IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ajosrd/342336.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Pragmatic Study for Enhancing Agricultural Efficiency Through Labor Freedom

Author

Listed:
  • Kapoor, Rajni
  • Das, Nimai

Abstract

The study aims to explore labor freedom in the agricultural sector for enhancing the efficiency of farming through policy change towards assigning property rights, rental contracts, and better wage-employment options to rural workers. Labor freedom emphasizes land reform and development policy for improving the economic status and capabilities of rural workers. The paper assessed the labor freedom index, weighted through agricultural property rights, labor wage contracts, and rural development policy. Data envelopment analysis is used to assess farm-level efficiency under the framework of Tobit regression for different size-based farm categories. Farm-level information was collected through a primary survey of 336 rural households of an advanced agricultural state in India. The study found a positive association between farm size and intensity of labor freedom, although the extent of freedom differs among farms. Size-specific variation was also observed for allocative efficiency such that marginal and medium-sized farms are more efficient than smaller ones. Tobit regression indicated labor freedom to be positively and significantly related to the efficiency of marginal, small and overall farms with enhancing efficiency of 25, 17 and nearly 20%, respectively; however, estimates of labor freedom insignificantly increased the efficiency of mediums farms, by 4.8%. This result suggests that labor freedom positive and significantly affects the efficiency of farms in general, and marginal and small farms in particular. Of course, the elasticity estimate of enhancing efficiency through labor freedom for medium farmers is found at a lower level.

