Are small farms really more productive than large farms?

Fernando Aragon, Diego Restuccia and Juan Pablo Rud

Working Papers from University of Toronto, Department of Economics

Abstract: In this paper we show that the study of the farm size-productivity relationship hinges on the choice of productivity measure. Our main insight is that using yields, a partial measure of productivity, may not be informative for the size-productivity relationship because, in addition to total factor productivity, yields pick up input markets distortions and deviations from constant returns to scale. We examine the empirical relevance of this insight using detailed microdata from Uganda. We find an inverse relationship between yields and farm size. We show the relationship turns positive when accounting for market distortions and returns to scale; or when using a farm-specific component of total factor productivity.

Keywords: Farm size; productivity; yields; land markets; distortions; agriculture; policy. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O12 O13 Q12 Q15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: Unknown pages
Date: 2020-09-17
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-eff
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/public/workingPapers/tecipa-675.pdf Main Text (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Are small farms really more productive than large farms? (2022)
Working Paper: Are small farms really more productive than large farms? (2021)
Working Paper: Are small farms really more productive than large farms? (2021)
Working Paper: Are small farms really more productive than large farms? (2021)
Working Paper: Are small farms really more productive than large farms? (2021)
Working Paper: Are Small Farms Really more Productive than Large Farms? (2019)
Working Paper: Are Small Farms Really more Productive than Large Farms? (2019)
Working Paper: Are small farms really more productive than large farms? (2019)
Working Paper: Are Small Farms Really more Productive than Large Farms? (2019)
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