi and a particular pattern of structural change which is described as the transition to an agrarian structure dominated by capitalised family farms. The prevalent use of wage labour on sharecropped land, and the place of sharecropping in intergenerational asset transfers are shown to be important elements in explaining this transition.     

Determinants of technical efficiency of crop and livestock farms in Poland

Poland, one of the candidate countries for European Union membership, is currently experiencing acute structural problems within its agriculture sector. This article analyses technical efficiency and its determinants for a panel of individual farms in Poland specialized in crop and livestock production in 2000. Technical efficiency is estimated with stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and confidence intervals are constructed. Determinants of inefficiency are also evaluated. The SFA results are compared with results using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). On average, livestock farms are more technically efficient than crop farms. For both specializations, the size–efficiency relationship is positive, that is large farms are more efficient. The SFA findings are generally supported by the DEA results. Soil quality and the degree of integration with downstream markets are highly important determinants of efficiency. The use of factor markets (land and labour) is important for crop farms, while livestock farms can rely on family labour and own land. Also, education is a constraint to efficiency particularly for crop farms.     

Industrial conglomerates,risk spreading and the transition in Russia

This article explains the lasting transition crisis of Russian agriculture by applying Hayami & Ruttan's theory of induced innovation. The empirical analysis uses Russian farm data. For various types of farms factor intensities and partial factor productivities are calculated to identify differences in productivity between them. We identify the mechanism through which institutional frictions in Russia influence the choice of technology and the adaptation of technological change. Finally, policy recommendations are derived to make technical change more consistent with relative factor supplies and prices, and improve productivity, especially of inefficient farm types. In our view nothing speaks in favour of expensive Western ‘high-tech’ machinery imports to enhance the efficiency of Russian farms (especially larger ones). Until now the poor operation of domestic markets in Russia has obstructed a sufficient supply of Russian technology consistent with relative scarcities.     

Norms and Rationality in the Evolution of Economic Systems: A View from Asian Villages

The evolution of economic systems is viewed as a process in which various informal arrangements are experimented with for improving efficiency under changed economic environments, some of which may survive and become established as new social norms. The process is illustrated by a micro case study of Philippine villages. It reveals the ability of peasants subsisting on small farms to resolve a major disequilibrium between labour's marginal productivity and the wage rate resulting from the intro duction of modern rice technology, by creating, on the basis of their traditional experience, an appropriate institution consistent with their cultural norm. Concurrently, large estate farms were seen to arrive at an inferior outcome because of their inability to utilize the peasant community's norm, thereby demonstrating the existence of multiple equilibria
JEL Classification Numbers: D23, O17, P51     

Productivity,technical efficiency and technological change in French agriculture during 2002-2015: a Färe-Primont index decomposition using group frontiers and meta-frontier

The objective of the article is to assess productivity change in French agriculture during 2002–2015; namely, total factor productivity (TFP) change and its components – technological change and efficiency change. For this, we use the Färe-Primont index which verifies the multiplicatively completeness property and is also transitive, allowing for multi-temporal and -lateral comparisons. We investigate the extent of heterogeneity within each type of farming sub-sample in terms of TFP change, with the help of the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI). In addition, to compare the technologies among the five types of farming considered, we extend our analysis to the meta-frontier framework. Results indicate that during 2002–2015, all farms experienced TFP progress. The smallest average increase was experienced by the dairy farms and the largest by the field crop farms and the beef farms. The latter had the strongest technological progress but a deterioration in efficiency, while the opposite was found for field crop farms. The analysis of HHI reveals that sheep or goat farms are the most homogenous in terms of the direction of TFP change experienced over the period 2002–2015. The meta-frontier analysis shows that field crop farms’ technology is the most productive of all the types of farming.     

