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on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2012‒07‒23
forty-nine papers chosen by |
| By: | Moreira, Victor H.; Bravo-Ureta, Boris E.; Dunner, Roberto; Vidal, Ricardo |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the connection between total factor productivity change and dairy farm size in Southern Chile, a translog stochastic production frontier is estimated using an unbalanced panel for 2005-2009 including 417 farms and 1,186 observations. Descriptive analyses and econometric evidence indicate that the farms exhibit decreasing returns to size, productivity gains through technical efficiency or management improvements are limited while technological progress is rather low; thus, investments in research appear promising. Although the findings reveal that farm size is not associated with productivity growth, a clear positive association between farm size and net income is found. |
| Keywords: | total factor productivity, stochastic frontiers, dairy farm size, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126895&r=eff |
| By: | Nhu Che; Tom Kompas; Vilaphonh Xayavong; David Cook |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses productivity, profitability and efficiency by climate zone for the WA grains industry over the past 30 years. More specifically, following the studies by the Department of Agriculture and Food of Western Australia (2011) and Che, et.al (2012), this paper uses the Törnqvist formula index to measure and analyse movements in inputs, outputs, climate conditions, Total Factor Productivity (TFP), and TFP adjusted by climate impacts for WA grains farms in six climate zones over the period 1980 to 2009-10. Estimates provide a stochastic production frontier and technical efficiency model for six rainfall zones (including the High Rainfall North and South zones; the Medium Rainfall North and South zones and Low Rainfall North and South zones), which determine the relative importance of land, labour, capital, materials, fuel and energy inputs into wheat production and the effects of climate zone on farm efficiency. A construction of overall farm profiles in Medium Rainfall zones based on the efficiency rankings of grain farms is also generated. |
| Keywords: | productivity, profitability, Western Australia, efficiency, climate impacts, grain production |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:crwfrp:1208&r=eff |
| By: | Mazvimavi, Kizito; Ndlovu, Patrick V.; An, Henry; Murendo, Conrad |
| Abstract: | This study sought to evaluate the performance of conservation agriculture (CA) technology-essentially comparing productivity and efficiency levels in maize production in CA and conventional farming. The analysis is based on a three year panel sample of smallholder farming households and employing a stochastic production frontier model compare productivity and technical efficiency between CA and conventional farming. Study results indicate that CA technology is implemented in relatively smaller plots than conventional farming (0.36ha compared to 0.85ha) but has a significant contribution to total maize production, on average 50% of output share. Output elasticities indicate positive responses for labor and seed in CA, and negative responses in conventional farming. On the other hand, there are negative responses to land and draft in CA. Fertilizer has a greater positive response in CA than in conventional farming. Overall returns to scale are similar for CA and conventional farming (0.84 and0.89 respectively). There is evidence of technical progress in CA for the three year panel period. Technical progress has been land-saving but seed and fertilizer-using in CA, while land-using and seed-saving in conventional farming. Joint frontier estimates indicate that farmers will produce 39% more in CA compared to conventional farming. Technical efficiency levels are generally the same (about 68%) for both technologies. Two-thirds of farmers achieve efficiency scores in the 60-80% range both CA and conventional farming technologies. These results show significant yield gains in CA practices and significant contributions to food production. CA is land-saving, and this is an important issue for land constrained farmers because they can still have viable food production on smaller area. But high labor demands in CA present some problems in adoption, particularly for the poorer farmers. |
| Keywords: | Conservation agriculture, productivity, efficiency, technical change, Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126767&r=eff |
| By: | Poudel, Krishna Lal; Yamamoto, Naoyuki; Johnson, Thomas G. |
| Abstract: | Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach was used to estimate technical efficiency and followed by regressing the technical efficiency scores to farm specific characters under tobit regression model. Primary data was collected from random samples of 240 (120 from each) coffee famers. Mean technical efficiency score was 0.89 and 0.83 in organic and conventional coffee farming respectively. Farms operating under constant return to scale (CRS), decreasing return to scale (DRS) and increasing return to scale (IRS) were 31.67, 3.83 and 37.5% respectively in organic coffee and 29.17, 25 and 45.83% respectively in conventional farming areas. These scale technology defines a production set that is closed and convex with property of strong disposability. Tobit regression showed the variation in technical efficiency was related education, farm experience and training/extension services and access to credit. Farmers would reconsider the rationing of input and learn from technically efficient farms practices. Policy implication will rest on production planning strategy. |
| Keywords: | Production frontier, Resource use, Technical efficiency, Organic, Altitude, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126882&r=eff |
| By: | Latruffe, Laure; Bravo-Ureta, Boris E.; Moreira, Victor H.; Desjeux, Yann; Dupraz, Pierre |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the association between agricultural subsidies and farm efficiency using data from the European Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for operations specializing on dairy. The analysis covers the 18 year period going from 1990 to 2007 and includes eleven countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Separate translog stochastic input distance frontiers are estimated for each country. Results show high technical efficiency averages and positive average rates of technological change. In addition, higher subsidy dependence and larger size are significantly associated with lower technical efficiency across all eleven countries. |
| Keywords: | Subsidies, CAP, technical efficiency, technological progress, Europe, dairy production, input distance frontiers, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126846&r=eff |
| By: | Kibonge, Aziza |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126908&r=eff |
| By: | Constant, Labintan Adeniyi; Shijun, Ding |
