The availability of efficiency estimation software freely distributed via the internet and relatively easy to use recently inflated the number of corresponding applications. The resulting efficiency estimates are often used without a critical assessment with respect to the literature on...

This research aims to comtribute to the discussion on the importance of theoretically consistent modelling for stochastic efficiency analysis. The robustness of policy suggestions based on inferences from efficiency measures crucially depends on theoretically well-founded estimates. The...

This article is an empirical study about flexible and conventional functional forms of coffee production, minflex Laurent Translog function econometrically has been established in Colombia coffee zone for the farm size (smallholders, medium and large farms, general sector), using a stochastic...

This paper is concerned with empirical measurement of patterns of productivity growth by means of competing panel data models of technical change. We argue that short term analysis must rely on models of technical change which are more flexible than the standard time trend model, because...

Agri-environmental schemes are the main policy instrument currently available in the European Union to promote environmentally friendly farming practices. Nevertheless, the adoption rate of these measures is still limited. This paper develops a profit maximizer theoretical framework to explain...

The paper argues that Cobb-Douglas (CD) production function merits use for analysing the production process, not because it should be looked upon as a simple tool which can be handled easily or as a crude remedy for estimation, but because of the advantages it possesses. These advantages are due...

A new test for non-linearity in the conditional mean is proposed using functions of the principal components of regressors.  The test extends the non-linearity tests based on Kolmogorov-Gavor polynomials (Thursby and Schmidt, 1977, Tsay, 1986, and Terasvirta, Lin and Granger, 1993), but...

The investment decisions of small‐scale farmers in developing countries are conditioned by their financial environment. Binding credit market constraints and incomplete insurance can reduce investment in activities with high expected profits. We conducted several experiments in northern Ghana...

Agricultural land fragmentation is widespread and may affect farmers’ decisions and impact farm performance, either negatively or positively. We investigated this impact for the western region of Brittany, France, in 2007. To do so, we regressed a set of performance indicators on a set of...

The investment decisions of small-scale farmers in developing countries are conditioned by their financial environment. Binding credit market constraints and incomplete insurance can reduce investment in activities with high expected profits. We conducted several experiments in northern Ghana in...