Technical Efficiency of Agriculture in Ghana: A Time Series Stochastic Frontier Estimation Approach


  •  Justice Djokoto    

Abstract

A Cobb-Douglas production was fitted to time series data, 1961 to 2010 using stochastic frontier methodology. All factors of production possessed the a priori signs except land and seeds, whilst all except seeds variable were significant at 1% level. All the capital variables were output inelastic. Labour was elastic to output; with elasticity of 1.28. The sum of the elasticities equalled 1.74, indicative of increasing returns to Ghana’s Agriculture over the period. The estimates of technical efficiency had a mean of 82% with a minimum of 59% and maximum of 96%. Efforts remain to make up for the 18% inefficiency using the current technology. With a negative relationship between land and Agricultural output, coupled with the increasing population and increasing need for non-agricultural land uses, the need to adopt land productivity enhancing practices is necessary.



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