| Abstract: | This paper explored the Benin agricultural productivity and profitability under occurred reform since 1961 to 2008. Productivity and profitability has been evaluated using the new approach developed by O’Donnell(2008).In the approach Productivity is obtain using Hick Moorsteen index decomposition into Technical Change, mix Efficiency change and Scale Efficiency Change while Profitability is obtain using productivity and Term of Trade product. To achieved the purpose of this paper, agricultural output-input quantity and prices data have been collected from FAO stat, Benin Country FAO statistical database and Benin National Agricultural Institute Database during the period 1961-2008. All data are computing using the DPIN software developed by O’Donnell (2010). It is found that since the country national independency in 1961, Benin agriculture productivity has decreased. The decreased has been more significant after the sector liberalization while the term of trade has been much improved and profitability increased. This situation explains that after the liberalization, competiveness has decreased and monopolization increased. It can be conclude that most private stakeholder involve in the sector during post liberalization has earn more profit than invest to contribute at the sector productivity growth. The paper indentify that the country doesn’t improved agricultural productivity after the sector liberalization in opposite to the normal figure that liberalization will stimulate technology transfer and development which will improve productivity. The situation will then highlight policies maker to identify news strategy which can help to optimize the production and agriculture resources efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural-Productivity- Profitability-Benin-Reform, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126748&r=eff |
| By: | Ludena, Carlos E. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses total factor productivity growth in agriculture and its subsectors in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1961 and 2007. To estimate productivity growth we use the Malmquist index, which is a non-parametric methodology that uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods. The results show that among developing regions, Latin America and the Caribbean shows the highest agricultural productivity growth, growing at an average rate of 1.9 percent, relative to a world average of 1.7 percent. The higher growth within the region has occurred in the last two decades, especially due to improvements in efficiency and the introduction of new technologies. This result denotes convergence of the region to productivity levels of developed countries such as the United States. Country level results within the region are very heterogeneous. However, land abundant countries such as Argentina, Chile and Colombia consistently outperform land constrained countries such as Central American and Caribbean countries (except for Costa Rica). Within agriculture, crops and non-ruminant sectors have shown the strongest growth between 1961 an 2001 with average growth rates of 0.8 and 2 percent, respectively. Ruminant production has performed the worst with 0.1 percent average growth. We further analyze the cases of Brazil and Cuba to show how policies and external shocks can influence agricultural productivity. These case studies show that policies that do not discriminate the agricultural sectors and that remove price and production distortions may help improve productivity growth in agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Total factor productivity, agriculture, crops, livestock, Latin America and the Caribbean, Malmquist Index, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, O13, O47, O54, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126850&r=eff |
| By: | Kibonge, Aziza |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126910&r=eff |
| By: | Kapfer, Martin; Kantelhardt, Jochen; Eckstein, Karin; Hübner, Rico |
| Abstract: | Agriculture provides commodities and has an influence on the environment. However, even if the value of agricultural production is easy to evaluate, it is difficult to estimate the efficiency of agricultural production at site level. Furthermore, the valuation of environmental impact is complex. Non-parametric approaches such as DEA allow for an estimation of environment and economic performance. We suggest a plot-specific approach combining GIS and DEA models. This allows a spatially explicit assessment of agricultural land use for different subjects such as ecology and economy. In a second stage DEAmodel, the impact of farm- and site-specific characteristics on efficiency is analysed. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural land use, data envelopment, environment-orientated orientatedtechnical efficiency, economy-orientated technical efficiency, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126629&r=eff |
| By: | Lambarraa, Fatima |
| Abstract: | The horticulture sector plays a relevant role in Spanish agriculture and economy. Their participation in the final agricultural production reached 37% and it represents an important source of employment generating the half of the job in the entire Spanish agricultural sector (MARM, 2010). The purpose of this paper is the evaluation of dynamic technical efficiency for both outdoor and greenhouse Spanish farms specialized in horticulture production. A dynamic stochastic frontier model is developed to estimate the long run technical efficiency and it persistence for both samples. This analysis has been applied to 126 and 90 Spanish greenhouses and outdoor horticulture farms respectively using Farm Accounting Data Network. Those farms were observed during 6 years from 1999 to 2004. The static efficiency level of greenhouse farms is higher than outdoor farms by approximately 12%. The evolution of the static efficiency level during the studied period shows an increase by 15% in the greenhouse farms comparing to a decrease by 11% for outdoor horticulture farms. This difference can be explained by a best control of the use of different inputs in the case of greenhouse horticulture as well as the implantation of high technology that improves efficiency level over years. The empirical results also show a big difference of level between static and dynamic technical efficiency for both samples. These results are consistent with the high value of the technical inefficiency persistence parameter for both cases which suggests that the technical inefficiency is highly persistent and shows a strong competition in this sector. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126797&r=eff |
| By: | Dormont, Brigitte; Milcent, Carine |
| Abstract: | There is ongoing debate about the effect of ownership on hospital performance as regards efficiency and care quality. This paper proposes an analysis of the differences in productivity and efficiency between French public and private hospitals. In France, public and private hospitals do not only differ in their objectives. They are also subject to different rules as regards investments and human resources management. In addition, they were financed according to different payment schemes until 2004: a global budget system was used for public hospitals, while private hospitals were paid on a fee-for-service basis. Since 2004, a prospective payment system (PPS) with fixed payment per stay in a given DRG is gradually introduced for both private and public hospitals. Payments generally differ for the same DRG, depending on whether the stay occurred in a private or public hospital. A convergence of payments between the nonprofit and for profit sectors was planned by 2018 by the previous government, but this project has been abandoned by the newly elected government. Pursuing such a convergence comes down to suppose that there are differences in efficiency between private and public hospitals, which would be reduced by the introduction of competition between these two sectors. The purpose of this paper is to compare the productivity of public and private hospitals in France. We try to assess the respective impacts, on productivity differences, of differences in efficiency, patient characteristics and production composition. We have chosen to estimate a production function. For that purpose, we have defined a variable