|
on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2013‒06‒24
38 papers chosen by |
| By: | Mugera, Amin W.; Langemeier, Michael R. |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the sources of profitability and productivity change at the farm level with an application to a group of 252 farms in Kansas over an 18 years period, from 1993 to 2010. The Lowe index method is used to compute changes in total factor productivity (TFP) and terms of trade (TT). Nonparametric data envelopment analysis is used to decompose TFP into technical change and different measures of output oriented efficiency change. Profitability change is mainly driven by TFP change. The main source of TFP change is technical progress. The upward shifting efficiency frontier results in declining technical efficiency. Both profitability and productivity vary by farm size and specialization. Results point for the need to support research and development without ignoring efforts to encourage uptake of existing technologies. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150639&r=eff |
| By: | Abdoulaye, Ibrahim Djido; Sanders, John H. |
| Abstract: | In this paper we assess the performance of farmers adopting an improved sorghum technology package in the Maradi region of Niger. A propensity score matching method is used to address self-selection bias into the program. First, we estimate a propensity model to participate in the extension program, examine factors affecting the participation, and assess the average adoption effect on participants by testing for productivity difference between adopters and non-adopters. Secondly, we estimate a stochastic production technology frontier to compare technical efficiency of farmers in the extension program. We test for returns to scale, examine factors affecting technical efficiency of participants, and compare technical efficiency scores of participants based on their compliance to program recommendations. Participants in the extension program are older, have less farming experience, and operate on larger farm sizes. After controlling for bias, there is very little change in the yield differences, which in both cases are substantial. There is some evidence for greater productivity of the smaller size producers.Technical efficiency of participants is increasing overtime, younger participants are technically more efficient and farming experience increases significantly participants’ technical efficiency. Good followers of the fertilization technique recommendation are much more technically efficient. |
| Keywords: | propensity score matching, stochastic frontier analysis, productivity, efficiency, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150434&r=eff |
| By: | Chavas, Jean-Paul; Kim, Kwansoo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the nonparametric analysis of technology under non-convexity. The analysis extends two approaches now commonly used in efficiency and productivity analysis: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) where convexity is imposed; and Free Disposal Hull (FDH) models. We argue that, while the FDH model allows for non-convexity, its representation of non-convexity is too extreme. We propose a new nonparametric model that relies on a neighborhood-based technology assessment which allows for less extreme forms of non-convexity. The distinctive feature of our approach is that it allows for non-convexity to arise in any part of the feasible set. We show how it can be implemented empirically by solving simple linear programming problems. And we illustrate the usefulness of the approach in an empirical application to the analysis of technical and scale efficiency on Korean farms. |
| Keywords: | technology, productivity, nonparametric, non-convexity, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149684&r=eff |
| By: | Kanter, Christopher A.; Hueth, Brent; Gould, Brian W. |
| Abstract: | Due to differences in ownership structure between cooperative and non-cooperative firms (NCFs), it has been hypothesized that co-ops may be less efficient than their non-cooperative counterparts. Illiquidity of owners’ investment and democratic governance may lead to underinvestment and managerial shirking in cooperative firms, both technical inefficiency sources, and the lack of a clear profit motive generates “inefficient” (relative to a profit-maximizing firm) economic decisions. This is especially true in the dairy product manufacturing sector, where production is capital intensive and factors leading to non-optimal investment decisions may have a large impact on efficiency. In this research we will use a unique dataset that includes plant level panel data for dairy product manufacturers from the Census of Manufactures encompassing the years 1977-2007 to determine whether there is a difference in plant level efficiency between cooperative firms and NCFs, as well as the source of any measured inefficiency. We will employ Data Envelopment and Stochastic Frontier (SFA) analyses to ensure robustness of results across alternative methodologies for productivity measurement. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150497&r=eff |
