Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
农场规模、技术效率与环境绩效：来自中国水稻生产的证据
Farm Size, Technical Efficiency, and Environmental Performance: Evidence From Rice Production in China
摘要
Farm size, as well as technical and environmental efficiency in agriculture, is key to food security and sustainable development. However, empirical evidence about how heterogeneity across farm sizes is associated with the joint production of desirable outputs and undesirable by‐products remains limited, preventing our understanding of technical and environmental efficiency. Using country‐representative survey data on rice production in China from 2014 to 2018, we estimate farm‐level technical and environmental efficiency by employing a by‐production function combined with a stochastic meta‐frontier approach, accounting for heterogeneous technology across farm sizes. Our findings reveal considerable room to improve both technical and environmental performance, and the extent of both differs markedly by farm size. Medium‐sized farms (2–6.67 ha) exhibit the highest meta‐frontier technical efficiency, whereas large farms (6.67–33.33 ha) achieve the highest meta‐frontier environmental efficiency. The estimated shadow prices indicate that the mean marginal abatement cost of nitrogen pollution is 129.233 yuan/kg. We also identify a range of farm‐scale factors, such as technical training, land consolidation, higher educational attainment, and cooperative membership, which are significantly associated with higher levels of technical and environmental efficiency in rice farming. Counterfactual simulations further indicate that combining farm‐size‐specific measures could enhance meta‐frontier technical and environmental efficiency. In particular, cooperative participation is positively associated with technical and environmental performance among smallholders, while high‐level education and technical training are more impactful at large farms. Land fragmentation is consistently associated with lower efficiency and wider technology gaps across farm sizes. Our findings underscore the importance of designing farm‐size‐specific policies and implementing integrated interventions in promoting sustainable agricultural development.
中文摘要
农业经营规模以及技术效率与环境效率是粮食安全与可持续发展的关键。然而，关于不同规模农场在联合生产期望产出与非期望副产品方面的异质性如何影响技术效率与环境效率，现有实证证据仍然有限，这制约了我们对相关问题的理解。利用2014年至2018年中国水稻生产的全国代表性调查数据，我们采用联合生产函数结合随机元前沿方法，在考虑不同规模农场技术异质性的基础上，估算了农场层面的技术效率与环境效率。研究结果表明，技术绩效与环境绩效均有较大提升空间，且不同规模农场的提升幅度存在显著差异。中型农场（2–6.67公顷）的元前沿技术效率最高，而大型农场（6.67–33.33公顷）的元前沿环境效率最高。估算的影子价格显示，氮污染的平均边际减排成本为129.233元/千克。我们还发现一系列农场规模相关因素，如技术培训、土地整合、更高教育水平及合作社成员身份，与水稻种植中更高的技术效率与环境效率显著相关。反事实模拟进一步表明，结合针对特定规模农场的措施可提升元前沿技术效率与环境效率。具体而言，合作社参与与小农户的技术绩效和环境绩效呈正相关，而高等教育水平和技术培训对大型农场的影响更为显著。土地细碎化则始终与较低效率及更大技术差距相关，且这一关联在不同规模农场中普遍存在。研究结果强调了制定针对不同规模农场的政策并实施综合干预措施对促进农业可持续发展的重要性。