measuring the volume of care services provided by each hospital, synthetizing the hospital multiproduct activity into one homogenous output. Our data comes from two administrative sources which record exhaustive information about French hospitals. Matching these two database provides us an original source of information, at the hospital-year level, about both the production composition (number of stays in each DRG), and production factors (number of beds, facilities, number of doctors, nurses, of administrative and support staff, etc.). We observe 1,604 hospitals over the period 1998-2003, of which 642 hospitals are public, 126 are private not-for-profit and 836 are private-for-profit. This database is relative to acute care and covers more than 95 % of French hospitals. We use a stochastic production frontier approach combined with hospitals fixed effects. We find that the lower productivity of public hospitals is not explained by inefficiency (distance to the frontier), but oversized establishments, patient characteristics and production characteristics (small proportion of surgical stays). Once patient and production characteristics are taken into account, large and medium sized public hospitals appear to be more efficient than private hospitals. As a result, payment convergence would provide incentives for public hospitals to change the composition of their supply for care. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:docweb:1205&r=eff |
| By: | Rungsuriyawiboon, Supawat; Hockmann, Heinrich |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to understand the state of adjustment process and dynamic structure in Polish agriculture. A dynamic cost frontier model using the shadow cost approach is formulated to decompose cost efficiency into allocative and technical efficiencies. The dynamic cost efficiency model is developed into a more general context with a multiple quasi-fixed factor case. The model is implemented empirically using a panel data set of 1,143 Polish farms over the period 2004 to 2007. Due to the regional disparities and a wide variety of farm specialization, farms are categorized into two regions and five types of farm production specialization. The estimation results confirm our observation that adjustment is rather sluggish implying that adjustment cost are considerably high. It takes up to 30 years until Polish farmers reach their optimal level of capital and land input. Allocative and technical efficiency differ widely across regions. Moreover, efficiency is rather stable over time and among farm specialisations. However, their results indicate that the regions characterized by the larger farms perform slightly better. |
| Keywords: | Polish agriculture, dynamic efficiency, adjustment cost, shadow cost approach, Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, D21, D61, Q12, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126737&r=eff |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | By using conditional directional distance functions this paper investigates the effect of regional economic growth on regions’ environmental efficiency in greenhouse gas emissions. A sample of ninety eight regions (NUTS 2 level) from Germany, France and the U.K. has been used and regional environmental inefficiencies have been obtained using both the unconditional and conditional output directional distance functions. The results reveal that German regions have the highest environmental efficiency levels. In addition it appears that the effect of regional economic growth on regions’ environmental efficiency levels varies between regions and countries due to different national administrative arrangements on the implementation of environmental policies. |
| Keywords: | Regional environmental efficiency; directional distance function; stochastic kernel; nonparametric regression |
| JEL: | Q50 Q56 R15 R11 C60 |
| Date: | 2012–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:40015&r=eff |
| By: | Murali, Palanichamy; Balakrishnan, Raghupathy; Puthira Prathap, Duraisamy; Karpagam, Chidambara; Govindaraj, Gurrappa Naidu |
| Keywords: | total factor productivity, malmquist index and sugarcane, Food Security and Poverty, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126346&r=eff |
| By: | Wang, Xiaobing; Hockmann, Heinrich |
| Abstract: | Differences in resource endowment between regions influence the technologies applied in agriculture and cause location-specific effects on production and technical change. Access to technologies may also differ within regions because producers may apply different technologies in production due to different characteristics. Within this setting, we extend the existing literature by considering that producers face region- and farm-specific production frontiers. The treatment of essentially heterogeneous technical efficiency (TE) is performed following a two-step procedure. First, a random coefficient specification of the production technology is used to measure the interactions of technology adoption with time, input factors and output. Second, linear programming techniques are employed to envelop the optimal level of technology. This procedure is applied to household-level data from eastern, central and western provinces in China. Our results provide evidence that technical efficiency is significantly affected by farm heterogeneity. This factor influences TE directly as a producer-specific input, and indirectly through interaction with observable inputs such as land, labor, capital and intermediate inputs. Our results also prove the assumption that farming technology exhibits region-specific characteristics. Furthermore, there is a disparity of TE across provinces that narrows over the study period and is driven by the shifts of production to the metafrontier. |
| Keywords: | technical efficiency, metafrontier, random coefficient model, Chinese agriculture, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, D24, N55, O13, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126755&r=eff |
| By: | Bronwyn H. Hall (University of California, Berkeley); Francesca Lotti (Bank of Italy); Jacques Mairesse (CREST-INSEE) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates R&D and ICT investment at firm level, assessing their relative importance and the extent to which they are complements or substitutes. We use data on a large unbalanced panel sample from four consecutive waves of a survey of Italian manufacturing firms, together with a version of the model developed by Crepon et al., 1998, modified to include ICT investment and R&D as the two main inputs of innovation and productivity. We find that R&D and ICT are both strongly associated with innovation and productivity, with R&D being more important for innovation and ICT for productivity. We explore their possible complementarity in innovation and production but find none, although there is complementarity between R&D and worker skill in innovation. |
| Keywords: | R&D, ICT, innovation, productivity, complementarity, Italy |
| JEL: | L60 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_874_12&r=eff |
| By: | Magalhaes, Marcelo Marques de; Jardim da Silveira, Jose Maria Ferreira; Simoes do Carmo, Maristela; Lambais, Guilherme Berse Rodrigues |
