TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY: A COMPARISON OF PRODUCTION FRONTIER METHODS

Recent differences in the measurement of farm efficiency may be related to the methods employed. Here, four alternative production frontiers are estimated using time-series, cross-section data for a sample of Illinois grain farms. Efficiency measures are found to be highly correlated between nonparametric methods, and between parametric methods. However, large differences are noted when efficiency measures are compared between nonparametric and parametric methods. An analysis of farms with large differences, which are efficient under the nonparametric method, indicates that correlations between efficiency measures are much higher when these firms are excluded.     

FRONTIER PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS AND THE MEASUREMENT OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY

A measure of relative producer performance is often useful for policy purposes and the concept of economic efficiency provides a theoretical basis for such a measure. Yet several authors argue that the concept of efficiency and conventional efficiency measures are meaningless for the evaluation of real-world performance. This paper examines some of the issues and argues that producers' performance may be measured using the concept of technical efficiency. Alternative technical efficiency measures are examined including those of Timmer (1971) and Kopp (1981). A frontier production function is estimated for a cross-section of North West farms and these two measures are computed under various assumptions on the fixity of agricultural inputs.     

MEASUREMENT OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE OF PAKISTAN

The objective of this study is to measure technical efficiency, using a translog frontier production function on cross-sectional data from 397 farms in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan in 1988–89. The estimated farm level technical efficiency is found to be dependent upon levels of credit and education, farmers' ages and the extent of land fragmentation. Lack of education, restricted credit and fragmented holdings are found to be causes of inefficiency; hence policies which consolidate holdings, provide credit or educate farmers will tend to improve efficiency in agriculture.     

EVALUATING DEMAND FOR DEER HUNTING: A COMPARISON OF METHODS

This study compares two methods of estimating hunters' demand for deer hunting in an area in Southwest Manitoba. Benefits to hunters are calculated from estimated demand using the concept of consumers' surplus. Methods used to estimate demand are: (1) a travel-cost approach and (2) an interview on hunters' willingness to pay for hunting. The results from the two methods are not identical. Likely reasons for this and suggestions for further research are discussed. Although the two methods probably measure different things and may be subject to different errors, it is felt that use of both methods provides a useful check on the validity of results
Cette étude compare deux méthodes d'estimation de la demande de la chasse au chevreuil dans un terrilore donne du sud ouest Manitoba. En utilisant le principe de l'excédent aux consommateurs, les bénifices aux chasseurs sont déduits à partir de la demande estimée. Les méthodes utilisées afin d'estimer cette demande sont: (1) le coût de transportation, et (2) une entrevue afin de sonder le degré d'acceptance de payer pour chasser. Les résultats obtenus par ces deux méthodes ne sont pas identiques. Les raisons probables de tels résultats et les suggestion apportées en vue de recherches futures y sont discutées. Malgre que ces deux méthodes calculent probablement des entilés différentes et q'elles sont sujettes a des erreurs differentes, l'on croit que utilisation de pair de ces méthodes apporte une vérification fort utile de la validité des résultats     

辽宁省粮食生产技术效率分析

该文利用1994～2009年省粮食生产相关数据,采用超越对数随机前沿生产函数模型,对辽宁省粮食生产技术效率变化和影响因素进行分析。结果表明,辽宁省粮食生产技术效率总体上还有待进一步提高的潜力,而加强农田灌溉设施和提高农机装备水平、提升农技服务、继续加大粮食生产补贴政策以及加强防灾减灾能力建设是提高粮食生产技术有效性的重要政策取向。     

A COMPARISON OF DEPRECIATION METHODS UNDER CURRENT COST ACCOUNTING

In New Zealand the Richardson Report has recommended to government the adoption of a form of inflation accounting known as Current Cost Accounting (CCA). This paper reports research carried out to determine which of the traditional historical cost depreciation methods used in farm accounting might be most appropriate when adapted to a current cost basis. The current cost depreciation methods are compared on the basis of their ability to predict accurately actual replacement values for a survey sample of farm tractors and headers. The resultant measures of depreciation are compared with those currently allowable under New Zealand taxation laws, and the proposition that investment allowances on purchases of new machinery offset the inadequacies of historical cost depreciation is discussed.     

