Is Private Farming More Efficient Than Socialized Agriculture?

This paper examines the technical efficiency of state and private farms in Poland for the period 1960-74. The author s find that the average technical efficiency of the two types of farms does not differ, although the dispersion of efficiency levels is greater among state farms than among private ones. The authors do fi nd clear evidence of allocative inefficiency, with state farms oversupplied with fertilizer and machinery. Copyright 1993 by The London School of Economics and Political Science.