| By: | Hasan, Syed; Klaiber, H.Allen; Sheldon, Ian |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of agglomeration and selection on firms' total factor productivity (TFP) distributions depending on their spatial location, specifically in science parks and large cities in Taiwan. The TFP distributions indicate a mean-shift and greater dispersion whenever firms benefit from agglomeration economies. However, selection due to competition may cause left truncation of the distribution. The empirical analysis shows that firms located in science parks have productivity that lags compared to those located in large cities and they benefit mainly from localization externalities. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration, Selection, Total Factor Productivity, Science Park, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Productivity Analysis, D24, R58, R12, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149743&r=eff |
| By: | Mekonnen, Dawit; Dorfman, Jeffrey |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of informal labor sharing arrangements and other social interactions on farmers' productivity in a developing country context, testing whether these types of social and work interactions lead to productivity gains through learning, synergy, or both. Using a rich panel data set of Ethiopian subsistence farmers, we estimate a distance function of grains production and find large productivity gains (approximately 20 percent) from labor sharing due to synergy effects that boost labor productivity. Some training experiences, such as extension education programs and performing off-farm work, lead to learning that increases the farmers' productivity. However, labor sharing does not lead to learning as the productivity gains observed in years with labor sharing disappear in following years if the farmers do not continue to employ labor sharing. The results suggest that interaction and observation alone is not enough to produce learning that leads to productivity gains; however, training and educational activities such as extension programs and off-farm work do appear capable of producing learning and associated productivity gains. |
| Keywords: | Distance Function, Efficiency, Labor Sharing, Learning, Productivity, Synergy, Social Networks, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q12, D83, D24, J24, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149809&r=eff |
| By: | Arnab Deb (International Management Institute) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we attempt to identify the channels through which economic reforms enhanced the productivity growth in total manufacturing sector in India. Because one possible channel is better utilization of plant capacity, we estimate capacity utilization rate in Indian manufacturing. Empirical estimates show that the annual average capacity utilization rate in Indian manufacturing was lower over the post-reform years. However, after the reforms capacity utilization rate grew faster at the all India level as well as for most of the major industrial states. Subsequent regression analysis confirms that there was evidence of a favorable impact of economic reforms on productivity growth in total manufacturing, beyond the positive impact of improved capacity utilization. |
| Keywords: | Economic Reform, Total Factor Productivity, Data Envelopment Analysis, Malmquist Index, Gross Capacity Utilization, Net Capacity Utilization |
| JEL: | C14 C61 D24 L60 O53 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:alumni:2013-05&r=eff |
| By: | Dong, Fengxia; Hennessy, David; Jensen, Helen H. |
| Abstract: | The U.S. dairy industry has seen major restructuring in the last few decades. The number of U.S. dairy farms has declined significantly and the decline has been concentrated among smaller farms. In the meantime, average dairy herd size increased from 19 cows in 1970 to 175 in 2010 and milk yield per cow doubled over the same period. Herd size, exit and technical efficiency are related in varied ways. Many farm-level production structures are cheaper to build in large scale while asset use can be more efficient on larger facilities. Economies of scale motivate a link between larger herd size and levels of profitability that would support continued production. Technical efficiency should also affect the intention to continue production and expand scale as the more productive are better motivated and likely better positioned to continue operation and increase in size. These incentives have not been explored for dairy production. The three decisions are likely interrelated and should be investigated in an integrated, systemic manner that accounts for endogeneity. Employing data from the USDA’s 2010 ARMS Phase III, Dairy Production Practices and Costs and Returns Report, we first estimate technical efficiency using Stochastic Production Frontier analysis. The efficiency estimate is then incorporated into a system of equations that includes the exit decision and herd size. The results suggest that smaller and less efficient farms are more likely to exit and more efficient dairy farms tend to expand, results which do seem consistent with theoretical considerations and with current trends in dairy structural change. |
| Keywords: | dairy farms, herd size, productivity, exit decision, Agribusiness, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150339&r=eff |
| By: | Wang, Sun Ling; Schimmelpfennig, David; Ball, Eldon |
