TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND FARM SIZE: A NON-PARAMETRIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS

This study examines the argument that farm size is associated with technical efficiency. A non-parametric, frontier analysis method is used, together with some additional statistical analysis. Although some gains in efficiency appear as we move toward larger farms, they do not seem to be significantly large. The input/output ratios are indeed smaller for larger farms and the difference is statistically significant. It can be attributed however to the fact that smaller farms operate on a smaller scale and not inside the production frontier.