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Can Information from the Internet Improve Grain Technical Efficiency? New Evidence from Rice Production in China

Author

Listed:
  • Qianqian Chen

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Chao Zhang

    (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 102488, China)

  • Ruifa Hu

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
    Yangtze River Delta Graduate School, Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing 314011, China)

  • Shengyang Sun

    (Department of Economics Teaching and Research, Party School of the Central Committee of C.P.C (National Academy of Governance), Beijing 100091, China)

Abstract

The Internet has become an important channel through which farmers obtain technical information regarding agricultural production. While previous studies have examined the effect of information from the Internet on technical efficiency in cash-crop production, there is little knowledge about how information from the Internet affects technical efficiency in grain production. This study aims to provide new evidence for the effect of information from the Internet on technical efficiency in rice production using the random survey data of 1122 rice farmers from the Yangtze River Basin in China. A stochastic frontier production function is employed to estimate technical efficiency in rice production, and the endogenous switching regression model is utilized to address the potential self-selectivity bias. The results show that 13.6% of surveyed rice farmers obtain information regarding agricultural production from the Internet. After addressing the self-selectivity bias, information from the Internet is found to increase rice farmers’ technical efficiency by 6.657 percentage points using the endogenous switching regression model. Meanwhile, information from the Internet exerts greater positive effects on technical efficiency in rice production among farmers with larger farm size and less farming experience as well as those in the Guizhou and Hubei provinces.

Suggested Citation

  • Qianqian Chen & Chao Zhang & Ruifa Hu & Shengyang Sun, 2022. "Can Information from the Internet Improve Grain Technical Efficiency? New Evidence from Rice Production in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:12:y:2022:i:12:p:2086-:d:993893
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    References listed on IDEAS

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