| Abstract: | This study employs new data and a hedonic function to estimate the quality-adjusted price and quantity for farm tractors over the 1950-2011 period. The estimated hedonic prices for tractors are lower than the BLS’ tractor price index in most time periods. The lower prices result in a higher estimate of the tractor stock and service flow, which reflects an increase in embodied technical change of farm tractors. After replacing the BLS deflator of tractor investment with these hedonic estimates, average annual TFP growth dropped by 0.13 percentage points over the 1991-2011 period compared with the current USDA’s productivity estimate. These changes can be attributed to the contribution from embodied technical change in farm tractors over this period. The findings show the potential importance of input quality adjustment and can help to explain the sources of productivity growth. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic price, farm tractor, total factor productivity (TFP), Productivity Analysis, O3, O4, Q1, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150198&r=eff |
| By: | Trindade, Federico |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149826&r=eff |
| By: | Burns, Christopher |
| Abstract: | Using data from the Mid-Atlantic surfclam fishery, this study examines the effect on measurement error on the analysis of technical efficiency. After specifying a stochastic frontier model and estimating it under naive analysis, a correction technique known as Simulation Extrapolation (SIMEX) is used to obtain less biased estimates of technical efficiency and production parameters. The consequences of measurement error are seen in the naive results, which overstate technical efficiency in the fishery. The SIMEX corrected results indicate technical efficiency is likely declining for the surfclam industry, consistent with a trend in decreasing landings per-unit-effort (LPUE). |
| Keywords: | commercial fisheries, stochastic frontier, technical efficiency, measurement error, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150499&r=eff |
| By: | Elskamp, Rebecca; Hailu, Getu |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of farm level cost and scale efficiencies on dairy quota exchanges in Ontario. A constrained profit maximization framework is used to illustrate the role of cost efficiency in quota exchanges (i.e., sales and purchases). Using a multinomial logit model, where net quota buyers and net quota sellers are identified our empirical results indicate that variations in cost efficiency do not have a significant effect on purchases milk production quota, whereas scale efficiency does. Younger farmers, farms with underutilized barns space and farms with a recent history of quota purchase tend to buy milk production quota. |
| Keywords: | dairy, cost efficiency, scale efficiency, quota transfers, supply management, Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149678&r=eff |
| By: | Silva, Erin; Dong, Fengxia; Mitchell, Paul; Hendrickson, John |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150337&r=eff |
| By: | Wagner, Christina; Huettel, Silke; Odening, Martin; Narayana, Rashmi |
| Abstract: | The existing literature on dynamic efficiency is deterministic and ignores uncertainty when deriving dynamic efficiency measures, even though it is known that uncertainty affects the optimal adjustment path and the optimal use of quasi-fixed factors. Here, we contribute to closing this gap by developing a model that takes the dynamic efficiency measurement and the optimal investment under uncertainty jointly into consideration. We apply this model to German farm-level panel data to investigate whether West German dairy farms use their variable and quasi-fixed factors in a technically and allocative efficient way in the long run, and to explore the role of uncertainty within the optimal factor allocation process. We find empirical evidence for the importance of considering uncertainty when deriving (dynamic) efficiency measures: neglecting uncertainty within the estimation procedure will overestimate the average inefficiency score. This is not only interesting from an academic point of view; it has further implications for the analysis of the relative performance of specific farm types like cash crop or other livestock farms. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency, shadow cost approach, uncertainty, dairy sector, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty, D61, D81, Q12, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149632&r=eff |
| By: | Cagdas, Ali D.; Jeffrey, Scott R.; Smith, Elwin G.; Boxall, Peter C. |
| Abstract: | This study examines the BMP adoption and technical efficiency for canola producers in the Canadian Prairie Provinces. A Just-Pope stochastic frontier production function is estimated using data from a survey of canola producers conducted in early 2012. Yield is modeled as a function of nutrients and precipitation. A linear inefficiency function includes farm specific variables and a set of binary variables representing BMP adoption. These include use of environmental farm plans and soil testing, precision farming techniques or nutrient management practices. Model results indicate that BMP variables for soil tests, nutrient management planning and precision farming are positively related to technical efficiency while other BMP indicators are not significant. Producer characteristics such as experience and off-farm income tend to have the expected relationship with technical efficiency. Model results appear to be significantly influenced by moisture problems that occurred through the Prairie region during the 2011 cropping year. The results in this paper suggest that for Western Canadian canola producers, there is potential complementarity for some BMPs in terms of improving technical efficiency while simultaneously advancing environmental stewardship. This study extends the limited literature that combines stochastic production frontier analysis with flexible risk specifications to incorporate environmental stewardship practices in the inefficiency model. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150200&r=eff |