| Abstract: | The model of Brazilian land reform is based on settlements of families without land, in unoccupied public lands, or by expropriation of unproductive estates. The market assisted land reform programs are considered complementary instruments of land reform. They are used to provide credit for land purchase by groups of landless farmers directly from the land market. The aim of this paper was to measure the profit efficiency, considering two different mechanisms of land access. In this paper, analysis of profit efficiency was performed using the stochastic frontier analysis. The frontier of production was estimated based on Cobb-Douglas production function. The data set represents the states: Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pernambuco and the north region of Minas Gerais. The overall efficiency estimates were 0.3163. The efficiency estimates were 0.3678 for the farmers assigned by expropriation, and 0.3537 for the farmers with market land access. The production showed decreasing gains with the major partial elasticity for land. The positive efficiency effect sources are: off-farm labor, collective labor, location in superior soil class county areas, location in Maranhão and Ceará states, age of head of household, crops with irrigation or flood, and use of machinery. The negative efficiency effect sources are: outer incomes and family consumption of its own production. |
| Keywords: | Land Reform, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Production Efficiency, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126693&r=eff |
| By: | Trindade, Federico J. |
| Abstract: | This article uses parametric and nonparametric methods to update estimates of agricultural productivity growth in 10 South American countries in 1969-2009 with the objective of checking if the slowdown being measured in other countries is present in the region. Results show that the increase in agricultural output during the period analyzed is explained by factor accumulation, but also by higher Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and that the slowdown present in the U.S. and some European economies does not seem to be present in South America. The region yearly average TFP growth went from 1.23 percent during the 1970s to 1.79 percent in the 1980s, 2.04 percent in the 1990s and 2.59 during the 2000s. This growth is not uniform across countries; the different performances can be associated to different environmental and institutional conditions. |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126915&r=eff |
| By: | KABLAN, Sandrine |
| Abstract: | This study aims to assess the microfinance institutions’ (MFIs’) efficiency in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) after the reforms that were undertaken in the industry. Given the complementary role between MFIs and banks (where MFIs reach the population that the banks cannot), we ask whether these reforms have promoted sustainability or outreach. For this purpose, we use a data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the social efficiency on the one hand and the financial efficiency on the other hand. Our results show that sustainability prevails. Indeed, we observe an increase in financial efficiency at the expense of social and financial efficiency. MFIs that stress outreach tend to be less efficient, when one considers their intermediation role. Moreover, reforms have a negative impact on social efficiency and a positive impact on financial efficiency. Indeed, prudential ratios and accounting standards that were implemented, led MFIs to privilege their intermediation role. |
| Keywords: | efficiency; microfinance; outreach; reform programs; sustainability; WAEMU |
| JEL: | O55 C23 O16 C61 C67 G21 |
| Date: | 2012–07–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39955&r=eff |
| By: | Venkataramana, M.N.; Reddy, B.V. Chinnappa |
| Abstract: | A study on farm level capital formation in two contrasting scenarios of agricultural development revealed that by and large capital formation was more on large and irrigated farms. The aggregate capital formation was higher in the progressive area than in less progressive area. The priority of investment was more on irrigation development. In the less progressive area, among rainfed farms, investment was more on livestock and perennial crops. The mean technical efficiency was higher in the more progressive area among all types of farms vis-à-vis less progressive area as a result of higher capital formation on productive assets. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126890&r=eff |
| By: | Sipilainen, Timo; Huhtala, Anni |
| Abstract: | Targeted environmental policies for farmlands may improve the cost-efficiency of conservation programs if one can identify those farms that produce public goods with the least cost. We derive shadow values of producing crop diversity for a sample of Finnish conventional and organic crop farms in the period 1994-2002 in order to examine their opportunity costs of conservation. Our results of Data Envelopment Analysis show that there is variation in the shadow values between farms and between the technologies adopted. The degree of cost heterogeneity and farms’ potential for specialization in the production of environmental outputs determine whether voluntary programs such as auctions for conservation payments are economically reasonable. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, Shannon index, DEA, distance functions, shadow values, Finland, Crop Production/Industries, C21, D24, H41, Q12, Q24, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126652&r=eff |
| By: | Wokker, Chris; Santos, Paulo; Ros, Bansok |
| Abstract: | In the context of increasing competition for water, knowledge of the marginal productivity of water is crucial in determining its opti- mal allocation between users. Using primary, plot level panel data, this paper estimates the marginal productivity of water from supple- mentary irrigation in lowland rice systems in Cambodia, taking into account farmer and plot heterogeneity as well as self-selection of sup- plementary irrigation. Our estimates indicate a range of elasticity for rice output with respect to water inputs between 0.057 and 0.069 for wet season production, and an estimate of 0.125 in the dry season, sub- stantially lower than previous estimates based on either aggregate or trial data. We discuss the policy implications of these results, in par- ticular with respect to the utility of demand management policies and the challenges they pose to the decentralization of water management to Water Users Groups that are meant to be nancially independent. |
| Keywords: | Water productivity Cambodia rice, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126321&r=eff |
| By: | Allen, Summer L.; Badiane, Ousmane; Ulimwengu, John M. |
| Abstract: | Using the most recent data from Tanzania, we investigate the impacts of district-level health and education expenditures on marginal productivities of agricultural inputs and overall production. We use a covariance structural model combined with a mixed linear model to account for the endogeneity of social outcomes and technological heterogeneity across districts. Our results confirm the significance of government social expenditures in human capital formation as measured through health and education indicators and their effects on agricultural productivity. Indeed, the marginal productivities of inputs (labor in particular) respond significantly and positively to health and education outcomes, especially considered jointly. The impacts also seem to be a function of the type of health constraint, with short-term health factors such as malaria and diarrhea impacting productivity from seeds and fertilizer while longer-term health constraints seem to have greater impacts on labor quality and land productivity. Our results also confirm the importance of considering intra-country heterogeneity as well as climate-related constraints, as the results show that annual precipitation has a signification impact on production for all specifications. |
