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How credible are estimates of peasant allocative scale, or scope efficiency? A commentary

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  • Christpher B. Barrett

    (Department of Economics, Utah State University, USA.)

Abstract

The bulk of the rapidly growing literature on the efficiency of peasant farmers around the world points to considerable economic inefficiencies, countering the Schultzian hypothesis of 'poor but efficient' producers in low-income agriculture. This commentary highlights several crucial weaknesses in contemporary methods of estimating economic efficiency parameters. While the efficiency of peasant producers is an issue of considerable policy importance, the methodological shortcomings of efficiency estimation render most exciting empirical findings uninformative. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Christpher B. Barrett, 1997. "How credible are estimates of peasant allocative scale, or scope efficiency? A commentary," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(2), pages 221-229.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:9:y:1997:i:2:p:221-229
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(199703)9:2<221::AID-JID389>3.0.CO;2-L
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
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    8. Israel Finkelshtain & James A. Chalfant, 1991. "Marketed Surplus under Risk: Do Peasants Agree with Sandmo?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(3), pages 557-567.
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    Cited by:

    1. Elizaphan J. O. Rao & Bernhard Brümmer & Matin Qaim, 2012. "Farmer Participation in Supermarket Channels, Production Technology, and Efficiency: The Case of Vegetables in Kenya," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(4), pages 891-912.
    2. J. Sauer & B. Balint, 2008. "Distorted prices and producer efficiency: the case of Romania," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 131-142, April.
    3. Gonzalez, Maria A & Lopez, Rigoberto A, 2007. "Political Violence and Farm Household Efficiency in Colombia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(2), pages 367-392, January.
    4. Muriithi, Beatrice W. & Matz, Julia Anna, 2015. "Welfare effects of vegetable commercialization: Evidence from smallholder producers in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 80-91.
    5. Barrett, Christopher B. & Bachke, Maren E. & Bellemare, Marc F. & Michelson, Hope C. & Narayanan, Sudha & Walker, Thomas F., 2012. "Smallholder Participation in Contract Farming: Comparative Evidence from Five Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 715-730.
    6. Sauer, J. & Mendoza-Escalante, A., 2008. "Farming in the Eastern Amazon – Poor but Allocatively Efficient," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 43, March.
    7. Barrett, Christopher B. & Brown, Douglas R., 2002. "Agriculture And Rural Development: Lessons For Christian Groups Combating Persistent Poverty," Working Papers 14738, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    8. Sauer, Johannes & Mendoza-Escalante, Arisbe, 2007. "Farming In The Eastern Amazon-Poor But Allocatively Efficient," 47th Annual Conference, Weihenstephan, Germany, September 26-28, 2007 7573, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    9. Elizabeth Ahikiriza & Jef Meensel & Xavier Gellynck & Ludwig Lauwers, 2021. "Heterogeneity in frontier analysis: does it matter for benchmarking farms?," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 69-84, December.
    10. Tchale, Hardwick & Sauer, Johannes, 2007. "The efficiency of maize farming in Malawi. A bootstrapped translog frontier," Cahiers d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales (CESR), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 82.
    11. Adesina, A. A. & Ouattara, A. D., 2000. "Risk and agricultural systems in northern Cote d'Ivoire," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 17-32, October.
    12. Hardwick Tchale & Johannes Sauer, 2007. "The efficiency of maize farming in Malawi. A bootstrapped translog frontier," Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 82, pages 33-56.
    13. Sauer, Johannes & Balint, Borbala, 2006. "Romanian Maize - Distorted Prices and Producer Efficiency," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21410, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    14. Sherlund, Shane M. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Adesina, Akinwumi A., 1998. "Smallholder Technical Efficiency With Stochastic Exogenous Production Conditions," Working Papers 14760, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    15. Hardwick Tchale & Johannes Sauer, 2007. "The efficiency of maize farming in Malawi. A bootstrapped translog frontier," Post-Print hal-01201145, HAL.
    16. Sherlund, Shane M. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Adesina, Akinwumi A., 2002. "Smallholder technical efficiency controlling for environmental production conditions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 85-101, October.
    17. Sherlund, Shane M. & Barrett, Christopher B., 1998. "Exogenous Production Shocks And Technical Efficiency Among Traditional Ivorien Rice Farmers," 1998 Annual meeting, August 2-5, Salt Lake City, UT 20945, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    18. Christopher B. Barrett & Shane M. Sherlund & Akinwumi A. Adesina, 2008. "Shadow wages, allocative inefficiency, and labor supply in smallholder agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 38(1), pages 21-34, January.
    19. Omamo, S. W. & Lynam, J. K., 2003. "Agricultural science and technology policy in Africa," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1681-1694, October.

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