IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v78y2018icp367-376.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Certified organic food production, financial performance, and farm size: An unconditional quantile regression approach

Author

Listed:
  • Khanal, Aditya R.
  • Mishra, Sachin K
  • Honey, Ummey

Abstract

Demand for organically produced foods continues to show double-digit growth. However, production of certified organic food in the US has lagged significantly. Hence it provides tremendous scope as well as a challenge for the U.S. organic food production (OFP) sector. This study investigates the impact of farmer’s participation in certified OFP on farm financial performance. Using a 2012 nationwide farm-level survey and an unconditional quantile regression (UQR) approach, we find a significant heterogeneous effect of certified OFP across quantiles of farm financial performance measures (i.e., total sales and net cash farm income). Findings show that participation in certified OFP is positive and varies across the unconditional total sales quantile. The marginal impact of participation in certified OFP is higher for farms generating higher sales and net cash income, top three quantiles (75th and up). However, small farms tend to benefit from participation in certified OFP when we use farm sales as performance measure. Finally, UQR estimates show that gender of the operator, off-farm work, marketing contracts, and direct-to-consumer sales have a significant impact on farm financial performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Khanal, Aditya R. & Mishra, Sachin K & Honey, Ummey, 2018. "Certified organic food production, financial performance, and farm size: An unconditional quantile regression approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 367-376.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:78:y:2018:i:c:p:367-376
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.07.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026483771830574X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.07.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lordkipanidze, Nazibrola & Tauer, Loren W., 2000. "Farmer Efficiency and Technology Use with Age," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(1), pages 24-31, April.
    2. McBride, William D. & Greene, Catherine & Foreman, Linda & Ali, Mir, 2015. "The Profit Potential of Certified Organic Field Crop Production," Economic Research Report 262208, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Delbridge, Timothy A. & Fernholz, Carmen & King, Robert P. & Lazarus, William, 2013. "A whole-farm profitability analysis of organic and conventional cropping systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-10.
    4. Markus Frölich & Blaise Melly, 2013. "Unconditional Quantile Treatment Effects Under Endogeneity," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 346-357, July.
    5. Clark, Samuel F., 2009. "“The Profitability of Transitioning to Organic Grain Crops in Indiana”," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1-9, August.
    6. El-Osta, Hisham, 2011. "The Impact of Human Capital on Farm Operator Household Income," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(1), pages 95-115, April.
    7. Osteen, Craig D. & Vasavada, Utpal, 2012. "Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 2012 Edition," Economic Information Bulletin 132048, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. David Card & Sara De La Rica, 2006. "Firm-Level Contracting and the Structure of Wages in Spain," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 59(4), pages 573-592, July.
    9. Nordquist, Dale & Dvergsten, Ron & Joerger, Richard & Moynihan, Meg, 2012. "2011 Organic Farm Performance in Minnesota," CFFM Reports 293327, University of Minnesota, Center for Farm Financial Management.
    10. Delate, K. M. & Duffy, Michael & Chase, Craig A. & Holste, A. & Friedrich, H. & Wantate, N, 2003. "An Economic Comparison of Organic and Conventional Grain Crops in a Long-Term Agroecological Research (Ltar) Site in Iowa," Staff General Research Papers Archive 11818, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    11. Uematsu, Hiroki & Mishra, Ashok K., 2011. "Use of Direct Marketing Strategies by Farmers and Their Impact on Farm Business Income," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(1), pages 1-19, April.
    12. Tim O'Riordan & Dick Cobb, 2001. "Assessing the Consequences of Converting to Organic Agriculture," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 22-35, January.
    13. de Ponti, Tomek & Rijk, Bert & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2012. "The crop yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-9.
    14. Buchinsky, Moshe, 1994. "Changes in the U.S. Wage Structure 1963-1987: Application of Quantile Regression," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(2), pages 405-458, March.
    15. El-Osta, Hisham S., 2011. "The Impact of Human Capital on Farm Operator Household Income," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(1), pages 1-21, April.
    16. Purdy, Barry M. & Langemeier, Michael R. & Featherstone, Allen M., 1997. "Financial Performance, Risk, and Specialization," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(1), pages 149-161, July.
    17. Roger Koenker & Kevin F. Hallock, 2001. "Quantile Regression," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 143-156, Fall.
    18. Greene, Catherine R. & Slattery, Edward & McBride, William D., 2010. "America’s Organic Farmers Face Issues and Opportunities," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-6.