| By: | Sveum, Matthew |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150615&r=eff |
| By: | Zhang, Hongsong |
| Abstract: | The increasing mean wage-interest ratio and decreasing mean capital-labor ra- tio observed in some Chinese manufacturing industries suggest that technological change is factor-biased. In order to study the nature of technological change and its contribution to economic growth, this paper builds and estimates a structural model of fi rms' production decisions with biased technological change. This model allows me to identify and estimate the firm-time-specifi c factor-biased technology using micro data. The basic idea of the estimation is that the choice of inputs contains information about the unobserved productivities; therefore we can invert the inputs demand function to recover the unobserved productivities. I estimate the model from a firm-level data set of four Chinese Manufacturing industries. The empirical results provide fi rm-level evidence of biased technological change over time and biased technological dispersion across rms. The estimation results show that technological change contributes to the growth of gross output by 1.81%-3.10% annually and value added by 12.67%-21.16%, which is higher than the combined contribution of capital and labor. Capital efficiency grows much faster than la- bor efficiency in China, and the contribution of technological change to economic growth is mainly due to the change of capital efficiency. The results also show that large fi rms have a higher capital-labor efficiency ratio and that biased technological dispersion explains a large part of the dispersion of capital-labor ratio across fi rms. |
| Keywords: | Multidimensional Productivity, Technology Bias, Biased Techno- logical Change, Biased Technological Dispersion, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2013–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150225&r=eff |
| By: | Minegishi, Kota |
| Abstract: | One of the most important objectives in eciency analysis is to investigate the rela- tionships between production decisions and their contextual environments like geographical regions, production time periods, modes of production, or policies and regulations. Using the measurement of technical change as a template, the study presents a general framework to better understand varying production decisions under dierent time periods by showing how such production heterogeneity can be attributable to the dierences in time-specic technological frontiers at industry level and the dierences in the prevalence of technical ineciency at producer level. In DEA, a leading non/semi-parametric frontier estimation method, these dierences can be analyzed through decomposing Malmquist produc- tivity index (MPI) into technical change (TC) and technical eciency change (TEC) respectively. The decomposition approach falls into the non-Hicks-neutral TC estimation as the mean distance measures among time-specic frontiers, which is generally less restrictive than the Hicks-neutral TC estimation as an intertemporal-shift component of the frontier specication under xed substitution patterns across time periods. The method is more generally applicable to the comparisons between any two dierent contextual environments, including before and after a policy intervention, by which a sample can be partitioned. To make the existing method more empirically accessible and appealing, the study pro- poses a regression-based MPI decomposition that overcomes its limitations, or the need of balanced panel data and the lack of control for potentially confounding non-production factors. The proposed methodology is demonstrated with an empirical application using data from the Schedule F Tax returns of 62 dairy farmers in Maryland during 1995-2009. For conventional, connement dairy operations, the preliminary results under preferred specications show a 26.4%/decade expansion in technological fron- tier, accompanied by a 6.3%/decade decline in the mean technical eciency levels (i.e. increases in the prevalance of technical ineciencies). The indicators for farm ownership and o-farm income are associated with a 4.5% increase and a 5.8% decrease in technical eciency respectively. Higher sea- sonal rainfalls and temperatures, except for winter rainfall and summer temperature, are associated with larger technical feasibility in a given year. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150289&r=eff |
| By: | Vítor Caldeirinha (Centro de Estudos de Gestão; School of Economics and Management (ISEG)); J. Augusto Felício (School of Economics and Management; Technical University of Lisbon); Andreia Dionísio (CEFAGE-UÉ, Évora University (UÉ)) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the port and container terminal characteristics and evaluates its contribution to performance measured by the efficiency, productivity, activity and customer satisfaction. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methodology was developed to determine which factors are characteristics of a port and container terminal. A questionnaire was submitted to senior managers of companies currently operating in twelve container terminals, both Portuguese and Spanish, and 122 validated answers were obtained. The results confirm the influence of the port and terminal characteristics on the terminal container performance through of the efficiency, productivity, and activity level and customer satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | Port characteristics; Container terminal; Terminal performance. |
