Farm Advisory Services and total factor productivity growth in the Irish dairy sector
研究了2008至2017年间爱尔兰乳业农户参与农场咨询服务对全要素生产率增长的影响，发现技术变化和效率提升是主要驱动力，而咨询服务对生产率有正向贡献。
Abstract This paper investigates the impact of the engagement of individual farmers with Farm Advisory Services (FAS) on total factor productivity (TFP) growth, as a relevant indicator of competitiveness under the vision of sustainable intensification. Using farm-level data from the Irish dairy sector between 2008 and 2017, we estimate a random-coefficients stochastic frontier model and construct a TFP growth index, extending Orea (2002) such that the contribution of FAS becomes an additional component of the index. The results indicate that the main driver of TFP growth was technical change and efficiency gains; a negative scale effect slowed down TFP growth, but this impact was counteracted by the positive contribution of FAS to productivity growth.