The paper investigates the linkages between technological change and production risk, with an application to corn. The effects of technology on risk exposure are analyzed. We define technological progress to be risk-increasing (risk-decreasing) if it increases (decreases) the relative risk...

This paper attempts to identify sources of resource use inefficiency for cotton production in Pakistan's Punjab. The use of a non-parametric method, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), is developed to study the relative technical and allocative efficiencies of individual farms which use similar...

A meta-analysis is perfonned to review empirical estimates of technical efficiency (TE) in developing country agriculture. The objective of the study is to contribute to a better understanding of the factors that influence estimates of mean TE. A data set of 51 observations of TE from 32 studies...

The focus of this paper is the process of adjustment of farm performance to disequilibrium with new technology over time, which has been a subject of speculation till now. It shows that, left to learn from their own experience, farmers will be slow to realise the full technical potential of a...

This article employs a short-term specification of the symmetric generalised McFadden (SGM) cost function capable of accommodating quasi-fixed factors and variable returns. Temporary equilibrium and scale economies are investigated while maintaining the consistency of the estimated model with...

Short-run responses of export and domestic shares of total agricultural output to changes in stocks of domestic savings (SAV), development assistance (ODA), private foreign commercial capital (PFX) and other variables is investigated. A profit function approach is used. Time series data for 19...

The growth of market capitalism and the technological advances of the last two centuries underlie the relentless process of structural change in agriculture. Substantial occupational migration out of farming and geographical migration from rural to urban areas is a characteristic of most, if not...

Groundwater has the characteristics of commonly owned property, and its use is likely to be inefficient in the absence of regulation. Several management tools can be used to regulate groundwater withdrawals, with no one tool dominating the others in terms of efficiency of water use. However, the...

The substitution of capital goods, including new technology, for land and labour has played an important role and has influenced the structure of Sout African agriculture. Farm labour-related trends in the summer rainfall grain-producing area of South Africa are considered. The amount of labour...

This paper examines the relative economic efficiency of small and large rice farms in Cote d'Ivoire using a profit function approach. No differences in the relative economic efficiency of small and large farms were found. This conclusion is robust under alternative model specifications. Agrarian...