IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v25y2021i3p1695-1710.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is specialization a strategy to improve farm efficiency in northwest China?

Author

Listed:
  • Weiying Liu
  • Sriram Shankar
  • Lihua Li

Abstract

Smallholders’ specialization and commercialization is a way out of poverty and has been an important policy recommendation for countries in the early stages of structural change. However, the promotion of specialized commercial farming remains controversial. This study ascertains whether specialization is a strategy for improving efficiency based on a sample of smallholders in northwest China. A two‐step approach was employed to examine the relationship between production specialization and various efficiency measures. The nonparametric production frontier method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to derive input‐based efficiency measures, followed by the tobit estimation to identify the inefficiency determinants. The econometric analysis results confirm that specialization increases households’ technical efficiency (TE). However, in this study, we also find that specialization does not have a statistically significant impact on either the allocative or scale efficiency of the household. Food‐secure households are likely to be technically efficient, but TE is hindered by the external migration of more productive workers. Given the low estimates of farm efficiency in this study, policies facilitating labor markets and providing services for technical support and insurance should be implemented to encourage households to specialize in high‐value activities and integrate into markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Weiying Liu & Sriram Shankar & Lihua Li, 2021. "Is specialization a strategy to improve farm efficiency in northwest China?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1695-1710, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:25:y:2021:i:3:p:1695-1710
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.12782
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12782
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.12782?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kolawole Ogundari, 2013. "Crop diversification and technical efficiency in food crop production," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 267-287, February.
    2. Barrett, Christopher B., 1996. "On price risk and the inverse farm size-productivity relationship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 193-215, December.
    3. Amartya K. Sen, 1966. "Peasants and Dualism with or without Surplus Labor," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74, pages 425-425.
    4. Jean-Paul Chavas & Ragan Petrie & Michael Roth, 2005. "Farm Household Production Efficiency: Evidence from The Gambia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(1), pages 160-179.
    5. Liu, Zinan & Zhuang, Juzhong, 2000. "Determinants of Technical Efficiency in Post-Collective Chinese Agriculture: Evidence from Farm-Level Data," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 545-564, September.
    6. Coelli, Tim J. & Battese, George E., 1996. "Identification Of Factors Which Influence The Technical Inefficiency Of Indian Farmers," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 40(2), pages 1-26, August.
    7. Helfand, Steven M. & Levine, Edward S., 2004. "Farm size and the determinants of productive efficiency in the Brazilian Center-West," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 241-249, December.
    8. Timothy J. Coelli & D.S. Prasada Rao & Christopher J. O’Donnell & George E. Battese, 2005. "An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-0-387-25895-9, November.
    9. Eswaran, Mukesh & Kotwal, Ashok, 1986. "Access to Capital and Agrarian Production Organisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(382), pages 482-498, June.
    10. Coelli, Tim & Fleming, Euan, 2004. "Diversification economies and specialisation efficiencies in a mixed food and coffee smallholder farming system in Papua New Guinea," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 229-239, December.
    11. Tim J. Coelli & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2005. "Total factor productivity growth in agriculture: a Malmquist index analysis of 93 countries, 1980–2000," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 115-134, January.
    12. Wiens, Thomas B., 1987. "Issues in the structural reform of Chinese agriculture," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 372-384, September.
    13. C. Peter Timmer, 1997. "Farmers and Markets: The Political Economy of New Paradigms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 621-627.
    14. Tim Coelli & Sanzidur Rahman & Colin Thirtle, 2002. "Technical, Allocative, Cost and Scale Efficiencies in Bangladesh Rice Cultivation: A Non‐parametric Approach," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 607-626, November.
    15. Jean-Paul Chavas, 2008. "On the economics of agricultural production ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(4), pages 365-380, December.
    16. Rahman, Sanzidur, 2009. "Whether crop diversification is a desired strategy for agricultural growth in Bangladesh?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 340-349, August.
    17. Nadja El Benni & Robert Finger & Stefan Mann, 2012. "Effects of agricultural policy reforms and farm characteristics on income risk in Swiss agriculture," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 72(3), pages 301-324, November.
    18. Hoff, Ayoe, 2007. "Second stage DEA: Comparison of approaches for modelling the DEA score," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 181(1), pages 425-435, August.
    19. Justin Kagin & J. Edward Taylor & Antonio Yúnez-Naude, 2016. "Inverse Productivity or Inverse Efficiency? Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(3), pages 396-411, March.
    20. Paul V. Preckel & Jay T. Akridge & Michael A. Boland, 1997. "Efficiency measures for retail fertilizer dealers," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(5), pages 497-509.
    21. Earl O. Heady, 1952. "Diversification in Resource Allocation and Minimization of Income Variability," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 34(4), pages 482-496.