| JEL: | R42 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2013_13&r=eff |
| By: | Boaitey, Albert; Goddard, Ellen; Mohapatra, Sandeep; Basarab, John; Miller, Steve; Crowley, John |
| Abstract: | In this paper the issue of nonlinearity and heterogeneity in the derivation of feed efficiency estimates for beef cattle based on performance data for 6253 animals is examined. Using parametric, non-parametric and integer programming approaches, we find evidence of nonlinearity between feed intake and measures of size and growth, and susceptibility of, feed efficiency estimates to assumptions pertaining to heterogeneity between animals and within cohorts. Further, differences in feed cost implied by selection based on different feed efficiency estimates were evaluated and compared-“costs of misspecification” of up to $280/kg DM was derived. |
| Keywords: | feed efficiency, beef cattle, feed costs, selection, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150439&r=eff |
| By: | Pieralli, Simone |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150144&r=eff |
| By: | Choi, Jangho; Gopinath, Munisamy |
| Abstract: | A central theme of international trade research has been the impact of trade liberalization on productivity. Early literature on this theme points out that trade liberalization brings resource/organizational adjustment across industries and this adjustment enhances productivity. A traditional comparative advantage or monopolistic competition model examines responses at the average, i.e. homogeneous firms. In recent years, heterogeneous firm models with a general equilibrium framework expand the debate to include organizational adjustment across firms. The productivity improvement in the heterogeneous-firms framework arises through organizational adjustments of industries or firms following trade liberalization. The exit of less efficient industries or firms and the transfer of their resources to more efficient industries or firms lead to improvements in industry or national productivity. A new strand of the heterogeneous firm literature is now considering explanations of productivity change arising from intra-firm resource reallocation in the presence of product heterogeneity. Under firm heterogeneity, a firm’s technology uses determine their productivity; technology usages include technologies adoption and efficient use of adopted technologies. However, recent literature points out that there is a possibility that intra-firm resource reallocation affect a firm’s productivity in addition to technology usages. The purpose of this study is to show whether intra-firm resource reallocation affects multi-product firms’ TFP. Intra-firm resource reallocation is made up of two components: the number of products a firm produces (product range), and the way a firm allocates input resource across products (skewness of production). For this study, TFP is measured using De Loecker’s (2011) approach adopting the Cobb-Douglas production and CES utility functions under multi-product firms and applying two-stage estimation procedure. The intra-firm resource reallocation and productivity link is examined through the testing of two hypotheses: (i) high productivity firms have larger revenue and larger product range than low productivity firms and (ii) discontinuing a product and (/or) skewing production toward a particular product increases TFP while adding a product and (/or) equalizing the production of all products decreases TFP. These hypotheses have three implications. First, TFP is positively correlated with both revenue and product range. However expanding product range decreases TFP due to increasing possibility of input resource misallocation. Second, a firm’s TFP depends not only on technology usages, but also on intra-firm resource reallocation. The product range and he way to allocate input resource across heterogeneous products also affect a firm’s TFP. In other words, aggregate TFP depends not only on organizational adjustment across industries or firms, but also on organizational adjustment within a firm. Finally, getting export status significantly increases multi-product firms’ productivity due to the relationship between intra-firm resource reallocation and productivity. For the empirical analysis, the production and finance accounts of the PROWESS database on Indian firms (31,100 firms with 213,134 observations; 3,844 products with 213,134 observations) are used. This unique database allows the study to focus on multi-product firms’ structure, productivity, product range, and skewness of production. |
| Keywords: | Multi-product firms, Productivity, Total factor productivity, Intra-firm resource reallocation, Misallocation, Industrial Organization, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149824&r=eff |
