Plot size and maize productivity in Zambia: is there an inverse relationship?

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between maize productivity and plot size in Zambia. It offers a unique empirical approach. First, it focuses on maize, which is the major crop on small and medium size farms in Zambia, but also accounts for the endogenous determination of the size of the plot devoted to maize. Previous studies have used total farm size or harvested area. Second, it corrects for selectivity in maize cultivation. Third, it controls for differences in land quality and weather conditions across districts. Finally, it offers a structural interpretation of the above framework by modeling farm decisions as a sequential, two-stage process, in which land is first allocated to the different crops based on the information set of the farmers at the time of planting, and the yield is affected by subsequent application of inputs, the quantities of which may depend on additional information that is revealed after planting. We use this recursive structure and the differences in the information sets over time to identify the model. Copyright 2006 International Association of Agricultural Economists.

Testing Household‐Specific Explanations for the Inverse Productivity Relationship

“…By rejecting household-based explanations for the inverse productivity relationship, our findings favor the literature that explains the puzzle by unobserved heterogeneity across plots and lands (e.g., Bhalla 1988; Bhalla and Roy 1988;Benjamin 1995;Chen, Huffman, and Rozelle 2003;Lamb 2003;and Kimhi 2006). In our view, future attempts to understand the economic content of the inverse relationship should focus on plot-specific unobservables as opposed to market failures affecting productivity at the household level.…”

Inverse Relationship Between Productivity and Farm Size: The Case of China

“…Total farm output is the total quantity of all grain output produced in a reporting year (e.g., Lin and Wen 1995; Kimhi 2006). Specifically, total farm crop output is the summation by the quantity (weight) of production of rice, sorghum, wheat, and corn.…”

Persistence of full- and part-time farming in Southern China

“…Kimhi (2000), for example, links the decisions on off-farm participation and farm exit. Weiss (1997) and Kimhi (2006) investigate the relationship between off-farm labor market participation and farm growth and farm size, respectively. Giles (2006) analyzes potential impacts of the accessibility of labor markets on the variability of Chinese rural households' incomes.…”