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This study updates previous meta-analysis of farm-level frontier function studies in order to provide a detailed systematic and comprehensive analysis of the effects that different studyspecific attributes have on mean technical efficiency (MTE) scores. Before presenting the technical efficiency (TE) analysis, we provide an overview of the evolution of key methodological approaches that have been developed and applied to measure and examine TE. A detailed descriptive analysis is then performed for a meta-dataset that includes 408 farm level TE studies, published between 1981 and mid-2014. Some studies report several MTEs, resulting in 900 observations or cases. A key result from the descriptive analysis is that the Average of the Mean Technical Efficiencies (AMTE) reported for all studies is 74.2%. The AMTE across methodological attributes tend to be quite similar but several significant differences are observed when comparisons are made across geographical regions, income levels, and types of product. The paper goes on to report the results of meta-regressions estimated using the fractional regression procedure, which is well suited for dependent variables that are defined on the unit interval or as a fraction (between 0 and 1), as is the case with TE. In the concluding section, we provide some thoughts concerning recent work that uses stochastic production frontier methodologies to evaluate the impact of developments projects while addressing biases from observable and unobservable variables.

This paper examines the connection between total factor productivity change and dairy farm size in Southern Chile, a translog stochastic production frontier is estimated using an unbalanced panel for 2005-2009 including 417 farms and 1,186 observations. Descriptive analyses and econometric evidence indicate that the farms exhibit decreasing returns to size, productivity gains through technical efficiency or management improvements are limited while technological progress is rather low; thus, investments in research appear promising. Although the findings reveal that farm size is not associated with productivity growth, a clear positive association between farm size and net income is found.

This study estimates a stochastic production frontier to measure technical efficiency (TE) using farm-level survey data for a random sample of small-scale farmers in Central Chile. Socioeconomic and productive information was collected in season 2005/06 through a survey of 319 farmers in the Province of Linares. An important issue in the paper is the effect of adoption of soil and water conservation practices on productivity. The results reveal a positive relationship between the adoption of soil and water conservation and farm-level TE. The results also indicate that improvements in TE, when associated with conservation practices, not only lead to higher output and thus improvements in net returns, but also contribute to environmental sustainability. Moreover, the analysis reveals a positive relationship between TE and human capital variables such as education and agricultural extension.

This paper examines the association between agricultural subsidies and farm efficiency using data from the European Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for operations specializing on dairy. The analysis covers the 18 year period going from 1990 to 2007 and includes eleven countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Separate translog stochastic input distance frontiers are estimated for each country. Results show high technical efficiency averages and positive average rates of technological change. In addition, higher subsidy dependence and larger size are significantly associated with lower technical efficiency across all eleven countries.

Chile has become an increasingly important player in international wine markets. Concurrent with the expansion of Chilean wine output and exports, there has been an increase in production in several other "New World" countries including Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The overall growth in wine supplies has increased competition to capture market share, which highlights the importance of productivity gains among wine and grape producers. The purpose of this paper is to estimate and analyze the technical efficiency (TE) component of productivity for a sample of wine grape producers in Chile. The data includes 38 farms with specific input-output information for individual blocks yielding a total of 263 observations. We use a Cobb-Douglas model to estimate a stochastic production frontier (SPF) and to obtain TE scores both at the individual block and at the farm level. The results suggest that the average farm level TE is 77.2%, while the block level TE ranges from 23.4 to 95.0%. The value of the function coefficient is 1.021, which suggests nearly constant returns to size. Chile se ha transformado en un actor cada vez más importante en el mercado internacional del vino. Junto con la creciente expansión de la producción y exportación de vinos chilenos, otros países del "Nuevo Mundo" han ido aumentando su producción, como es el caso de Argentina, Australia, Nueva Zelanda y Sud África. El aumento de la oferta de vino ha incrementado la competencia entre los países por capturar cuotas de mercado, lo que pone en evidencia la importancia en mejorar la productividad entre productores de vinos y de uva vinífera. El objetivo de este trabajo es estimar y analizar el componente de eficiencia técnica (ET) de la productividad de una muestra de productores de uva chilenos. Los datos provienen de 38 viñedos que entregaron información específica de insumos y productos, para cuarteles individuales, lo que dio un total de 263 observaciones. Se empleó un modelo Cobb-Douglas para estimar la frontera de producción estocástica (FPE) para obtener índices de ET tanto a nivel de cuartel como de viñedo. Los resultados muestran que a nivel de viñedo la ET promedio es 77,2% en tanto que a nivel de cuartel esta fluctúa entre 23,4 y 95,0%. La cifra del coeficiente de la función es 1,021, lo que indica retornos constantes a escala.

Chile has become an increasingly important player in international wine markets. Concurrent with the expansion of Chilean wine output and exports, there has been an increase in production in several other "New World" countries including Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The overall growth in wine supplies has increased competition to capture market share, which highlights the importance of productivity gains among wine and grape producers. The purpose of this paper is to estimate and analyze the technical efficiency (TE) component of productivity for a sample of wine grape producers in Chile. The data includes 38 farms with specific input-output information for individual blocks yielding a total of 263 observations. We use a Cobb-Douglas model to estimate a stochastic production frontier (SPF) and to obtain TE scores both at the individual block and at the farm level. The results suggest that the average farm level TE is 77.2%, while the block level TE ranges from 23.4 to 95.0%. The value of the function coefficient is 1.021, which suggests nearly constant returns to size.

FACEPA. Farm Accountancy Cost Estimation and Policy Analysis of European Agriculture (European Commission FP7) ; Grant 212292; The general objective of this study is to examine total factor productivity growth in multi-output farms, in which dairy is the major activity, located in countries that are members of the European Union (EU). In particular, we are interested in comparing productivity growth between and within countries. To this end, we examine whether countries share the same technology or not. We then address the following question: Are subsides provided to farms in the frame of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU productivity enhancing or not?

The major objective of this paper is to examine the association between agricultural subsidies and farm efficiency using data from the European Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for operations specializing on dairy. The analysis covers the 18 year period going from 1990 to 2007 and includes the following seven countries: Denmark; France; Germany; Ireland; Spain; the Netherlands; and the United Kingdom. Separate translog stochastic input distance frontiers are estimated for each country. The key results show high average technical efficiency (TE) ranging from 91.8% to 94.9%, average rates of technological change going from -0.6% to 1.4%, and increasing returns to scale (1.24 to 1.44) across all seven countries. In addition, higher subsidy and hired labor dependence are found to be significantly associated with higher technical inefficiency across all seven countries. Moreover, the latest Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) regime introducing fully decoupled payments has reduced TE in all countries considered except Denmark.

This article analyzes the relative importance of producers’ attributes and farms’ geographical characteristics in the decision to produce an exportable good (blueberries) in the southern region of Chile. Using farm-level data, a logit model is estimated to identify factors influencing the export-production decision. Results show that the probability of producing blueberries increases with the educational level of producers (a proxy for productivity), the presence of irrigation and drainage systems, and the availability of labor. The last factor, which arises from the proximity to large and urbanized regions, has a stronger effect on the export-production decisions of Chilean farms than either farmers’ education or farms’ physical characteristics.