| Keywords: | Tanzania, health, education, precipitation, marginal productivity, social expenditures, state variable, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126663&r=eff |
| By: | Mamardashvili, Phatima; Bokusheva, Raushan |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126697&r=eff |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes incentive and capacity factors that explain variations in research productivity among 344 agricultural scientists in Nigeria and 237 agricultural scientists in Ghana using multilevel analysis. Education level, years of experience, research linkages, and perceived adequacy of resources and management plans are consistently significant capacity factors in explaining productivity. Reported job satisfaction and reported staff’s happiness or satisfaction on organizational climate are statistically significant incentive factors. |
| Keywords: | organizational culture, multilevel analysis, poisson, productivity, research, motivation, Ghana, Nigeria, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q16, L32, D23, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126627&r=eff |
| By: | Han-Hsin Chang; Charles van Marrewijk |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a model aim to reconcile the discrepancy between the theoretical and empirical depiction of the productivity distribution. The Melitz (2003) while being able to reflect on the asymmetric selection of heterogeneous firms in trade, the model strictly truncate the least productive firms leaving the productivity distribution with a distinctive cut-off threshold at the lower end. This contradicts the empirical findings (Mayer and Ottaviano, 2007). The model in this paper proposed that firms are not only heterogeneous in terms of productivity but also in terms of fixed cost. In other words, viability selection in our model is based on firms' efficiency (TFP). This model successfully depicts the productivity distributions of active firms in the market that resemble the empirical findings, for which a great range of productivity distribution of exporters and domestic firms overlap. In addition, we show that only when the fixed exporting cost is no less than proportionate to the domestic fixed cost will the ultimate free trade scenario ensure that the weighted productivity in trade be greater than the weighted productivity in autarky. Lastly, trade liberation is always welfare improving, mainly due to the increasing product varieties. |
| Keywords: | Firm heterogeneity; Productivity distribution; Exporting |
| JEL: | F14 D20 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:1208&r=eff |
| By: | Jamal Ibrahim Haidar (World Bank - Washington District of Columbia (United States), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | Recent literature tried to explain the Indian growth miracle in different ways, ranging from trade liberalization to industrial reforms. Using data on Indian manufacturing firms, this paper analyzes the relationship between firm's productivity and export market participation during 1991-2004. While it provide evidence of the self-selection hypothesis by showing that more productive firms become exporters, the results do not show that entry into export markets enhances productivity. The paper examines the explanation of self selection hypothesis for total factor productivity differences across 33,510 exporting and non-exporting firms. It uses propensity score matching to test the learning-by-exporting hypothesis. In line with the prediction of recent heterogeneous firm models of international trade, the main finding of the paper is : more productive firms become exporters but it is not the case that learning by exporting is a channel fuelling growth in Indian manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | Trade, learning-by-exporting hypothesis, self-selection hypothesis, total factor productivity, causality, heterogeneous firm model. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00717624&r=eff |
| By: | Trindade, Federico J. |
| Abstract: | Using linear programming data envelope analysis (DEA) I studied the impact that high temperatures have over the agricultural performance of counties in Nebraska. I have found that the incidence of high temperatures is no uniform for all the counties. There is an important negative incidence of temperatures over 32° Celsius during the growing season over agricultural performance on most counties, but for some counties this incidence is not significant. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126913&r=eff |
| By: | Hottenrott, Hanna; Rexhäuser, Sascha; Veugelers, Reinhilde |
| Abstract: | The literature on within-firm organizational change and productivity suggests that firms can make more efficient use of certain technologies if complementary forms of organization are adopted. This issue may be of even greater importance for the case of greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement technologies imposed by public authority as to reduce social costs of climate change while they are not necessarily expected to increase private returns. Previous research, however, has largely neglected this aspect. Using German firm-level data, we find that organizational change increases the returns to the use of CO2 reducing technologies and that joint adoption leads to higher productivity. Without having introduced complementary organizational innovations, the adoption of CO2 reducing technologies is associated with lower productivity. |
| Keywords: | environmental innovation; Firm behavior; innovation; organizational change; productivity; technical change |
| JEL: | D23 D24 L23 O32 O33 Q55 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9055&r=eff |
| By: | Jin, Songqing; Yu, Winston; Jansen, Hans G.P.; Muraoka, Rie |
| Abstract: | Using plot level production data from a nation-wide survey in India, we study the impact of irrigation on crop productivity, land prices and cropping intensities. Our main identification strategy is based on a sufficient number of households cultivating multiple plots of different irrigation status. After household fixed effects and plot characteristics are controlled for, our estimations show that irrigation has a strong and significant impact on all these outcomes with the dominant effects on cropping intensities. We find quality of irrigation also matters. Our results provide support for continuing investments to improve access and quality of irrigation in India. |
| Keywords: | India, irrigation, productivity, cropping intensity, fixed effect model., International Development, O12, O13, Q15, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126868&r=eff |
| By: | Hassan, Gazi; Cooray , Arusha |
| Abstract: | It is widely believed by development economists that the role of human capital is one of the most fundamental determinants of economic growth. Sustained growth depends on the level of human capital whose stocks increase due to better education, higher levels of health, new learning and training procedure. The intuition that good health raises the level of human capital and has a positive effect on productivity and economic growth has been modelled by enodogenous growth theorists. But empirically ascertaining the causal relationship between health and growth is more difficult due to the possible existence of endogeneity between these two variables. We use a production function based approach and model the role of health as a regular factor of production. Additionally, we depart from all the previous literature by estimating the gender disaggregated effect of human health on economic growth. We adopt a constant return to scale production function that fits the data in the microeconometric literature on return to human capital. Using this particular production function, we disaggregate the measures of human capital by including male and female life expectancy and school enrolments. Allowing for the dynamics of TFP to be embedded in the production function we empirically test it in growth form using various estimators appropriate for our data. Our main finding is that male life expectancy has a positive effect on the growth of income while female life expectancy has a negative effect, controlling for unobserved time and country effects in a panel of 83 countries from 1960 - 2009. We use lag differences of life expectancy and school enrolments and lagged growth rates of other inputs as instruments for controlling the endogenity of health in the growth regressions. We check for the robustness of the results with use of ‘deletion diagnostics’ to identify influential observations and outliers. The results continue to show that male life expectancy has a positive effect on income growth while that of female has a negative effect. |