    19. Sergio Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 953-973, May.
    20. Delbridge, Timothy A. & King, Robert P., 2012. "Conversion to Organic Farm Management: A Dynamic Programming Approach," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124928, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    22. H. Frederick Gale, 1994. "Longitudinal Analysis of Farm Size over the Farmer's Life Cycle," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 16(1), pages 113-123.
    23. Mishra, Ashok K. & El-Osta, Hisham S. & Johnson, James D., 1999. "Factors Contributing To Earnings Success Of Cash Grain Farms," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1-15, December.
    24. Bijan J. Borah & Anirban Basu, 2013. "Highlighting Differences Between Conditional And Unconditional Quantile Regression Approaches Through An Application To Assess Medication Adherence," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(9), pages 1052-1070, September.
    25. Uematsu, Hiroki & Mishra, Ashok K., 2012. "Organic farmers or conventional farmers: Where's the money?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 55-62.
    26. Greene, Catherine, 2013. "Growth Patterns in the U.S. Organic Industry," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, issue 09, pages 1-1, October.
    27. Loren Tauer, 1995. "Age and Farmer Productivity," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 17(1), pages 63-69.
    28. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January.
    29. Ashok K. Mishra & Kh. A. Mottaleb & Samarendu Mohanty, 2015. "Impact of off-farm income on food expenditures in rural Bangladesh: an unconditional quantile regression approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 139-148, March.
    30. Samuel F. Clark, 2009. "The Profitability of Transitioning to Organic Grain Crops in Indiana," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1497-1504.
    31. Rulon D. Pope & Richard Prescott, 1980. "Diversification in Relation to Farm Size and Other Socioeconomic Characteristics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 62(3), pages 554-559.
    32. Hisham S. El‐Osta & Ashok K. Mishra & Mitchell J. Morehart, 2007. "Determinants of economic well‐being among U.S. farm operator households," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 36(3), pages 291-304, May.
    33. Veldstra, Michael D. & Alexander, Corinne E. & Marshall, Maria I., 2014. "To certify or not to certify? Separating the organic production and certification decisions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P2), pages 429-436.
    34. Barry K. Goodwin & Ashok K. Mishra, 2004. "Farming Efficiency and the Determinants of Multiple Job Holding by Farm Operators," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(3), pages 722-729.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pierre Chiaverina & Sophie Drogué & Florence Jacquet & Larry Lev & Robert King, 2023. "Does short food supply chain participation improve farm economic performance? A meta‐analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 400-413, May.
    2. Nematollahi, Mohammadreza & Tajbakhsh, Alireza & Mosadegh Sedghy, Bahareh, 2021. "The reflection of competition and coordination on organic agribusiness supply chains," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Tran, Tuyen Quang & Vu, Huong Van, 2020. "The pro-poor impact of non-crop livelihood activities in rural Vietnam: A panel data quantile regression analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 348-362.
    4. Elodie Letort & Aude Ridier, 2022. "The economic performance of transitional and non-transitional organic dairy farms: A panel data econometric approach in Brittany," Working Papers SMART 22-03, INRAE UMR SMART.
    5. Amina Ika Micah, 2022. "Three essays on access to credit and financial shock in Nigeria," Economics PhD Theses 0422, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    6. Bruce, Analena B. & Farmer, James R. & Giroux, Stacey & Dickinson, Stephanie & Chen, Xiwei & Donnell, Michael O. & Benjamin, Tamara J., 2022. "Opportunities and barriers to certified organic grain production on rented farmland in the U.S. Midwest state of Indiana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    7. Elodie Letort & Aude Ridier, 2022. "The economic performance of transitional and non-transitional organic dairy farms: A panel data econometric approach in Brittany [Les performances économiques des exploitations laitières en agricul," Working Papers hal-03635268, HAL.
    8. Ma, Wanglin & Zheng, Hongyun, 2021. "Impacts of Smartphone Use on Agrochemical Use Among Wheat Farmers in China: A Heterogeneous Analysis," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 314991, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Letort, Elodie & Ridier, Aude, 2022. "The economic performance of transitional and non-transitional organic dairy farms: A panel data econometric approach in Brittany," Working Papers 320345, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    10. Hirsch, Stefan & Koppenberg, Maximilian, 2023. "Market power and profitability of organic versus conventional dairy farmers in the EU," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335708, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Wanglin Ma & Hongyun Zheng, 2022. "Heterogeneous impacts of information technology adoption on pesticide and fertiliser expenditures: Evidence from wheat farmers in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(1), pages 72-92, January.