A FURTHER NOTE ON THE MEASUREMENT OF EFFICIENCY AND ECONOMIES OF FARM SIZE

Efficiency has a precise meaning in the case of the optimally conditions associated with the perfectly competitive norm. However, the efficiency concept loses a precise meaning and much of its usefulness under real world conditions of uncertainty and costly information since efficiency is inescapably evaluative and cannot be defined and measured independently of the goals and knowledge of the decision maker. Similarly, the concept ‘economies of size’ is shown to lose its normative significance when specialised resources and other unique aspects of the firm are taken into account. Although the economist has no objective procedure by which to measure the efficiency of entrepreneurial activity, it is argued that in the real world of uncertainty and disequilibrium, there is always scope for entrepreneurial activity in the sense of unexploited profit opportunities.     

THE MEASUREMENT OF MANAGERIAL EFFICIENCY IN AGRICULTURE*

This paper is an outline only of a Ph.D. thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham. The paper proposes a socio-economic model of farm production with special emphasis placed on the role of management: formulates an econometric model, to represent the socio-economic model, in which the degree of managerial efficiency appears as a variable, and suggests means of interpretation of the econometric model to aid farm planning at the individual farm level.     

肉羊养殖技术效率测算与地区差异研究

目的 明晰我国肉羊养殖成本收益情况,测算肉羊养殖技术效率,比较分析地区差异。方法 文章基于BC92随机前沿分析模型,测算2004—2020年我国农区、牧区及半农半牧区家庭散养肉羊、规模户山羊与绵羊的技术效率。结果 （1）饲料与人工投入对我国肉羊活重产出有显著的促进作用。（2）当前而言,我国家庭散养肉羊的养殖技术效率高于规模养殖,而改良绵羊规模养殖的技术效率高于本种绵羊和山羊。（3）我国牧区家庭散养肉羊的养殖技术效率最高,半农半牧区其次,农区最低。山羊与绵羊规模养殖的技术效率则是牧区高于半农半牧区。结论 增加基础要素投入,优化饲料与人工资源配置效率。推进肉羊规模养殖现代化,研发推广肉羊优良品种,刺激生产前沿面外扩。完善牧区养殖示范基地建设,辐射带动农区与半农半牧区肉羊产业发展。坚持创新驱动发展,建立健全肉羊产业优惠政策体系。     

ANALYSIS OF THE TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OVER TIME OF WEST JAVANESE RICE FARMS

The high costs and effectiveness of Indonesia's current mix of policies aimed at maintaining rice self-sufficiency, for example fertiliser and other subsidies, has been questioned. Consequently, attention has turned to developing policies to increase farmers yields through efficiencies, for example as a result of better extension. The main issue investigated in this article is whether existing yields can be significantly improved through increasing the efficiency of individual farmers. Production frontiers are estimated and technical efficiencies/inefficiencies predicted from panel data and for one year at a time. Different results are explained in relation to a number of aspects, especially the rate of adoption of new technologies, and policy actions are recommended. The robustness of the analysis is examined as conclusions obtained from past analyses have often been inconsistent.     

中国北方大规模生猪养殖技术效率研究

[目的]通过对我国北方地区大规模生猪养殖技术效率进行测度,以期发现影响其技术效率增长的主要因素,为我国现阶段生猪养殖业战略性区划调整"南猪北进"工作提供实践指导和理论支持。[方法]根据随机前沿分析方法 (SFA)基本原理,运用对数型柯布—道格拉斯生产函数及我国北方大规模生猪养殖数据构建中国北方大规模生猪养殖随机前沿分析模型,对我国北方大规模生猪养殖技术效率进行测度并据此提出相关建议。[结果]北方地区大规模生猪养殖技术效率值纵向上来看整体在不断下降,而从地域上来看内蒙古自治区和东北地区技术效率值较高,北京与西北地区技术效率值较低。[结论]内蒙古自治区与东北地区适宜作为大规模生猪养殖承载地,与国家政策具有一致性;华北地区与西北地区大规模生猪养殖技术效率测度值较低,存在较大改进空间;针对该现状提出构建经济效益与环境保护并重的规模生态生猪养殖体系。     

A COMPARISON OF RISK EFFICIENCY CRITERIA IN EVALUATING GROUNDNUT PERFORMANCE IN DROUGHT-PRONE AREAS

This paper contributes to an evaluation of the performance of ground nuts in drought-prone areas by estimating yield response functions to water from experimental data. They are combined with meteorological data to simulate yields by location. Efficient genotypes are identified by several risk criteria. Genotype rankings based on these risk criteria and simulated yields are different from those based on experimental data and plant scientists' traditional methods of evaluation.     