| Keywords: | Health and economic development; economic growth; endogeneity; panel data; TFP; convergence; economics of gender |
| JEL: | O47 I12 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:40083&r=eff |
| By: | Zsolt Darvas |
| Abstract: | As a background document for the Policy Contribution â??Compositional effects on productivity, labour cost and export adjustmentâ??, this working paper presents detailed results for 24 EU countries on: â?¢ The sectoral changes in the economy;â?¢ The unit labour costs (ULC) based real effective exchange rate (REER) and its main components;â?¢ Export performance. The ULC-REERs are calculated: â?¢ For the total economy, the business sector (excluding agriculture, construction and real estate activities), and some main sectors;â?¢ Using both actual aggregates and fixed-weight aggregates, as the latter are free from the impacts of compositional changes;â?¢ Against 30 trading partners and against three subsets of trading partners: euro-area, non-euro area EU, non-EU.â?¢ The REERs calculated in this paper are freely downloadable. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:wpaper:737&r=eff |
| By: | Laurent Weill (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | The Arab Spring is expected to enhance the weak quality of institutions in MENA countries. We show in this paper how these changes can contribute to favor the expansion of Islamic finance by analyzing the role of quality of institutions on cost efficiency of Islamic and conventional banks. We measure cost efficiency of banks on a wide dataset of banks from 17 countries in which Islamic and conventional banks coexist. We find that Islamic banks have lower cost efficiency than conventional banks, which can hamper their expansion, as greater costs are associated with higher prices. However better quality of institutions reduces the gap in efficiency between Islamic and conventional banks. Moreover we find that, if Arab countries can increase the quality of institutions, Islamic banks will not suffer from a disadvantage in efficiency relative to conventional banks. Thus, our main conclusion is that the Arab Spring can favor the development of Islamic finance by improving the quality of institutions. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2012-08&r=eff |
| By: | Sheahan, Megan; Black, Roy; Jayne, Thomas S. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126739&r=eff |
| By: | Nguetse Tegoum, Pierre; Nakelse, Tebila; Ouedraogo, Issaka |
| Abstract: | Between 2001 and 2007, the poverty headcount in Cameroon has remained steady around 40%. In fact, poverty has reduced in urban areas while it has increased of about 3 points in rural areas. This, despite the numerous agro-pastoral programs that were undertaken by the government between 2002 and 2008 in favour of rural people. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of these actions on the productivity of famers’ organisations. The methodology is based on a combined assessment approach combining both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The qualitative analysis uses Likert scale. The quantitative approach is based on Rubin's causal model and uses propensity score matching techniques. The main data used are those of the survey on the assessment of the impact of programs (EIPA) conducted by Ministry of Economy and Planning in 2009. The results obtained with both methods (qualitative and quantitative) are consistent and indicate that programs implemented by Cameroun government and donors between 2002 and 2008 have had a positive impact on the productivity of farmers’ organizations. The analysis of satisfaction, while indicating an overall appreciation of programs by leaders and members of Famers organisations (FOs), shows that the level of satisfaction seems to be negatively correlated with the regional level of poverty. The matching techniques revealed that FOs aid recipients have experienced a 4% increase in their productivity. More specifically, the study reveals that the impact of government programs is more important in the livestock sector (16%) and in the crops growing sector; it is quite null. Furthermore, non-beneficiaries organisations of the livestock sector could have had an increase of their productivity of about 10% if they had benefited from government assistance. The study therefore recommends that the government to (i) put more means in the livestock sector, which seems to be very promising and can emerge as an important growth leverage of Cameroon economy; (ii) revise the assistance strategies of FOs engaged in the agriculture sector by adopting more targeting approaches and, (iii) establish a monitoring –evaluation system. |
| Keywords: | Famers organisations, Matching, Likert scale, Productivity, Cameroon., Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2012–06–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126365&r=eff |
| By: | Michael Donadelli (University Luiss "Guido Carli") |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the \education-total factor productivity trade-o " in explaining per worker income dierences between Sub-Saharan (unlucky) and G7 (lucky) economies. Following Hall and Jones (1999) and Caselli (2005), on a country basis, I am able to study separately the dynamic of the average years of schooling (i.e. education level), the per worker capital, the per worker income, and the total factor productivity (TFP). I conrm that physical capital and education levels partially explain income dierences between unlucky and lucky economies. In a time-series setup I create, on a country-by-country basis, ad hoc TFP shock times series. The main result of this paper is that the impact of TFP shocks on per worker income is larger in unlucky economies than in lucky ones. The result holds both for negative and positive shocks. I show that average TFP volatility in the "unlucky world" is 8 times higher than the "G7 world" average TFP volatility. I argue that the order of magnitude of the impact heavily depends on the level of the TFP volatility. It turns out also that the eect of a TFP shock on a relative low per worker income growth rate is higher. I conclude by arguing that the presence of low levels of per worker capital and of human productivity pushes the unlucky economies into a poverty trap. |
| Keywords: | Education, TFP Shocks, Poverty Trap |
| JEL: | I24 I25 O10 O11 O16 O47 O55 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lui:lleewp:1299&r=eff |
| By: | Stephan Brunow (Institute for Employment Research); Peter Nijkamp (VU University) |