    12. Ming-Feng Hsieh & Yir-Hueih Luh, 2022. "Is Contract Farming with Modern Distributors Partnership for Higher Returns? Analysis of Rice Farm Households in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-16, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dong, Xiyong & Li, Changhong & Yoon, Seong-Min, 2020. "Asymmetric dependence structures for regional stock markets: An unconditional quantile regression approach," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    2. McBride, William D. & Greene, Catherine & Foreman, Linda & Ali, Mir, 2015. "The Profit Potential of Certified Organic Field Crop Production," Economic Research Report 262208, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Khanal, Aditya & Mishra, Ashok, 2016. "Are all farms better-off growing organic? An unconditional quantile regression approach," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235618, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Hadrich, Joleen C. & Wolf, Christopher A. & Johnson, Kamina K., 2015. "Chacterizing U.S. Dairy Farm Wealth and Income Distributions," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205383, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Tauer, Loren, 2019. "Farmer productivity by age in the United States," International Journal of Agricultural Management, Institute of Agricultural Management, vol. 8(2), August.
    6. Balestra, Simone & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2017. "Heterogeneous returns to education over the wage distribution: Who profits the most?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 89-105.
    7. Thanh P. Bui & Katsushi S. Imai, 2019. "Determinants of Rural-Urban Inequality in Vietnam: Detailed Decomposition Analyses Based on Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(12), pages 2610-2625, December.
    8. Dong, Xiyong & Li, Changhong & Yoon, Seong-Min, 2021. "How can investors build a better portfolio in small open economies? Evidence from Asia’s Four Little Dragons," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    9. Michael Chletsos & Stelios Roupakias, 2020. "Education and wage inequality before and during the fiscal crisis: A quantile regression analysis for Greece 2006–2016," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 1333-1364, November.
    10. Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky & Michael K Adjemian, 2021. "Not All Thin Markets Are Alike: The Case of Organic and Non‐genetically Engineered Corn and Soybeans," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 117-133, February.
    11. Joshua D. Detre & Hiroki Uematsu & Ashok K. Mishra, 2011. "The influence of GM crop adoption on the profitability of farms operated by young and beginning farmers," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 71(1), pages 41-61, May.
    12. Apergis, Nicholas & Chasiotis, Ioannis & Georgantopoulos, Andreas G. & Konstantios, Dimitrios, 2021. "The integration of share repurchases into investment decision-making: Evidence from Japan," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Schorr, A. & Lips, M., 2018. "Influence of milk yield on profitability a quantile regression analysis," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277000, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Daniel Pollmann & Thomas Dohmen & Franz Palm, 2020. "Robust Estimation of Wage Dispersion with Censored Data: An Application to Occupational Earnings Risk and Risk Attitudes," De Economist, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 519-540, December.
    15. Raszap Skorbiansky, Sharon & Adjemian, Michael K. & Saitone, Tina L. & Sexton, Richard J., 2017. "Price Determination and Margin Volatility in Thinly Traded Commodity Markets: An Application to Major U.S. Field Crops," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258577, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Liao, Wen-Chi & Zhao, Daxuan, 2019. "The selection and quantile treatment effects on the economic returns of green buildings," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 38-48.
    17. Bonanno, Alessandro & Bimbo, Francesco & Cleary, Rebecca & Castellari, Elena, 2018. "Food labels and adult BMI in Italy – An unconditional quantile regression approach," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 199-211.
    18. Oliver Musshoff & Norbert Hirschauer, 2011. "A behavioral economic analysis of bounded rationality in farm financing decisions," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 71(1), pages 62-83, May.
    19. Ashok K. Mishra & Kh. A. Mottaleb & Samarendu Mohanty, 2015. "Impact of off-farm income on food expenditures in rural Bangladesh: an unconditional quantile regression approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 139-148, March.
    20. John Cullinan & Kevin Denny & Darragh Flannery, 2021. "A distributional analysis of upper secondary school performance," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 1085-1113, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unconditional quantile regression; Certified organic food production; Financial performance; Net cash income; Total value of farm sales;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q14 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Finance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:78:y:2018:i:c:p:367-376. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.