Access to Markets and Farm Efficiency: A Study of Rice Farms in the Bicol Region, Philippines

Sanjaya DeSilva

Economics Working Paper Archive from Levy Economics Institute

Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation of the relationship between the spread, spatially and temporally, of market institutions and improvements in the productivity and efficiency of farmers. The data used in this study were collected over two decades in a sample of rice farms in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. Our estimates reveal a significant inverse relationship between distance from the market and farm productivity and efficiency in 1983. While there are substantial improvements in yields, unit costs, and efficiency in the two decades that followed, the gains are larger in the more remote and sparsely populated villages. This finding suggests that the relationship between remoteness and farm outcomes has weakened over time. We also find that the development of markets in the peripheral villages and the improved connectivity between the peripheral villages and market centers are facilitated by population growth, infrastructural investments (specifically, irrigation and roads), and the availability of agricultural extension programs.

Keywords: Farm Efficiency; Agricultural Markets; Institutional Conditions; Philippines (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O12 O13 Q12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-eff
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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