Efficiency Measures in the Agricultural Sector: The Beginning

Copyright © 2013 Springer Netherlands.The agricultural productivity is often based on non-parametric models 5 (DEA), or stochastic models (SFA). In this initial article, the editors start by 6 pointing that the models (DEA and SFA) allow estimating the efficiency of the 7 production frontier and their structural forms. Then, it is presented, in general terms, 8 the differences between DEA and SFA models: DEA model involves the use of 9 technical linear programming to construct a non-parametric piecewise surface, and 10 SFA models comprise econometricmodels with a random variable, or an error term, 11 including two components: one to account for random effects and another to take 12 care of the technical inefficiency effects. Finally, it shows a comparison between 13 the two approaches (SFA and DEA) and the advantages and disadvantages of their 14 utilizations