    22. Colin A. Carter & Funing Zhong & Jing Zhu, 2012. "Advances in Chinese Agriculture and its Global Implications," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 1-36.
    23. Guang Wan & Enjiang Cheng, 2001. "Effects of land fragmentation and returns to scale in the Chinese farming sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 183-194.
    24. Heltberg, Rasmus, 1998. "Rural market imperfections and the farm size-- productivity relationship: Evidence from Pakistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(10), pages 1807-1826, October.
    25. Wu, Shunxiang & Prato, Anthony A., 2006. "Cost Efficiency and Scope Economies of Crop and Livestock Farms in Missouri," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(3), pages 1-15, December.
    26. Wu, Shunxiang & Prato, Tony, 2006. "Cost Efficiency and Scope Economies of Crop and Livestock Farms in Missouri," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(3), pages 539-553, December.
    27. Chavas, Jean-Paul, 2001. "Structural change in agricultural production: Economics, technology and policy," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 5, pages 263-285, Elsevier.
    28. Chavas, Jean-Paul & Aliber, Michael, 1993. "An Analysis Of Economic Efficiency In Agriculture: A Nonparametric Approach," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 18(1), pages 1-16, July.
    29. Jema Haji, 2007. "Production Efficiency of Smallholders' Vegetable-dominated Mixed Farming System in Eastern Ethiopia: A Non-Parametric Approach," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 16(1), pages 1-27, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Paul, Satya & Shankar, Sriram, 2018. "Modelling Efficiency Effects in a True Fixed Effects Stochastic Frontier," MPRA Paper 87437, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Taylor, Matthew P.H. & Helfand, Steven M., 2021. "The Farm Size – Productivity Relationship in the Wake of Market Reform: An Analysis of Mexican Family Farms," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315138, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Satya Paul & Sriram Shankar, 2020. "Estimating efficiency effects in a panel data stochastic frontier model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 163-180, April.
    4. Steven Helfand & Matthew Taylor, 2018. "The Inverse Relationship between Farm Size and Productivity: Refocusing the Debate," Working Papers 201811, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics.
    5. Helfand, Steven M. & Taylor, Matthew P.H., 2021. "The inverse relationship between farm size and productivity: Refocusing the debate," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    6. von Braun, Joachim & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2015. "Small Farms: Changing Structures and Roles in Economic Development," Discussion Papers 210464, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    7. Blancard, Stéphane & Boussemart, Jean-Philippe & Chavas, Jean-Paul & Leleu, Hervé, 2016. "Potential gains from specialization and diversification further to the reorganization of activities," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 60-68.
    8. 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.
    9. Wimmer, Stefan G & Sauer, Johannes, 2016. "Diversification Versus Specialization: Empirical Evidence On The Optimal Structure Of European Dairy Farms," 56th Annual Conference, Bonn, Germany, September 28-30, 2016 244882, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    10. Hayatullah Ahmadzai, 2017. "Crop Diversification and Technical Efficiency in Afghanistan: Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Discussion Papers 2017-04, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    11. Hayatullah Ahmadzai, 2022. "Hope for Change: Is Diversifying Production Portfolios an Ideal Strategy to Boost Farming Efficiency in Afghanistan?," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 22(1), pages 7-31, January.
    12. Watkins, K. Bradley & Henry, Chris G. & Hardke, Jarrod T. & Mane, Ranjitsinh U. & Mazzanti, Ralph & Baker, Ron, 2021. "Non-radial technical efficiency measurement of irrigation water relative to other inputs used in Arkansas rice production," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    13. Kilic, Talip & Zezza, Alberto & Carletto, Calogero & Savastano, Sara, 2017. "Missing(ness) in Action: Selectivity Bias in GPS-Based Land Area Measurements," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 143-157.
    14. Wencheng Li & Lei Wang & Qi Wan & Weijia You & Shaowen Zhang, 2022. "A Configurational Analysis of Family Farm Management Efficiency: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    15. Siyan Zeng & Fengwu Zhu & Fu Chen & Man Yu & Shaoliang Zhang & Yongjun Yang, 2018. "Assessing the Impacts of Land Consolidation on Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Producers: A Survey from Jiangsu Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    16. Desiere, Sam & Jolliffe, Dean, 2018. "Land productivity and plot size: Is measurement error driving the inverse relationship?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 84-98.
    17. Mengistu Assefa Wendimu & Arne Henningsen & Tomasz Gerard Czekaj, 2017. "Incentives and moral hazard: plot level productivity of factory-operated and outgrower-operated sugarcane production in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 48(5), pages 549-560, September.
    18. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin & Yanyan Liu & Sudhir K Singh, 2016. "Can Labor Market Imperfections Explain Changes in the Inverse Farm Size–Productivity Relationship? Longitudinal Evidence from Rural India," Working Papers id:10987, eSocialSciences.
    19. Ferreira, Marcelo Dias Paes & Féres, José Gustavo, 2020. "Farm size and Land use efficiency in the Brazilian Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    20. Wimmer, Stefan G. & Sauer, Johannes, 2017. "The Economic Benefits of Farm Diversification: An Empirical Analysis of Economies of Scope Using the Dual Approach," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258465, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    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:bla:rdevec:v:25:y:2021:i:3:p:1695-1710. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    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.