Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of single vs multiple lenders by Kansas farms. Previous studies suggest that as the risk level of the firm changes, borrowers desire to enhance the probability of obtaining credit at the lowest possible cost may cause them to use...

This article investigates the impact of downside risk on cost and revenue efficiency (RE) for a sample of farms. Downside risk or loss below a certain level of return is a concern regardless of producer risk preferences and thus a suitable measure of risk to use. Downside risk was measured as...

This study investigates the impact of risk preferences on economic efficiency scores. Risk averse individuals may be less likely to adopt new technologies and have lower production levels than individuals with other risk preferences. Nonparametric techniques are used to estimate cost and revenue...

We use nonparametric production function methods to decompose farm-level labor productivity growth into components attributable to efficiency change, technical change, and factor intensity. The estimation is accomplished using balanced panel data drawn from the Kansas Farm Management Association...

This paper examined the relationship between cost efficiency and feed grain production in Kansas. Using data from 2002 to 2011, corn production was significantly and positively related to cost efficiency in eastern and western Kansas, while grain sorghum production was significant and positively...

This article investigates the sources of profitability and productivity change at the farm level with an application to a group of 252 farms in Kansas over an 18 years period, from 1993 to 2010. The Lowe index method is used to compute changes in total factor productivity (TFP) and terms of...

Cattle feeders face risks from fluctuating fed cattle, feeder cattle, and feed prices and cattle performance. Closeout data on 7293 pens of steers are studied to determine the relative impacts of prices and animal performance on cattle feeding profits and cost of gain. Results indicate the...

This paper tests the farm level profit maximization hypothesis using a nonparametric production analysis approach allowing for measurement error in the input and output variables. All farms violated Varian’s deterministic Weak Axiom of Profit Maximization (WAPM). The magnitude of minimum...