| By: | Coulibaly, Jeanne Y. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150362&r=eff |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine; Berhane, Guush; Tadesse, Fanaye; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes new empirical evidence and nuanced analysis on the gender difference in access to extension services and how this translates to observed differences in technology adoption and agricultural productivity. We employ a cross-sectional instrumental-variable regression method using a regionally-representative dataset of more than 7,500 households and 32,000 plots in four major regions in Ethiopia that was collected during the 2010 main season. Results suggest that female heads of households and plot managers are less likely to get extension services and less likely to access quality services than their male counterparts after controlling for plot, household, and village level characteristics. Receiving advice from development agents (DAs) is strongly and positively related to adoption of improved seed and fertilizer for both females and males, as hypothesized. However, beyond their influence through fertilizer and improved seed use, visits by or advice from DAs are not significant in all productivity models estimated for females and males, which is in contrast to past studies. In some crop-specific productivity models estimated, it is the perceived quality of DA visits and access to radio that appear to be strongly and positively significant in explaining productivity levels for both female and male farmers. Our results highlight the need for productivity models that are stratified by gender and crop. |
| Keywords: | technology adoption, agricultural inputs, instrumental variable regression model, agricultural information, Ethiopia, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150487&r=eff |
| By: | Chiputwa, Brian; Kostandini, Genti |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150300&r=eff |
| By: | McGettigan, Teri; Seavert, Clark F. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150592&r=eff |
| By: | Choi, Suk-Won; Ohrel, Sara; Sohngen, Brent |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150496&r=eff |
| By: | Sesmero, Juan; Schoengold, Karina |
| Abstract: | In Mexico, farmers only pay the cost of electricity used to pump groundwater from wells for groundwater consumption and also receive electricity subsidy from government. It causes the fact that farmers consume groundwater under the situation that private marginal cost is lower than social marginal cost. Furthermore, in Mexico, different wells function under different institutional arrangements. Some wells are privately owned while others are shared by multiple farmers. In some shared wells, farmers pay for their own electricity consumption but in other shared wells farmers distribute total electricity cost based on a pre-specified rule. Both the jointly ownership and pre-specified payment rule may cause further distortion of groundwater pumping cost. By estimating the frontier demand function and technical efficiency of groundwater, we calculate the own-price elasticity of groundwater and test the effect of joint ownership and pre-specified electricity payment rule on the groundwater use efficiency. It is found that the groundwater has a negative and large (-0.5) own-price elasticity and that the number of farmers owning one well and the pre-specified payment rules do not affect the efficiency level significantly. The elimination of electricity subsidy may be the most effective policy to alleviate groundwater depletion in Mexico. |
| Keywords: | groundwater, elasticity, specific input technical efficiency, ownership externality, payment externality, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150285&r=eff |
| By: | Miguel García-Posada (Banco de España and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Juan S. Mora-Sanguinetti (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | The literature has found that the size of firms matters for innovation and productivity and, thus, for economic performance. It is therefore worth explaining why enterprises in Spain are small in international terms. Our findings indicate that the quality of the institutional environment plays a role. Specifically, this paper analyses the different channels through which the efficacy of Spanish courts may affect the size of the companies at the provincial level. Regarding the existing literature, this paper is innovative in several important respects. First, we disentangle the impact of judicial efficacy on average firm size by differentiating between the effect on the growth of incumbent firms (intensive margin) and the effect on entry and exit rates (extensive margin), finding clear evidence of the former but not of the latter. We do so by using a firm-level database of more than half a million companies and real data (not estimates) on judicial efficacy at the local level. Second, this paper is the first to analyse the relationship between firm size and the effectiveness of justice after the reform of the civil procedures in 2000. Finally, and most significantly, it is the first paper in the literature to analyse the specific impact of the various civil procedures, both at the declaratory and the executory stage. In general, we find that judicial efficacy has a positive effect on firm size, but it critically depends on the type of the procedure, something that the previous literature has overlooked. More specifically, judicial efficacy matters at the declaratory stage (e.g. when a debt is declared and recognised by a judge), while it does not have a significant impact on size at the executory stage. |
| Keywords: | firm size, judicial efficacy |
| JEL: | L25 K40 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1303&r=eff |
| By: | Kabata, Tshepelayi |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150599&r=eff |
