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Cost Efficiency in U.S. Corn Production
Author(s) -
Cooke Stephen C.,
Sundquist W. Burt
Publication year - 1989
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 - 10.2307/1242676
Subject(s) - agricultural economics , production (economics) , economies of scale , agricultural science , economics , sample (material) , agriculture , business , environmental science , microeconomics , geography , chemistry , archaeology , chromatography
Diewert's quadratic lemma is used to derive indexes of intertemporal and interregional cost efficiency and of economies of scale for a sample of U.S. corn regions. Using U.S. Department of Agriculture farm enterprise survey data, the results indicate that intertemporal cost efficiency in U.S. corn production increased 1.3% per year, on average, between 1974 and 1983. Regions in Illinois and Iowa have a competitive advantage in corn production over those in Indiana and Nebraska. Between 1974 and 1983, very large corn enterprises (500–1,000 acres) were 4%–8% more cost efficient than large enterprises (300–460 acres) and 8%–15% more efficient than medium size corn enterprises (175–290 acres).