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Technical Efficiency, Managerial Ability And Farmer Education In Guatemalan Corn Production: A Latent Variable Analysis

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  • Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas G.
  • Dunn, Elizabeth G.

Abstract

In this study it is argued that conflicting empirical results on the relationship between technical efficiency and education may be in part attributed to difficulties in the measurement of key variables. Calculation of technical efficiency with three alternative frontier methods for a sample of Guatemalan corn farms resulted in significant differences both in the average technical efficiency of the sample and the efficiency rankings of individual farms. Furthermore, following two-step procedures where technical efficiency is regressed against a set of explanatory variables, it is shown that the choice of efficiency measurement technique can alter the importance of education as a contributing factor to increased technical efficiency. An alternative approach is presented for investigating the relationship between education and efficiency while accounting for difficulties in the measurement of conceptual variables and measurement errors.

Suggested Citation

  • Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas G. & Dunn, Elizabeth G., 1995. "Technical Efficiency, Managerial Ability And Farmer Education In Guatemalan Corn Production: A Latent Variable Analysis," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 24(1), pages 1-11, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:arerjl:31462
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.31462
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    Cited by:

    1. Boris Bravo-Ureta & Daniel Solís & Víctor Moreira López & José Maripani & Abdourahmane Thiam & Teodoro Rivas, 2007. "Technical efficiency in farming: a meta-regression analysis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 57-72, February.
    2. Fabio A. Madau & Roberto Furesi & Pietro Pulina, 2017. "Technical efficiency and total factor productivity changes in European dairy farm sectors," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Alecos Papadopoulos, 2021. "Measuring the effect of management on production: a two-tier stochastic frontier approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(6), pages 3011-3041, June.
    4. Pede, Valerien O. & McKinley, Justin & Singbo, Alphonse & Kajisa, Kei, 2015. "Spatial Dependency of Technical Efficiency in Rice Farming: The Case of Bohol, Philippines," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205456, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Aziz Karimov, 2014. "Factors affecting efficiency of cotton producers in rural Khorezm, Uzbekistan: Re-examining the role of knowledge indicators in technical efficiency improvement," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Khanna, Madhu & Zilberman, David, 1997. "Incentives, precision technology and environmental protection," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 25-43, October.
    7. Nguyen, Khac Minh & Giang, Thanh Long, 2009. "Efficiency Estimates for the Agricultural Production in Vietnam: A Comparison of Parametric and Non-parametric Approaches," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17.
    8. Alene, Arega D. & Manyong, Victor M. & Gockowski, James, 2006. "The production efficiency of intercropping annual and perennial crops in southern Ethiopia: A comparison of distance functions and production frontiers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 51-70, November.
    9. Nguyen Khac Minh & Giang Thanh Long & Bach Ngoc Thang, 2007. "Technical Efficiency of Small And Medium Manufacturing Firms in Vietnam: Parametric and Non-Parametric Approaches," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 23, pages 187-221.
    10. Madau, Fabio A., 2015. "Technical and Scale Efficiency in the Italian Citrus Farming: Comparison between SFA and DEA Approaches," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(2), pages 1-13.
    11. Trond Bjorndal & Chandra Bahadur Adhikari, 2011. "Analyses of Technical Efficiency Using SDF and DEA Models: Evidence from Nepalese Agriculture," Post-Print hal-00708538, HAL.
    12. Allen, Summer L. & Badiane, Ousmane & Ulimwengu, John M., 2012. "Government expenditures, social outcomes, and marginal productivity of agricultural inputs: a case study for Tanzania," IFPRI discussion papers 1172, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Khem Sharma & Pingsun Leung & Halina Zaleski, 1997. "Productive Efficiency of the Swine Industry in Hawaii: Stochastic Frontier vs. Data Envelopment Analysis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 447-459, November.
    14. Henderson, Benjamin B. & Kingwell, Ross S., 2001. "An Investigation of the Technical and Allocative Efficiency of Broadacre Farmers," 2002 Conference (46th), February 13-15, 2002, Canberra, Australia 125109, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    15. A. M. Theodoridis & A. Psychoudakis, 2008. "Efficiency Measurement in Greek Dairy Farms: Stochastic Frontier vs. Data Envelopment Analysis," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 1(2), pages 53-67, December.
    16. Thiam, Abdourahmane & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Rivas, Teodoro E., 2001. "Technical efficiency in developing country agriculture: a meta-analysis," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 25(2-3), pages 235-243, September.
    17. Vu Hoang Linh, 2012. "Efficiency of rice farming households in Vietnam," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 60-73, April.
    18. Solis, Daniel & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Quiroga, Ricardo E., 2006. "The Effect Of Soil Conservation On Technical Efficiency: Evidence From Central America," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21345, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    19. Alene, Arega D. & Zeller, Manfred, 2005. "Technology adoption and farmer efficiency in multiple crops production in eastern Ethiopia: A comparison of parametric and non-parametric distance functions," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 6(1).
    20. Jianjun Tang & Henk Folmer, 2016. "Latent vs. Observed Variables: Analysis of Irrigation Water Efficiency Using SEM and SUR," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 173-185, February.
    21. Abid A. Burki & Haq Nawaz Shah, 1998. "Stochastic Frontier and Technical Efficiency of Farms in Irrigated Areas of Pakistan's Punjab," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 275-291.
    22. Sharma, Khem R. & Leung, PingSun & Zaleski, Halina M., 1999. "Technical, allocative and economic efficiencies in swine production in Hawaii: a comparison of parametric and nonparametric approaches," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 23-35, January.
    23. Urbina, Jilber, 2017. "Eficiencia técnica en la producción de café en Nicaragua: Un análisis de fronteras estocásticas [Technical efficiency in coffee production: a stochastic frontier analysis for Nicaragua]," MPRA Paper 82690, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Sep 2017.
    24. Madau, Fabio A., 2012. "Technical and scale efficiency in the Italian Citrus Farming: A comparison between Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) Models," MPRA Paper 41403, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    25. Richards, Timothy J. & Jeffrey, Scott R., 2000. "Efficiency And Economic Performance: An Application Of The Mimic Model," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 25(1), pages 1-20, July.

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