| By: | Kandilov, Amy; Kandilov, Ivan |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we show that relaxing credit constraints and increasing access to finance by lifting state-level restrictions on interstate bank expansions from the 1970s through the early 1990s benefited the U.S. agricultural industry by increasing farm sales and profits. In our empirical analysis, we use historical county-level data from 1970 until 1994 for the entire U.S. and a difference-in-differences econometric framework that exploits only within state variation in bank deregulation to distinguish the effect of an increase in bank competition and reduction in credit constraints from potential confounding factors. Further, by including region-by-year fixed effects in our econometric equation, we estimate the impact of banking deregulations by comparing changes (in farm sales and expenditures) in states that lift restrictions on interstate banking to changes in states that do not lift such restrictions in the same (Census) region of the country. Finally, we also show that the empirical results are robust to comparing only counties along state borders, which have very similar climate, soil fertility, and access to transportation. Our estimates indicate that county-level farm sales increase by about 3.9 percent after the state deregulates its banking sector and allows interstate bank expansion. The results also show that county-level agricultural production expenditures in the state rise by 1.9 percent, which is less than the increase in sales, thus leading to higher farm profits. The positive impact on farm sales and expenditures is larger in metropolitan counties than in rural counties. Overall, our work demonstrates that government policies aimed at improving farmers’ access to credit can lead to higher farm sales, both in urban and rural locations. |
| Keywords: | Sales, Farm Expenditure, Banking Deregulation, Credit Constraints, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Financial Economics, Livestock Production/Industries, Public Economics, G18, G21, Q13, Q14, |
| Date: | 2013–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149820&r=eff |
| By: | Richard Blundell (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University College London); Claire Crawford (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Wenchao (Michelle) Jin (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses individual data on employment and wages to shed light on the UK’s productivity puzzle. It finds that workforce composition cannot explain the reduction in wages and hence productivity that we observe; instead, real wages have fallen significantly within jobs. Why? One possibility we investigate is higher labour supply in this recession than in the past. Another is lower trade union membership. Alternatively, it might be driven by a fall in productivity as a result of a lower capital-labour ratio. We cannot tell whether productivity is driving wages or vice versa, but understanding why wages have fallen within jobs is at the heart of the UK's productivity puzzle. |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:13/11&r=eff |
| By: | McBride, William; Greene, Catherine; Foreman, Linda |
| Abstract: | Results from long-term experimental trials suggest that similar yields and lower costs are possible from organic compared with conventional field crop production, but there is little information about the relative costs and returns on commercial farms. This study examines the structure and profitability of field corn production using a nationwide survey of corn producers for 2010 that includes a targeted sample of organic growers. Propensity score matching was used to develop a sample of similar conventional and organic farms based on farm and operator characteristics. Treatment-effect models were estimated using the matched sample to isolate the effect of choosing the organic approach on various levels of corn production costs. The procedure accounts for the impact of both observable and unobservable variables on corn production costs. |
| Keywords: | organic, production costs, corn, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149671&r=eff |
| By: | Kilic, Talip; Zezza, Alberto; Carletto, Calogero; Savastano, Sara |
| Abstract: | Land area is a fundamental component of agricultural statistics, and of analyses undertaken by agricultural economists. While household surveys in developing countries have traditionally relied on farmers'own, potentially error-prone, land area assessments, the availability of affordable and reliable Global Positioning System (GPS) units has made GPS-based area measurement a practical alternative. Nonetheless, in an attempt to reduce costs, keep interview durations within reasonable limits, and avoid the difficulty of asking respondents to accompany interviewers to distant plots, survey implementing agencies typically require interviewers to record GPS-based area measurements only for plots within a given radius of dwelling locations. It is, therefore, common for as much as a third of the sample plots not to be measured, and research has not shed light on the possible selection bias in analyses relying on partial data due to gaps in GPS-based area measures. This paper explores the patterns of missingness in GPS-based plot areas, and investigates their implications for land productivity estimates and the inverse scale-land productivity relationship. Using Multiple Imputation (MI) to predict missing GPS-based plot areas in nationally-representative survey data from Uganda and Tanzania, the paper highlights the potential of MI in reliably simulating the missing data, and confirms the existence of an inverse scale-land productivity relationship, which is strengthened by using the complete, multiply-imputed dataset. The study demonstrates the usefulness of judiciously reconstructed GPS-based areas in alleviating concerns over potential measurement error in farmer-reported areas, and with regards to systematic bias in plot selection for GPS-based area measurement. |
