IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/oeg/wpaper/2006-01.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Soil Conservation and Technical Efficiency Among Hillside Farmers in Central America: A Switching Regression Model

Author

Listed:
  • Solís, Daniel
  • Bravo-Ureta, Boris
  • Quiroga, Ricardo E.

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate and analyze technical efficiency (TE) levels for hillside farmers under different levels of adoption of soil conservation in El Salvador and Honduras. A switching regression model is implemented to examine potential selectivity bias for high and low level adopters, and separate stochastic production frontiers, corrected for selectivity bias, are estimated for each group. The main results indicate that households with above-average adoption show statistically higher average TE than those with lower adoption. Households with higher adoption have smaller farms and display the highest partial output elasticity for land. Constraints in the land and credit markets are likely explanations for these differences. In addition, all estimated models show that TE has a positive and significant association with education and extension.

Suggested Citation

  • Solís, Daniel & Bravo-Ureta, Boris & Quiroga, Ricardo E., 2006. "Soil Conservation and Technical Efficiency Among Hillside Farmers in Central America: A Switching Regression Model," Efficiency Series Papers 2006/01, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    • Handle: RePEc:oeg:wpaper:2006/01
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.unioviedo.es/oeg/ESP/esp_2006_01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Arellanes, Peter & Lee, David R., 2003. "The Determinants Of Adoption Of Sustainable Agriculture Technologies: Evidence From The Hillsides Of Honduras," 2003 Annual Meeting, August 16-22, 2003, Durban, South Africa 25826, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Tom Kompas & Tuong Nhu Che, 2006. "Technology choice and efficiency on Australian dairy farms," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 50(1), pages 65-83, March.
    4. 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.
    5. Abdulai, Awudu & Eberlin, Richard, 2001. "Technical efficiency during economic reform in Nicaragua: evidence from farm household survey data," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 113-125, June.
    6. Lutz, Ernst & Pagiola, Stefano & Reiche, Carlos, 1994. "The Costs and Benefits of Soil Conservation: The Farmers' Viewpoint," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 9(2), pages 273-295, July.
    7. Freeman, H. A. & Ehui, Simeon K. & A. Jabbar, Mohammad, 1998. "Credit constraints and smallholder dairy production in the East African highlands: application of a switching regression model," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 19(1-2), pages 33-44, September.
    8. Boris E. Bravo‐Ureta & Daniel Solís & Horacio Cocchi & Ricardo E. Quiroga, 2006. "The impact of soil conservation and output diversification on farm income in Central American hillside farming," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 35(3), pages 267-276, November.
    9. Deininger, Klaus & Zegarra, Eduardo & Lavadenz, Isabel, 2003. "Determinants and Impacts of Rural Land Market Activity: Evidence from Nicaragua," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1385-1404, August.
    10. Winters, Paul & Crissman, Charles C. & Espinosa, Patricio, 2004. "Inducing the adoption of conservation technologies: lessons from the Ecuadorian Andes," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(5), pages 695-719, October.
    11. 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.
    12. Chambers,Robert G., 1988. "Applied Production Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521314275.
    13. Pattanayak, Subhrendu & Evan Mercer, D., 1998. "Valuing soil conservation benefits of agroforestry: contour hedgerows in the Eastern Visayas, Philippines," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 31-46, January.
    14. Johnson, Nancy L. & Baltodano, Maria Eugenia, 2004. "The economics of community watershed management: some evidence from Nicaragua," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 57-71, May.
    15. Jolliffe, Dean, 1998. "Skills, Schooling, and Household Income in Ghana," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 12(1), pages 81-104, January.
    16. Raffaella Castagnini & Klaus Deininger & Maria A. Gonzalez, 2004. "Comparing land reform and land markets in colombia: impacts on equity and efficiency," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3258, The World Bank.
    17. Linda K. Lee & William H. Stewart, 1983. "Landownership and the Adoption of Minimum Tillage," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(2), pages 256-264.
    18. Fidele Byiringiro & Thomas Reardon, 1996. "Farm productivity in Rwanda: effects of farm size, erosion, and soil conservation investments," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 15(2), pages 127-136, November.
    19. Lee, Lung-fei & Maddala, G S & Trost, R P, 1980. "Asymptotic Covariance Matrices of Two-Stage Probit and Two-Stage Tobit Methods for Simultaneous Equations Models with Selectivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(2), pages 491-503, March.
    20. J. Taylor & Irma Adelman, 2003. "Agricultural Household Models: Genesis, Evolution, and Extensions," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 33-58, January.
    21. Ramírez, Octavio A. & Shultz, Steven D., 2000. "Poisson Count Models to Explain the Adoption of Agricultural and Natural Resource Management Technologies by Small Farmers in Central American Countries," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(1), pages 21-33, April.
    22. Ramón López & Alberto Valdés, 2000. "Fighting Rural Poverty in Latin America: New Evidence of the Effects of Education, Demographics, and Access to Land," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(1), pages 197-212.
    23. ., 1998. "Land," Chapters, in: Heinz D. Kurz & Neri Salvadori (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Classical Economics, volume 0, chapter 93, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    24. Abdul Wadud & Ben White, 2000. "Farm household efficiency in Bangladesh: a comparison of stochastic frontier and DEA methods," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(13), pages 1665-1673.
