Performance of Translog and Cobb-Douglas models in the estimation of technical efficiency of Irish potato production in Plateau State, Nigeria

The study compared the performance of Cobb-Douglas and Translog frontier models in the analysis of technical efficiency in Irish potato production in Plateau State. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select 180 respondents for the study. Data were analyzed using stochastic frontier model in the Cobb-Douglas and the Translog functional forms. Results revealed that farm size and seed had  positive and significant coefficients under the Cobb-Douglas model. However, estimated Translog model showed that, while farm size and labour had negative relationships with output, fertilizer had a positive relationship. The elasticity estimates from both frontier models show that Irish potato farmers were operating at an increasing return to scale. The mean technical efficiency estimates were 68% and 59% for Cobb-Douglas and Translog models respectively. Hypothesis testing showed that there was a significant difference in the technicalefficiency estimates between the Cobb-Douglas and Translog frontier models. The inefficiency estimates revealed that education, household size and extension reduced inefficiency while farming experience increased inefficiency under the Cobb-Douglas model. None of the socioeconomics variables analysed in the Translog model for inefficiency was significant. It is recommended that training of the farmers on the optimum rate of input utilization and combination should be organized. The Cobb-Douglas model provided better results, in terms of economic and statistical properties of the coefficients, and therefore recommended for the estimation of technical efficiency of Irish potato farms in the study area. Key words: Cobb-Douglas, performance, technical efficiency, translo