| Keywords: | E-Business,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,Economic Theory&Research,Science Education,Scientific Research&Science Parks |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6490&r=eff |
| By: | Klasen, Stephan; Reimers, Malte |
| Abstract: | Pro-poor growth has been identified as one of the most promising pathways to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or any subsequent set of goals aiming to reduce poverty worldwide. Related research has developed a multitude of instruments to measure pro-poor growth using absolute and relative approaches and income and non-income data. This article contributes to the literature by expanding the toolbox with several new measures based on the concept of the growth incidence curve by Ravallion and Chen (2003) and the opportunity curve by Ali and Son (2007) that take into account the extraordinary importance of agriculture for poverty reduction in developing countries. The toolbox is then applied to two comparable household surveys from Rwanda (EICV data for the years 1999-2001 and 2005-2006), a country that has experienced impressive economic growth since the genocide in the mid-1990s and that has undertaken considerable efforts to increase the population’s access to social services over the last decade. Results indicate that Rwanda achieved in this time period enormous progress in the income, but also in the education and health dimension of poverty, which was in many cases even pro-poor in the relative sense. The new tools further reveal that agricultural productivity of the labor/land productivity-poor increased relatively (but not absolutely) faster than for the labor/land productivity-rich. Lastly, we find indications that the labor productivity-poor dispose of less education than the labor productivity-rich which may imply further potential to increase the poor’s productivity levels if their education levels increased. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Productivity, Inequality, Multidimensional Poverty, Pro-Poor Growth, Rwanda, Sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Productivity Analysis, E6, I3, O1, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149745&r=eff |
| By: | Yiridoe, Emmanuel K.; Amon-Armah, Frederick; Hebb, Dale; Jamieson, Rob |
| Abstract: | The eco-efficiency index (EEI) framework has been used to determine economically and environmentally optimal nitrogen (N) fertilizer application rates for some pollutants (such as greenhouse gas emissions) for selected agricultural production systems. However, previous EEI applications have not examined N application rates linked to nitrate-N loss from crop production. The research gap is surprising given the importance of nutrient N in crop production and concerns with nitrate-N in groundwater systems. Eco-efficiency of crop production systems are increased for farm management practices which generate higher economic returns and lower negative environmental impacts and, therefore are considered more eco-efficient. Data for the analysis were generated using the SWAT biophysical simulation modeling. The cropping systems evaluated in this study included: i) corn-based cropping systems involving corn-corn-alfalfa-alfalfa-alfalfa (CCAAA), and CCCAA rotations; ii) potato-based cropping systems involving potato-corn-barley-potato-corn (PCBPC) and PBWPC; and iii) vegetable-horticulture cropping system involving potato-winter wheat-potato-carrot-corn (PWRC) all managed under conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT) systems. Estimated eco-efficient N fertilizer rates were substantially lower than current NMP-recommended rates (NMP N rates) and the maximum economic rate nitrogen fertilization (MERN). However, the actual amounts depended on the crop and rotation system. CCAAA-CT was the most eco-efficient rotation choice among the corn-based cropping systems considered. Similarly, PCBPC-CT was the most eco-efficient choice among the potato-based production systems. In addition, when the NMP-recommended N rate was replaced by the EE N rate for the vegetable horticulture cropping system, the eco-efficient cropping system shifted from a rotation involving CT to a NT system. Eco-efficient N fertilization rates that explicitly simultaneously considers economic and environmental dimensions of cropping system performance will require substantial trade-offs between farm returns and reduction in nitrate pollution. |
| Keywords: | Eco-efficiency, agricultural sustainability, nitrogen fertilizer, nitrate-N pollution, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q57, Q12, Q14, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150357&r=eff |
| By: | Zhang, Wei; Alston, Julian M. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150707&r=eff |
| By: | Russell, Levi A.; Briggeman, Brian C.; Featherstone, Allen M. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Marketing, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150445&r=eff |