    25. Gorton, Matthew & Davidova, Sophia, 2004. "Farm productivity and efficiency in the CEE applicant countries: a synthesis of results," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 1-16, January.
    26. Alvarez, Antonio & del Corral, Julio & Perez, Jose Antonio & Solis, Daniel, 2007. "Efecto de la intensificacion sobre la eficiencia de las explotaciones lecheras," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 7(13), pages 1-16.
    27. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-332.
    28. Keith O. Fuglie & Darrell J. Bosch, 1995. "Economic and Environmental Implications of Soil Nitrogen Testing: A Switching-Regression Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(4), pages 891-900.
    29. Mark M. Pitt, 1983. "Farm-Level Fertilizer Demand in Java: A Meta-Production Function Approach," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(3), pages 502-508.
    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. 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).
    2. Daniel Solís & Boris E. Bravo‐Ureta & Ricardo E. Quiroga, 2009. "Technical Efficiency among Peasant Farmers Participating in Natural Resource Management Programmes in Central America," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 202-219, February.
    3. Boris Bravo & Horacio Cocchi & Daniel Solís, 2006. "Adoption of Soil Conservation Technologies in El Salvador: A cross-Section and Over-Time Analysis," OVE Working Papers 1806, Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE).
    4. Solis, Daniel & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Quiroga, Ricardo E., 2006. "Technical Efficiency and Adoption of Soil Conservation in El Salvador and Honduras," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25784, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Zhihai Yang & Amin W. Mugera & Ning Yin & Yumeng Wang, 2018. "Soil conservation practices and production efficiency of smallholder farms in Central China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1517-1533, August.
    6. Radha R. Ashrit, 2023. "Estimation of technical efficiency of Indian farms for major crops during 2013–2014 and 2017–2018: a stochastic Frontier production approach," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 1-32, February.
    7. Imori, Denise & Guilhoto, Joaquim José Martins & Postali, Fernando Antonio Slaibe, 2012. "Eficiência técnica das agropecuárias familiar e patronal – diferenças regionais no Brasil [Technical efficiency of agricultural households and business - regional differences in Brazil]," MPRA Paper 46954, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Jara-Rojas, Roberto & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Moreira, Victor H. & Diaz, Jose, 2012. "Natural Resource Conservation and Technical Efficiency from Small-scale Farmers in Central Chile," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126227, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. del Corral, J. & Pérez, J.A. & Roibás, D., 2010. "The impact of land fragmentation on milk production," Efficiency Series Papers 2010/02, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    10. 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.
    11. Imori, Denise & Guilhoto, Joaquim José Martins & Postali, Fernando Antonio Slaibe, 2012. "Production efficiency of family farms and business farms in the Brazilian regions," MPRA Paper 46995, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Dimitris Christopoulos & Margarita Genius & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2021. "Farm and non-farm labor decisions and household efficiency," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 15-31, August.
    13. Gabriela Pérez Quesada, 2017. "Technical efficiency of dairy farms in Uruguay: a stochastic production frontier analysis," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0517, Department of Economics - dECON.
    14. ERREYGERS, Guido & FEREDE, Tadele, 2009. "The end of subsistence farming: Growth dynamics and investments in human and environmental capital in rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 2009008, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    15. Zahidul Islam, K.M. & Sumelius, John & Bäckman, Stefan, 2012. "Do differences in technical efficiency explain the adoption rate of HYV rice? Evidence from Bangladesh," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18.
    16. Dorothé Yong Ngondjeb & Bernadette Dia Kamgnia & Patrick Nje & Michel Havard, 2014. "L’Évaluation économique de l'investissement dans la conservation des sols: Le cas des aménagements antiérosifs dans le bassin versant du lac Lagdo au Cameroun," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 62(3), pages 393-410, September.
    17. repec:ags:bdbjaf:258303 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Lisandro Roco & Boris Bravo-Ureta & Alejandra Engler & Roberto Jara-Rojas, 2017. "The Impact of Climatic Change Adaptation on Agricultural Productivity in Central Chile: A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    19. Almeida, Alexandre N. & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E., 2019. "Agricultural productivity, shadow wages and off-farm labor decisions in Nicaragua," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 99-110.
    20. Margarita Genius & Spiro Stefanou & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2009. "Productivity Growth and Efficiency under Leontief Technology: An Application to US Steam-Electric Power Generation Utilities," Working Papers 0913, University of Crete, Department of Economics.
    21. Kawasaki, Kentaro, 2010. "The costs and benefits of land fragmentation of rice farms in Japan," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(4), pages 1-18.

    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:oeg:wpaper:2006/01. 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: Luis Orea or David Roibas (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/geovies.html .

    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.