Off-farm work, technical efficiency, and rice production risk in Taiwan
Journal
Agricultural Economics
Journal Volume
42
Journal Issue
2
Pages
269-278
Date Issued
2011
Author(s)
Wen, F.-I.
Abstract
This article investigates the differences in yield production, production efficiency, and yield risk for farmers both with and without off-farm work. Using a nationwide survey of rice farmers in Taiwan, we estimate two stochastic production frontier models that accommodate technical inefficiency and production risk simultaneously for farmers both with and without off-farm work. The stochastic dominance criterion is then applied to compare the differences in the distributions of the estimated technical efficiency and yield risk between groups. The empirical results indicate that these two groups of farmers use resources in different ways, and off-farm work is not necessarily associated with lower technical efficiency. For farmers in the lower percentiles of the efficiency distribution, those with off-farm work are more efficient than their counterparts without off-farm work. In addition, farmers with off-farm work face higher production risk and this result is robust for the entire distribution. © 2010 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
Subjects
Off-farm work; Production risk; Stochastic dominance criterion; Taiwan; Technical efficiency
SDGs
Other Subjects
crop production; crop yield; farmers attitude; off-farm employment; questionnaire survey; resource use; rice; risk assessment; stochasticity; technical efficiency; Taiwan
Type
journal article