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Scale Economies and Inefficiency of U.S. Dairy Farms
Author(s) -
Mosheim Roberto,
Lovell C.A. Knox
Publication year - 2009
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/j.1467-8276.2009.01269.x
Subject(s) - inefficiency , economies of scale , scale (ratio) , agriculture , returns to scale , agricultural economics , dairy farming , economics , point (geometry) , agricultural science , business , production (economics) , econometrics , geography , microeconomics , environmental science , mathematics , geometry , cartography , archaeology
This study employs data drawn from the 2000 Agricultural Resource Management Survey, a U.S. Department of Agriculture‐sponsored farmers’ survey. The article estimates returns to scale relationships across dairy farms of different sizes and across different regions, incorporating variables hypothesized to influence farm performance. Results point to significant scale economies in U.S. dairy farms and underscore the importance of taking account of inefficiency when estimating scale economies. Contrary to previous research, the preferred cost function specification does not show a region of decreasing returns to scale. This finding helps explain why the average size of dairy farms has been increasing.