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Exploring the Role of Managerial Ability in Influencing Dairy Farm Efficiency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Justin P. Byma  and
Loren W. Tauer
Justin P. Byma
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York
Loren W. Tauer
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York
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Abstract

This paper explores the role of managerial ability in determining efficiency in New York dairy farms. Using an unbalanced panel of farm data from 1993 through 2004, we estimate outputoriented technical efficiencies using stochastic distance frontier functions. We find that both lagged net farm income and farmers’ own estimates of the value of their labor and management as proxies for managerial ability impact measured efficiency. Efficiency increases with operator education, farm size, and extended participation in a farm management program, but decreases with operator age.

Keywords

dairy farmsdistance functionmanagement and efficiencystochastic frontier analysis
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , October 2010 , pp. 505 - 516
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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