Scale Economies and Inefficiency of U.S. Dairy Farms
利用2000年美国农业部调查数据，估计不同规模和地区奶牛场的规模报酬关系，发现显著规模经济且考虑低效率很重要，未出现规模报酬递减区域，有助于解释奶牛场平均规模增长。
Abstract This study employs data drawn from the 2000 Agricultural Resource Management Survey, a U.S. Department of Agriculture‐sponsored farmers’ survey. The article estimates returns to scale relationships across dairy farms of different sizes and across different regions, incorporating variables hypothesized to influence farm performance. Results point to significant scale economies in U.S. dairy farms and underscore the importance of taking account of inefficiency when estimating scale economies. Contrary to previous research, the preferred cost function specification does not show a region of decreasing returns to scale. This finding helps explain why the average size of dairy farms has been increasing.