Comparing the Profitability of Organic and Conventional Production in Family Farming: Empirical Evidence From Brazil

Anderson G. Froehlich, Andrea S.S.A. Melo and Breno Sampaio

Ecological Economics, 2018, vol. 150, issue C, 307-314

Abstract: Several studies have compared the profitability of organic and conventional producers, but present very conflicting results. Although in the majority of these papers selection bias due to observables is accounted for, the possibility of selection based on unobservables has been largely overlooked. In this paper, we compare these two types of producers using a large and unique data of about 4.2 million family farmers in Brazil. Standard propensity score matching techniques are used together with the procedure recently developed by Oster (forthcoming) to address concerns about omitted variables. Our results confirm the working hypothesis that organic producer's profits are lower than conventional ones.

Keywords: Family farming in Brazil; Profitability of organic farming; Propensity score; Selection on unobservables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C19 D29 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:150:y:2018:i:c:p:307-314

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.04.022

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