Plot size and maize productivity in Zambia: Is there an inverse relationship?

Agricultural Economics

Volumn 35, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 1-9

  Kimhi, Ayal ^a  

^a HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM   (Israel)

Author keywords

Inverse relationship; Maize yield; Plot size; Recursive decisions; Selectivity correction; Two sided tobit; Two stage estimation

Indexed keywords

CROP PRODUCTION; FARM SIZE; MAIZE; YIELD;

AFRICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; ZAMBIA;

ZEA MAYS;

EID: 33744923471     PISSN: 01695150     EISSN: 15740862     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2006.00133.x     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Adesina A. A. Djato K. K., 1996. Farm size, relative efficiency and agrarian policy in Cote d'Ivoire: profit function analysis or rice farms. Agric. Econ. 14, 93 102.
2. Alwang J. Siegel P. B. Jorgensen S. L., 1996. Seeking guidelines for poverty reduction in rural Zambia. World Dev. 24, 1711 1723.
3. Antle J. M., 1983. Sequential decision making in production models. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 65, 282 290.
4. Assuncao J. J. Braido L. H. B., 2004. Testing competing explanations for the inverse productivity puzzle. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Economics, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.
5. Assuncao J. J. Ghatak M., 2003. Can unobserved heterogeneity in farmer ability explain the inverse relationship between farm size and productivity? Econ. Lett. 80, 189 194.
6. Bardhan P. K., 1973. Size, productivity, and returns to scale: an analysis of farm-level data in Indian agriculture. J. Pol. Econ. 81, 1370 1386.
7. Barnum H. N. Squire L., 1978. Technology and relative economic efficiency. Oxford Econ. Pap. 30, 181 198.
8. Barrett C. B., 1996. On price risk and the inverse farm size-productivity relationship. J. Dev. Econ. 51, 193 215.
9. Benjamin D., 1995. Can unobserved land quality explain the inverse productivity relationship? J. Dev. Econ. 46, 51 84.
10. Bhalla S. S. Roy P., 1988. Mis-specification in farm productivity analysis: the role of land quality. Oxford Econ. Pap. 40, 55 73.
11. Binswanger H. P. Deininger K. Feder G., 1995. Power, distortions, revolt and reform in agricultural land relations. In : Behrman J. Srinivasan T. N. Eds Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. IIIB. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 2659 2772.
12. Borjas G. J. Sueyoshi G. T., 1994. A two-stage estimator for probit models with structural group effects. J. Econometr. 64, 165 182.
13. Byiringiro F. Reardon T., 1996. Farm productivity in Rwanda: effects of farm size, erosion, and soil conservation investments. Agric. Econ. 15, 127 136.
14. Carter M. R., 1984. Identification of the inverse relationship between farm size and productivity: an empirical analysis of peasant agricultural production. Oxford Econ. Pap. 36, 131 145.
15. Carter M. R. Wiebe K. D., 1990. Access to capital and its impact on agrarian structure and productivity in Kenya. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 72, 1146 1150.
16. Chipanshi A. C., 1989. Analysis of rainfall probabilities to determine maize species suitability: an agrometeorological study of Zambia, Singapore. J. Trop. Geogr. 10, 110 118.
17. Cornia G. A., 1985. Farm size, land yields and the agricultural production function: an analysis for fifteen developing countries. World Dev. 13, 513 534.
18. Deolalikar A. B., 1981. The inverse relationship between productivity and farm size: a test using regional data from India. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 63, 275 279.
19. Dorward A., 1999. Farm size and productivity in Malawian smallholder agriculture. J. Dev. Stud. 35, 141 161.
20. Eswaran M. Kotwal A., 1986. Access to capital and agrarian production organization. Econ. J. 96, 482 498.
21. Fafchamps M., 1992. Cash crop production, food price volatility, and rural market integration in the Third World. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 74, 90 99.
22. Feder G., 1985. The relation between farm size and farm productivity. J. Dev. Econ. 18, 297 313.
23. Foster K. A. Mwanaumo A., 1995. Estimation of dynamic maize supply response in Zambia. Agric. Econ. 12, 99 107.
24. Government Republic of Zambia, 1994. National Census of Agriculture (1990/92): Census Report Part 1. Central Statistical Office, Lusaka.
25. Hassan R. M., 1996. Planting strategies of maize farmers in Kenya: a simultaneous equations analysis in the presence of discrete dependent variables. Agric. Econ. 15, 137 149.
26. Heckman J. J., 1979. Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica 47, 153 161.
27. Heltberg R., 1998. Rural market imperfections and the farm size-productivity relationship: evidence from Pakistan. World Dev. 26, 1807 1826.
