In this paper we fit stochastic frontier production functions to data of Chinese farms grouped into each of four regions--North, Northeast, East, and Southwest--over 1995-1999. These frontier production functions are shown to have statistically different structures, and the elasticities provide...

This paper utilizes a unique county-level dataset to examine technical efficiency and technology gap in China's agriculture. We classify the counties into four regions with distinctive levels of economic development, and hence production technologies. A meta-frontier analysis is used. We find...

In this paper we examine more closely the factors associated with production inefficiency in China's agriculture. The approach we take involves a two-stage process where output efficiency scores are first estimated using data envelopment analysis, and then in the second stage, variation in the...