| Abstract: | There is evidence from the literature that firms enjoy higher productivity levels when the workforce employed is culturally more diverse. It is an open question whether this gain is utilized to shift the supply curve and set lower prices, in order to achieve a higher demand and possibly higher revenues. This knowledge gap is not addressed in the existing literature, and forms the departure of our research. We introduce a reduced-form model, inspired by the study of Melitz and Ottaviano (2008) on heterogeneous firms, and add labour productivity by using the approach of Ottaviano and Peri (2005) on cultural diversity. In our empirical study, we employ German data, while the field of research is conducted for single plants, and industry-specific effects are taken into account. Our analysis shows significant positive effects of the cultural diversity of the high-skilled workforce on the market size of single establishments. We conclude that emerging productivity gains are not just paid as dividend or factor rewards but are also used to set lower prices in order to achieve higher demand. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity, firm heterogeneity, market size |
| JEL: | J15 L11 L25 R12 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2012022&r=eff |
| By: | Chevassus-Lozza, Emmanuelle; Gaigne, Carl; Le Mener, Leo |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of input tariffs on the export status and export performance of processing firms. From a theoretical model with heterogeneous downstream firms, we show that lower input tariffs may increase the export sales of the high productivity firms at the expense of low productivity firms and may decrease the probability of firms entering foreign markets. We compare the predictions of the theoretical model with firm-level data from the French agrifood sector by developing a two-stage estimation procedure that uses an equation for selection into export markets in the first stage and an exports equation in the second stage. Liberalization of agricultural trade appears to favor the reallocation of market share from low to high productive firms. In addition, our result suggests that, whether lower input tariffs increase total exports sales and jobs, a large fraction of least productive exporting firms may lose from an additional decrease in agricultural product tariffs. |
| Keywords: | Input tariffs, heterogeneous donwstream firms, exports, Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade, F12, L11, L66, |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:spaawp:126946&r=eff |
| By: | Wang, Sun Ling; Ball, Eldon; Fulginiti, Lilyan E.; Plastina, Alejandro S. |
| Abstract: | This paper uses panel data for the 1980-2004 period to estimate the contributions of public research to U.S. agricultural productivity growth. Local and social internal rates of return are estimated accounting for the effects of R&D spill-in, extension activities and road density. R&D spill-in proxies were constructed based on both geographic proximity and production profile to examine the sensitivity of the rates of return to these alternatives. We find that extension activities, road density, and R&D spill-ins, play an important role in enhancing the benefit of public R&D investments. We also find that the local internal rates of return, although high, have declined through time along with investments in extension, while the social rates have not. Yet, the social rates of return are not robust to the choice of spill-in proxy. |
| Keywords: | productivity, public R&D, R&D spill-ins, extension, road density, internal rate of return, cost function., Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q16, O3, O4, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126368&r=eff |
| By: | Ludena, Carlos E.; Mejia, Carla |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impacts of climate change of food processing sectors worldwide. Specifically, we analyze the impacts that changes in agricultural productivity might have for seven food industry sectors, namely meat, vegetable oils and fats, dairy, sugar, processed rice, other food products and beverage and tobacco products. We analyze two different scenarios of crops yield changes based on Müller et al. (2009), one with full CO2 fertilization and one without CO2 fertilization. We use a general equilibrium approach, given the advantages that this methodology provides for worldwide analysis of productivity and its impacts on production, trade and prices of primary agriculture, and ultimately, food processing sectors. We use the GTAP computable general model with version 7 of the GTAP database, with a base year of 2004. We aggregate this database into 10 regions and 12 sectors, with special emphasis on food processing sectors. The results show that overall, the impacts on food processing depends whether we consider CO2 fertilization or not. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, productivity, agriculture, food industry, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126851&r=eff |
| By: | Vandeplas, Anneleen; Minten, Bart; Swinnen, Johan F.M. |
| Abstract: | The impact of multinational firms on the domestic agricultural sector in developing countries is controversial, in particular in India. Relying on a unique set of household-level data from the state of Punjab, we study the biggest dairy company in the world (Nestlé) in India and compare its vertical spillover effects on upstream suppliers to other market channels (informal sector and cooperatives). We find that farmers that supply informal channels are less efficient and earn less profits per dairy animal than farmers supplying the cooperative and the multinational sector. Further, we find that farmers in the multinational channel are more efficient than farmers in the cooperative channel, but equally profitable. Hence, we do not find that supplying the cooperative channel is more beneficial for local dairy farmers than supplying the multinational channel. Overall, however, dairy productivity and profitability levels are still dramatically low, with tremendous scope for dairy development. |
| Keywords: | cooperatives, foreign direct investment, income, productivity, India, dairy, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Industrial Organization, International Development, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126892&r=eff |
| By: | Hockmann, Heinrich; Gataulina, Ekaterina |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the significance of risk, external and internal transaction costs in the agriculture of the Tatarstan Republic. The analysis is conducted for two categories of organ-isational forms, independent farms and members of agroholdings. Although average prices do not differ among organisational forms, the results indicate that external transaction costs are more pronounced in independent farms, whereas agroholding membership entails higher in-ternal transaction costs, thereby making agroholdings more vulnerable to inefficiency than independent farms. In addition, the estimation suggests that this higher inefficiency results from the more enhanced risk management in agroholding members. Since this strategy leads to a more intensive factor use, members of business groups are able to allocate inputs so as to increase production at the same time. |
| Keywords: | Risk production function, internal and external transaction costs, Risk and Uncertainty, Q110, D220, P230, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126676&r=eff |
