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Crop‐Yield Distributions Revisited
Author(s) -
Ramirez Octavio A.,
Misra Sukant,
Field James
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8276.00106
Subject(s) - yield (engineering) , normality , econometrics , crop , mathematics , statistics , distribution (mathematics) , estimation , function (biology) , economics , agronomy , physics , biology , mathematical analysis , management , evolutionary biology , thermodynamics
This article revisits the issue of crop‐yield distributions using improved model specifications, estimation, and testing procedures that address the concerns raised in recent literature, which could have invalidated previous findings of yield nonnormality. It concludes that some aggregate and farm‐level yield distributions are nonnormal, kurtotic, and right or left skewed, depending on the circumstances. The advantages of utilizing nonnormal versus normal probability distribution function models, and the consequences of incorrectly assuming crop‐yield normality are explored.