Efficiency Analysis with Panel Data: A Study of Portuguese Dairy Farms.

The technical efficiency of Portugese dairy farms is measured using frontier production functions estimated from panel data. Alternative estimators are compared and evaluated. The results suggest an average efficiency of 60 to 70 percent. The relationship between efficiency and farm characteristics is explored. Efficiency appears to be positively correlated with farm size but independent of degree of specialisation. The implications of the results for alternative development strategies are considered. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.