Social Capital and technical efficiency of wheat small farmers in the Bío Bío Region (Chile)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the determinants of technical efficiency of wheat small farmers in Bío Bío Region, especially to investigate the relation between social capital, measured through participation in organizations, and technical efficiency. Using information of the VII Agricultural and Forestry Survey, a stochastic frontier production function was estimated. The results show that age, level of education, size of the farmer activity, degree of specialization, technology and agro-climatic zones are able to explain individual technical efficiency levels. Special importance receives participation in organizations in the achievement of higher technical efficiency levels, principally in low productivities zones. Specifically, participation in cooperatives deeply explains the improvements in efficiency in most of the cases. Characteristics related to the business model and productive aims that they exhibit, could help to explain these results.Technical efficiency, Stochastic frontier production function, Participation in organizations, Social capital.