期刊名称：Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Agrarökonomie
印刷版ISSN：1815-1027
出版年度：2007
卷号：2007
出版社：Facultas
摘要：This research empirically investigates the well known ‘poor-but-efficient’ hypothesis
formulated by Schultz (1964) assuming that small scale farmers in developing countries are
reasonably efficient in allocating their scarce resources by responding positively to price
incentives. Deviating from Schultz it is assumed here that scale effects explain a considerable
proportion of small scale farmers’ relative efficiency. The theoretical underpinnings of the
scale efficiency concept are briefly reviewed before a normalized generalized Leontief profit
function is modeled by using its output supply and input demand system to capture the joint
production of cassava flour and maize by a sample of small scale farmers in the Bragantina
region of the Eastern Amazon, Brazil. The discussion on theoretical consistency and
functional flexibility is considered by imposing convexity on the GL profit framework. The
empirical results confirm our revised hypothesis that small farmers in traditional development
settings are ‘poor-but-allocatively efficient’ by clearly suggesting considerable inefficiency
with respect to the scale of operations.
关键词：Efficiency, Joint Production, Small Scale Farming, Schultz Hypothesis
