Premium
A Review of Nigerian Agricultural Efficiency Literature, 1999–2011: What Does One Learn from Frontier Studies?
Author(s) -
Ogundari K.,
Amos T.T.,
Okoruwa V.O.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
african development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1467-8268
pISSN - 1017-6772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8268.2011.00307.x
Subject(s) - funnel plot , frontier , agriculture , total factor productivity , univariate , economics , econometrics , productivity , plot (graphics) , statistics , agricultural economics , geography , publication bias , mathematics , economic growth , multivariate statistics , confidence interval , archaeology
: The objective of the study is to provide a critical overview of Nigerian agricultural efficiency literature covering 1999–2011. A total of 156 frontier studies which yields 210 observations were used for the review. The preliminary findings from both the Funnel Plot and Funnel Asymmetry Test revealed that publication bias is not a severe problem in the selected literature. Our findings via univariate scatter plot and Spearman correlation provided evidence that reported efficiency scores positively correlated with the year of survey in the primary study. However, this observation might be an indication that positive efficiency change in the total factor productivity (TFP) growth characterized the development of Nigerian agricultural sector over the years. The average efficiency estimate from all the reviewed studies is about 0.71, thus suggesting, there is considerable room for improvement in the sector. To further distil important policy findings from the primary literature, we observed that 48 percent of the observations identified education as a significant determinant of efficiency in the Nigerian agriculture over the years. Likewise, experience was shown to be an important variable by 33 percent, while 23 percent identified age as a key determinant. Also, 19 percent showed that extension and family size are important. The directions of future research are also outlined.