THE INEQUALITY OF WEALTH I N BRITAIN'S NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RELATIVELY POOR

This paper presents original estimates of the distribution of personal wealth in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1871 using the estate multiplier technique and discusses the sensitivity of estimates of the wealth distribution to the assumed wealth holdings of non-probated decedents. We examine, in particular, the implications of assuming: (1) that non-probated decedents had zero wealth, (2) that the wealth distribution was quasi-Paretian (with parameters that can be estimated from the distribution of wealth of probated decedents) or (3) that the wealth distribution had the form assumed by A. H. Jones in her analysis of wealth inequality in the Thirteen Colonies in 1774. We conclude that it is unlikely that large estates escaped the probate process in Nova Scotia, but it is also unlikely that all non-probated decedents had equal wealth-thus our "best guess" is that the wealth distribution of non-probated decedents was quasi-Paretian. However, a methodology similar to Jones' would have implied considerably less measured inequality in the wealth distribution and greater average wealth in 1871– and would therefore have altered our perception of long term trends in the distribution of wealth and in the rate of accumulation of wealth. The measurement of wealth inequality in a society with a significant slave population, such as the thirteen colonies in 1774, is also highly sensitive to the treatment of slavery. Our preferred estimates of wealth inequality in Nova Scotia in 1871 and in the Thirteen Colonies in 1774 indicate a much higher inequality in the distribution of personal wealth than exists today.     

Contract farmer and poultry farm efficiency in Bangladesh: a data envelopment analysis

The objective of this article is to determine the efficiency of the poultry farm in Bangladesh and to assess the influence of contract farming system, using a data envelopment analysis. Seventy-five commercial poultry farms (25 and 50 independent and contract farms, respectively) were randomly selected. The results reveal that efficiency scores vary across sample farms. To explain some of these variations, the efficiency scores were regressed on some human capital variables and farming system using a Tobit model. The study also estimates elasticities to provide the information on the magnitude of the influence of variables on Technical Efficiency (TE), Allocative Efficiency (AE) and Economic Efficiency (EE). The results show that the contracting system is positively and significantly related to the farm's TE, AE and EE. This is expected because under contractual agreement, in order to obtain sufficient supplies of the right quality of poultry meat at the right time, the company provides technical know how assistance through company's recruited supervisor, production inputs and services, and production credit along with intensive supervision, which in turn improves farm efficiency. Thus, by receiving technical know how contract farmers have gained more knowledge on their resource and practices, which enables them to use resources more efficiently. Empirical results can provide crucial information to policy makers that improve poultry farm efficiency.     

Efficiency,technological change and output growth in Greek olive growing farms: a Box-Cox approach

This paper captures the relative contributions of input growth, technological change and technical efficiency to olive oil production growth for a panel data set of 125 Greek olive-growing farms for the period 1987 to 1993. A flexible generalized quadratic Box-Cox functional form is proposed to represent the underlying production technology. This functional specification copes with the problem of zero inputs and nests all widely used production frontiers. Empirical results show that the observed production growth is mainly due to increased input use since it was not accompanied by rapid introduction of technological innovations and improvements in efficiency levels.     

规模化养殖对我国肉鸡生产效率的影响——基于随机前沿生产函数的实证分析

采用随机前沿方法,利用2004—2010年我国24个省份的肉鸡生产数据,实证分析了规模化养殖对我国肉鸡生产效率的影响,并对不同养殖规模的肉鸡生产效率进行了测度和比较。结果显示:规模化养殖很大程度上提高了我国肉鸡生产效率,中规模养殖使肉鸡生产效率提高了16.89%,大规模养殖使肉鸡生产效率提高了57.62%;我国肉鸡生产效率的地区差异较大,且南方地区不同养殖规模的肉鸡生产效率存在显著差异,而北方地区的这种差异较小;标准化规模养殖程度不高是南方地区的肉鸡生产效率总体偏低且不同养殖规模的肉鸡生产效率存在较大差异的主要原因。     

The myth of large farm superiority: Lessons from agricultural transition in poland

In Poland, larger farms are often actively promoted over small farms. This policy is based on the perception that there are economies of scale that favor large farms; however, this is contrary to international evidence, which generally indicates that larger farms are less efficient and use less labor than smallscale family farms.

Using both total factor productivity measures and data envelopment analysis, empirical findings from Poland suggest that larger farms are no more efficient than smaller farms, and smaller farms are relatively more labor-intensive. These results have important policy implications for farm restructuring in Poland and other transition economies.     

Droughts,conflict, and the African slave trade

Historians have frequently suggested that droughts helped facilitate the African slave trade. By introducing a previously unused dataset on 19th century rainfall levels in Africa, I provide the first empirical examination of this hypothesis. I find a strong negative relationship between rainfall shocks and the number of slaves exported from a given region. I also find that extreme temperature shocks in either direction increase slave exports. Building on the detailed qualitative work of Dias (1981), Miller (1982), and others, I provide quantitative evidence for interethnic group conflict and more localized forms of violence being likely mechanisms through which these additional slaves were acquired. These results contribute to our understanding of the underlying economic conditions of the African slave trade.