粮食产量空间化中4种误差修正方法的对比与分析

[目的]空间化作为一种常用的地学数据处理方法,必然会存在一定的误差,而对空间化结果进行误差修正,可以降低空间化误差。[方法]文章以2005年粮食产量空间化为例,以各地市不同农田类型(水田、水浇地、旱地)面积数据为自变量,以各地市粮食产量统计数据为因变量,进行多元线性回归分析建模。在具体建模时,令常数项为0,将全国分为7个区,各区分别建立回归方程。然后分别利用4种误差修正方法对空间化初步结果进行修正。选取4种误差评价因子,对修正前后的空间化结果的精度进行对比和分析。[结果](1)均值法不能被用于修正空间化初步结果;(2)比例系数法、权重系数法Ⅰ(不同农田类型同一权重)和权重系数法Ⅱ(不同农田类型不同权重)3种方法都可以被用于修正空间化初步结果;(3)利用权重系数法Ⅰ修正后的空间化结果的精度最高,比例系数法次之,权重系数法Ⅱ最差。[结论]误差修正方法对提高空间化精度具有重要影响。该研究虽以粮食产量空间化为例,但所得结论同样适用于其他社会经济统计数据的空间化研究,对以后统计型数据空间化研究具有一定的参考价值和指导作用。     

中国柑橘种植业技术效率评估及影响因素分析

[目的]研究中国柑橘种植业的技术效率、变化趋势及其影响因素,为柑橘种植行业效率评价和政策引导提供借鉴。[方法]采用超越对数生产函数随机前沿分析模型,利用我国8个柑橘主产省市2007—2015年的柑橘种植经营的面板数据,分类测算了柑橘种植技术效率、时序演变规律,并对影响因素了进行了分析。[结果](1)柑橘种植技术效率整体上呈现上升趋势,橘类生产技术效率整体平均水平高于柑类,柑类的生产种植技术效率由0. 26提升到0. 85,橘类的生产种植技术效率在0. 83-0. 95区间窄幅振动;(2)柑橘生产种植技术效率存在区域差异,东部省份和西部省份的柑类生产种植平均技术效率基本持平,中部省份的柑类种植生产技术效率相对处于低位,而西部地区的橘类生产技术效率整体上呈现显著的上升趋势;(3)化肥和农药为主的直接物资与服务投入对柑橘产出的增长效果具有负效应;(4)橘类的种植经营中存在显著的规模经济效应,柑类的规模经济效应不显著。[结论]技术进步在柑橘生产种植中正在发挥重要作用,单纯的依靠化肥、农业和劳动的投入增长,会带来效率的损失;生产规模的提高有助于柑橘生产的技术效率提升;在柑橘生产种植需要转换增长动能,更加注重柑橘生产过程中的有机、绿色属性,提升生产经营规模,实现适度规模经营,促进技术效率的提高,进而促进柑橘种植者的收入水平,实现产业扶贫的目标。     

MEASURING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY FROM PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS: SOME FURTHER ESTIMATES

The concept of economic and technical efficiency is fundamental to agricultural policy-making, and Russell and Young (1983) in this Journal provide a recent addition to the literature for British agriculture. They estimate technical efficiency for a cross-section of farms in the North-West of England for the year 1977/8. However, such measures for a single year may be influenced by particular events in that year. This paper considers some further estimates of farm efficiency but for the longer, four-year period 1974/5 to 1977/8. Three measures of technical efficiency are estimated, two using econometric techniques and one using linear programming methods. It is found that there are low correlations between these different measures of technical efficiency both over time and at one point in time. This casts doubt on the usefulness of measuring efficiency using cross-section (single period) survey data.     

时间序列植被指数重构方法比对研究

时间序列植被指数在植被遥感监测中发挥着重要的作用,但其往往存在大量噪声影响,在应用之前需要进行时序植被指数重构。耕地植被指数是进行农作物长势监测与估产以及农业生态系统对气候变化响应等研究的重要工具,本研究借助MODIS植被指数产品,以东北三省耕地为研究区域,针对非对称高斯函数拟合（AG）、双Logistic函数拟合（DL）和Savitzky-Golay滤波（SG）三种常见的时序植被指数重构方法,从原始数据质量对时间序列植被指数重构的影响、不同重构方法对原始数据的保真性和基于不同重构方法的耕地生长季长度空间格局等方面进行了对比分析。首先对NDVI及其质量控制数据进行分析,探讨原始数据质量对时序植被指数重构的影响;然后选择若干随机抽样点,从定性和定量两个角度来评价不同方法对时序植被指数的重构效果;最后借助研究区的耕地物候特征,间接对不同的时序植被指数重构方法进行对比。结果表明,在东北三省利用这三种方法进行耕地时序植被指数重构时需要引入质量控制数据,AG拟合和DL拟合在该地区耕地时序植被指数重构时表现相似且比SG滤波更加适宜。