Using measures of efficiency for regionally-targeted smallholder policy intervention: The case of Pakistan’s horticulture sector

• Ahmad, Shabbir ^[5] ; Shankar, Sriram ^[1] ; Steen, John ^[2] ; Verreynne, Martie-Louise ^[3] ; Burki, Abid Aman ^[4]
  1. [1] Australian National University

     Australian National University

     Australia

     
  2. [2] University of British Columbia

     University of British Columbia

     Canadá

     
  3. [3] Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University

     Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University

     Australia

     
  4. [4] Lahore University of Management Sciences

     Lahore University of Management Sciences

     Pakistán

     
  5. [5] Institute of Social Sciences Research, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 101, 2021
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The empirical literature on the sources of production efficiency mostly focuses on technical and scale efficiency, and the relative importance of mix efficiency is often overlooked. This paper estimates input-oriented technical and mix efficiency using a farm-level survey dataset of 730 smallholder horticulture farms in Pakistan. We estimate a Bayesian stochastic production frontier model to draw precise statistical inferences by using finite sample properties. We find that the estimated mean mix inefficiency (0.65) is roughly as large as mean technical inefficiency (0.64). Moreover, we detect large technical and mix efficiency disparities across agro-climatic zones and farm sizes, which we attribute to suboptimal farm practices. We conclude that policy-makers should focus on strategies that target to improve both technical and mix inefficiency.