| By: | Grovermann, Christian; Schreinemachers, Pepijn; Berger, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This study quantifies private and social levels of agricultural pesticide overuse by combining an abatement function approach to estimate the marginal benefits of pesticide use with the Pesticide Environmental Accounting (PEA) tool to estimate marginal social costs. We applied the method to one intensive vegetable production system in the mountainous north of Thailand by using farm and plot level survey data. We find that the exponential specification for the abatement effect of pesticides gives more realistic outcomes than the logistic specification. Based on an exponential specification, we estimate that private overuse is 78-79% of the applied quantify of pesticides, while social overuse is 79-80%. The difference between private and social overuse is small as the exponential form reaches an optimum at a relatively low level of pesticide use. |
| Keywords: | Damage control, Externality, Pesticide Environmental Accounting (PEA), Southeast Asia, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126341&r=eff |
| By: | Ghebru, Hosaena H.; Holden, Stein T. |
| Abstract: | Making use of a unique tenant-landlord matched data from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, we are able to show how strategic response of tenants - to varying economic and tenure security status of the landlords - is important in explaining productivity differentials of sharecroppers. The results show that sharecroppers’ yield are significantly lower on plots leased from landlords who are non-kin; female; with lower income generating opportunity; and tenure insecure households, than on plots leased from landlords with contrasting characteristics. While, on aggregate, the result shows no significant efficiency loss on kin-operated sharecropped plots, a more decomposed analyses indicate strong evidences of Marshallian inefficiency on kin-operated plots leased from landlords with weaker bargaining power and higher tenure insecurity. This study, thus, shows how failure to control for such heterogeneity of landowners' characteristics can explain the lack of clarity in the existing empirical literature on the extent of moral hazard problems in sharecropping contracts. |
| Keywords: | Marshallian inefficiency, kinship, matching, Reverse-Share-Tenancy, Ethiopia, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, Land Economics/Use, D1, O13, O18, Q12, Q15, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126883&r=eff |
| By: | Futoshi, Yamauchi; Hiroyuki, Takeshima; Reno, Dewina; Sony, Sumaryanto; Akiko, Haruna |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how change in rainfall patterns induces autonomous adaptation of farmers and affects their rice production. Based on recently collected household data from seven provinces in Indonesia, the analysis clearly demonstrate delays in the onset of rainy season and increased uncertainty in rainfall patterns in the region. Farmers make sequential decisions: adjusting planting timing in response to delays in the onset of rainy season while changing crop variety responding to delays in the end of the previous year’s rainy season. In the case of rice production, (i) delay in the onset significantly decreases land productivity growth in rice production; one month delay offsets the average growth observed in 1999-2007, and (ii) though irrigation share significantly explains the growth of land productivity, delayed onset increasingly constrains the role of irrigation. |
| Keywords: | climate change, rainy season, adaptation, rice production, irrigation, Indonesia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126473&r=eff |
| By: | Owuor, George; Shem, A.O. |
| Abstract: | It is widely documented that credit is an important instrument among resource poor farmers in developing economies. However, accessing loans from formal credit institutions has proved almost impossible for small and resource poor farmers leading to reliance on the least regulated informal credit sources such as the Grameen type institutions (Micro-Finance Institutions-MFIs) that peg lending to memberships in social networks such as groups. In spite of the growing preference to this type of lending, very little is known on their contribution among farm related productive activities in Kenya. This paper attempts to illuminate the role of lending via groups on economic performance of smallholder farmers via changes in purchased factor use between borrowers and non-borrowers. We employ endogenous switching regime approach (accomplished via heckman selection correction model) on a sample of 401 respondents made up of 180 borrowers and 221 non-borrowers from two districts in Kenya. Results show significant effects of group based lending on production via improved factors such as fertilizer, planting materials and crop chemicals, as well as on investment in non-farm businesses, hired labour, and in renting in more land. However, descriptive results indicate high fungibility of this type of credit, with over 20% use on non-productive activities, which infringe on expected output effects. Supervision and or issuing of credit in form of inputs could generate expected impact. |
| Keywords: | Informal Micro-Credit, Rural Smallholder Farmers, Productivity, Kenya, Agricultural Finance, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126624&r=eff |
| By: | Samson, G.S. (Sabrina); Gardebroek, Koos; Jongeneel, Roelof A. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates potential impacts on milk production of Dutch dairy farms if feed prices increase, milk prices decrease and milk quotas are abolished. A quadratic cost function is estimated using panel data on individual dairy farms of the Dutch FADN. Marginal costs and revenues are evaluated to show the heterogeneous farm-level impact of changing prices on potential production developments. The main finding is that potential increases in milk production when quota are abolished, are offset by a decreasing marginal revenue due to lower milk prices, and increasing marginal costs due to higher feed prices. |
| Keywords: | Milk quota, Milk price, Feed price, Dutch dairy sector, Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, Political Economy, Q1, D2, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa126:125956&r=eff |
| By: | Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob; Jayne, Thomas S. |
| Abstract: | This study uses three waves of nationally representative household-level panel data from Malawi to estimate how receiving an additional kilogram of subsidize fertilizer affects maize production and the value of total crop output across the distribution of smallholder farm households. We use quantile regression and a correlated random effects estimator to deal with potential endogeneity of subsidized fertilizer. We then estimate the impact of subsidizing fertilizer at the 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 90% of the maize production and value of total crop output distributions. Results from this study indicate that an additional kilogram of subsidized fertilizer contributes 2.61 additional kilograms to household maize production at the 90th percentile, but just 0.75 additional kilograms to maize production at the 10th percentile. Results also indicate that an additional kilogram of subsidized fertilizer has an effect of generating an extra US $0.80 at the 90th percentile of the value of total crop output distribution, but has no statistically significant effect at the 10th percentile of the distribution. These results raise the question of whether or not fertilizer subsidies can substantially boost maize production and reduce poverty at the same time, because the major returns from the subsidy program seem to accrue to households at the top of the maize production and value of total crop output distributions. Many households at the bottom of theses distributions seem unable to generate a substantial response from the subsidized fertilizer that they acquire. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126742&r=eff |