Estimation of Technical Efficiency and Its Determinants of White Maize Production in Vinh Long Province: A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

Abstract

Aim of this study is to estimate technical efficiency and its determinants in white maize production in Vinh Long province, Vietnam, based on a cross-sectional data collected in 2014 from 176 white maize farmers by using the stochastic frontier approach. The Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function, incorporating inefficiency effects was employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that the technical efficiency ranged from 63.46 to 99.54%, with an average of 82.58%. Significant factors found to positively affect white maize yield were seed quantity, potash fertilizer, labor, and maize variety while nitrogen fertilizer and pesticide were negatively related to the white maize yield. Significant determinants of technical efficiency that were positively related to technical efficiency include education attainment, training, credit access and household labor.