28. Holden S. T., 1993. Peasant household modeling: farming systems evolution and sustainability in Northern Zambia. Agric. Econ. 9, 241 267.
29. Jacoby H. G., 2000. Access to markets and the benefits of rural roads. Econ. J. 110, 713 737.
30. Jha D., 1990. Use of animal traction on smallholder farms in Eastern Province, Zambia. In : Delgado C. L. Tshibaka T. B. Eds Structural Change in African Agriculture. International Food Policy Research Institute Policy Briefs, 5, Washington, DC, pp. 15 16.
31. Jha D. Hojjati B., 1993. Fertilizer use on smallholder farms in Eastern Province, Zambia. Research Report 94, IFPRI, Washington, DC.
32. Kevane M., 1996. Agrarian structure and agricultural practice: typology and application to Western Sudan. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 78, 236 245.
33. Kimhi A. Chiwele D., 2002. Barriers for development in Zambian agriculture. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, Atlanta.
34. Kumar S. K., 1994. Adoption of hybrid maize in Zambia: effects on gender roles, food consumption, and nutrition. International Food Policy Research Institute Research Report 100, IFPRI, Washington, DC.
35. Kumbhakar S. C. Bhattacharyya A., 1992. Price distortions and resource-use efficiency in Indian agriculture - a restricted profit function approach. Rev. Econ. Stat. 74, 231 239.
36. Lamb R. L., 2003. Inverse productivity: land quality, labor markets and measurement error. J. Dev. Econ. 71, 71 95.
37. McGuirk A. Mundlak Y., 1992. The transformation of Punjab agriculture: a choice of technique approach. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 74, 132 143.
38. Mazumdar D., 1965. Size of farm and productivity: a problem of Indian peasant agriculture. Economica 32, 161 173.
39. Newell A. Pandya K. Symons J., 1997. Farm size and the intensity of land use in Gujarat. Oxford Econ. Pap. 49, 307 315.
40. Omamo S. W., 1998. Transport costs and smallholder cropping choices: an application to Siaya District, Kenya. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 80, 116 123.
41. Reardon T. Kelly V. Crawford E. Jayne T. Savadogo K. Clay D., 1996. Determinants of farm productivity in Africa: a synthesis of four case studies. MSU International Development Paper No. 22, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
42. Sawers L., 1998. Farm size, productivity, and public policy in the Argentine interior. J. Develop. Areas 33, 121 149.
43. Sen A. K., 1966. Peasants and dualism with or without surplus labor. J. Pol. Econ. 74, 425 450.
44. Seshmani V., 1998. The impact of market liberalization on food security in Zambia. Food Policy 23, 539 551.
45. Smale M. Bellon M. R. Aguirre Gomez J. A., 2001. Maize diversity, variety attributes, and farmers' choices in Southeastern Guanajuato, Mexico. Econ. Dev. Cultur. Change 50, 201 225.
46. Smale M. Heisey P. W. Leathers H. D., 1995. Maize of the ancestors and modern varieties: the microeconomics of high-yielding variety adoption in Malawi. Econ. Dev. Cultur. Change 43, 351 368.
47. Thirtle C. Piesse J. Lusigi A. Suhariyanto K., 2003. Multi-factor agricultural productivity, efficiency and convergence in Botswana, 1981-1993. J. Dev. Econ. 71, 605 624.
48. Townsend R. F. Kirsten J. Vink N., 1998. Farm size, productivity and returns to scale in agriculture revisited: a case study of wine producers in South Africa. Agric. Econ. 19, 175 180.
49. van Zyl J. Binswanger H. Thirtle C., 1995. The relationship between farm size and efficiency in South African agriculture, Policy Research Working Paper No. 1548, The World Bank.
50. Vavra P. Colman D., 2003. The analysis of UK crop allocation at the farm level: implications for supply response analysis. Agric. Syst. 76, 697 713.
51. Wanmali S., 1990. Rural service use in Eastern Province of Zambia. In : Delgado C. L. Tshibaka T. B. Eds Structural Change in African Agriculture. International Food Policy Research Institute Policy Briefs 5, Washington, DC, pp. 17 18.
52. Weersink A. Rozelle S., 1997. Marketing reforms, market development and agricultural production in China. Agric. Econ. 17, 95 114.
53. Weiss C. R., 1999. Farm growth and survival: econometric evidence for individual farms in Upper Austria. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 81, 103 116.
54. Wichern R. Hausner U. Chiwele D. K., 1999. Impediments to agricultural growth in Zambia. Trade and Macroeconomics Division Discussion Paper No. 47. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC.
55. Yotopoulos P. A. Lau L. J., 1973. A test for relative efficiency: some further results. Am. Econ. Rev. 63, 214 223.
56. Zaibet L. T. Dunn E. G., 1998. Land tenure, farm size, and rural market participation in developing countries: the case of the Tunisian olive sector. Econ. Dev. Cultur. Change 46, 831 848.
57. Zulu B. Nijhoff J. J Jayne T. S. Negassa A., 2000. Is the glass half-empty or half full? An analysis of agricultural production trends in Zambia. Working Paper No. 3. Food Security Research Project, Lusaka, Zambia.