Suggested Citation

  • Kapoor, Rajni & Das, Nimai, 2021. "A Pragmatic Study for Enhancing Agricultural Efficiency Through Labor Freedom," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society (AESS), vol. 11(04), January.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:ajosrd:342336
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.342336
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/342336/files/A%20Pragmatic%20Study%20for%20Enhancing%20Agricultural%20Efficiency%20through%20Labor%20Freedom.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.342336?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dwayne Benjamin & Loren Brandt, 2002. "Property rights, labour markets, and efficiency in a transition economy: the case of rural China," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 35(4), pages 689-716, November.
    2. George R. Boyer & Timothy J. Hatton, 1997. "Migration and Labour Market Integration in Late Nineteenth-Century England and Wales," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 50(4), pages 697-734, November.
    3. Prabhu Pingali, 2007. "Agricultural growth and economic development: a view through the globalization lens," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(s1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Bardhan, Pranab K, 1979. "Wages and Unemployment in a Poor Agrarian Economy: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(3), pages 479-500, June.
    5. Deshingkar, Priya & Akter, Shaheen, 2009. "Migration and Human Development in India," MPRA Paper 19193, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Todaro, Michael P, 1969. "A Model for Labor Migration and Urban Unemployment in Less Developed Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 138-148, March.
    7. Sen, Abhijit, 1981. "Market Failure and Control of Labour Power: Towards an Explanation of 'Structure' and Change in Indian Agriculture: Part 1," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 5(3), pages 201-228, September.
    8. Tchale, Hardwick, 2009. "The efficiency of smallholder agriculture in Malawi," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 3(2), pages 1-21, September.
    9. Eswaran, Mukesh & Kotwal, Ashok, 1985. "A Theory of Two-Tier Labor Markets in Agrarian Economies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 162-177, March.
    10. Coventry, D.R. & Poswal, R.S. & Yadav, Ashok & Riar, Amritbir Singh & Zhou, Yi & Kumar, Anuj & Chand, Ramesh & Chhokar, R.S. & Sharma, R.K. & Yadav, V.K. & Gupta, R.K. & Mehta, Anil & Cummins, J.A., 2015. "A comparison of farming practices and performance for wheat production in Haryana, India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 139-153.
    11. Himanshu & Sujata Kundu, 2016. "Rural wages in India: Recent trends and determinants," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 59(2), pages 217-244, June.
    12. Jordan Chamberlin & T. S. Jayne & Nicholas J. Sitko, 2020. "Rural in‐migration and agricultural development: Evidence from Zambia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(4), pages 491-504, July.
    13. Mitch Renkow, 2003. "Employment Growth, Worker Mobility, and Rural Economic Development," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(2), pages 503-513.
    14. Timothy J. Coelli & D.S. Prasada Rao & Christopher J. O’Donnell & George E. Battese, 2005. "An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-0-387-25895-9, September.
    15. John W. Mellor, 2017. "The Economic Transformation," Palgrave Studies in Agricultural Economics and Food Policy, in: Agricultural Development and Economic Transformation, chapter 0, pages 17-28, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. Mochebelele, Motsamai T. & Winter-Nelson, Alex, 2000. "Migrant Labor and Farm Technical Efficiency in Lesotho," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 143-153, January.
    17. Tim Coelli & Sanzidur Rahman & Colin Thirtle, 2002. "Technical, Allocative, Cost and Scale Efficiencies in Bangladesh Rice Cultivation: A Non‐parametric Approach," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 607-626, November.
    18. Sen, Abhijit, 1981. "Market Failure and Control of Labour Power: Towards an Explanation of 'Structure' and Change in Indian Agriculture. Part 2," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 5(4), pages 327-350, December.
    19. M. U. Agbonlahor & D. O. A. Phillip, 2015. "Deciding to settle: rural-rural migration and agricultural labor supply in southwest Nigeria," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 49(1), pages 267-284, January-M.
    20. Tarisayi, Kudzayi Savious, 2014. "Land Reform: An Analysis of Definitions, Types and Approaches," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society (AESS), vol. 4(03), pages 1-5, March.
    21. Fleur Wouterse, 2010. "Migration and technical efficiency in cereal production: evidence from Burkina Faso," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(5), pages 385-395, September.
    22. Fidelis Ezeala-Harrison, 2004. "Analysis of wage formation processes in rural agriculture," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 38(1), pages 79-92, September.
    23. Mendola, Mariapia & Simtowe, Franklin, 2015. "The Welfare Impact of Land Redistribution: Evidence from a Quasi-Experimental Initiative in Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 53-69.
    24. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    25. J. Edward Taylor, 2010. "Agricultural Labor and Migration Policy," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 369-393, October.
    26. Kudzayi Savious Tarisayi, 2014. "Land Reform: An Analysis of Definitions, Types and Approaches," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(3), pages 195-199.
    27. Asraul Hoque, 1993. "Allocative Efficiency and Input Subsidy in Asian Agriculture," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 87-99.
    28. Bhatt, Mohammad Sultan & Bhat, Showkat Ahmad, 2014. "Technical Efficiency and Farm Size Productivity ― Micro Level Evidence from Jammu & Kashmir," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 2(4), pages 1-22, October.
    29. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Paul J. Gertler & Maitreesh Ghatak, 2002. "Empowerment and Efficiency: Tenancy Reform in West Bengal," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 239-280, April.
    30. Kudzayi Savious Tarisayi, 2014. "Land Reform: An Analysis of Definitions, Types and Approaches," Asian Journal of Agriculture and rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(3), pages 195-199, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jennifer Adams, 1991. "The Rural Labour Market in Zimbabwe," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 297-320, April.
    2. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2859-2939 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Patrick Van Damme & Mahinda Wijesiri & Michele Meoli, 2016. "Governance and Efficiency of Microfinance Institutions," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 17(2), pages 236-247, September.
    4. Jaber Rana & M. Kamruzzaman & Shaima Chowdhury Sharna & Sohel Rana, 2021. "Growth and efficiency analysis of tobacco production in Bangladesh: a non-parametric approach," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(12), pages 1-19, December.
    5. Helmi Hammami & Thanh Ngo & David Tripe & Dinh-Tri Vo, 2022. "Ranking with a Euclidean common set of weights in data envelopment analysis: with application to the Eurozone banking sector," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 311(2), pages 675-694, April.
    6. Khanal, Aditya & Koirala, Krishna & Regmi, Madhav, 2016. "Do Financial Constraints Affect Production Efficiency in Drought Prone Areas? A Case from Indonesian Rice Growers," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 230087, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    7. Silvia Saravia-Matus & T. S. Amjath-Babu & Sreejith Aravindakshan & Stefan Sieber & Jimmy A. Saravia & Sergio Gomez y Paloma, 2021. "Can Enhancing Efficiency Promote the Economic Viability of Smallholder Farmers? A Case of Sierra Leone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    8. Simona Alfiero & Laura Broccardo & Massimo Cane & Alfredo Esposito, 2018. "High Performance Through Innovation Process Management in SMEs. Evidence from the Italian wine sector," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(3), pages 87-110.
    9. Sengupta, Atanu & Kundu, Subrata, 2006. "Scale Efficiency of Indian Farmers: A Non- Parametric Approach," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 61(4), pages 1-11.
    10. Genesis T. Yengoh & Frederick Ato Armah & Edward Ebo Onumah, 2010. "Paths to Attaining Food Security: The Case of Cameroon," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-22, August.
    11. Amar Oukil & Slim Zekri, 2021. "Investigating farming efficiency through a two stage analytical approach: Application to the agricultural sector in Northern Oman," Papers 2104.10943, arXiv.org.
    12. Kelly Sharp & Hisham Zerriffi & Philippe Billon, 2020. "Land scarcity, resettlement and food security: Assessing the effect of voluntary resettlement on diet quality in Malawi," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(1), pages 191-205, February.
    13. Cordero, José Manuel & Santín, Daniel & Sicilia, Gabriela, 2015. "Testing the accuracy of DEA estimates under endogeneity through a Monte Carlo simulation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(2), pages 511-518.
    14. Nguyen, Bao Hoang & Simar, Léopold & Zelenyuk, Valentin, 2022. "Data sharpening for improving central limit theorem approximations for data envelopment analysis–type efficiency estimators," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 303(3), pages 1469-1480.
    15. Moravcikova Dominika & Krizanova Anna & Svabova Lucia, 2018. "Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Selected Slovak Brands on the Principle of DEA Models with the Possibility to Optimise them," Economics and Culture, Sciendo, vol. 15(1), pages 22-34, June.
    16. Sreenivasulu, Y., 2023. "Forced Tenancy as a Trajectory of Tenant Farmers’ Suicides: A Study of Two Mandals in Nalgonda District (Telangana)," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), June.
    17. Francesco Silvi & Giuseppe Di Giacomo & Aline Pennisi, 2013. "L?efficienza delle strutture periferiche del ministero del lavoro e delle politiche sociali," RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA E STATISTICA DEL TERRITORIO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(3), pages 5-44.
    18. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2007. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation : productivity and equity impacts in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4454, The World Bank.
    19. Carter, Michael R. & Barham, Bradford L. & Mesbah, Dina & Stanley, Denise, 1993. "Agro-Exports and the Rural Resource Poor in Latin America: Policy Options for Achieving Broadly-Based Growth," Staff Papers 200571, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    20. Kristof De Witte & Rui Marques, 2010. "Designing performance incentives, an international benchmark study in the water sector," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 18(2), pages 189-220, June.
    21. Nadimi, Reza & Tokimatsu, Koji, 2019. "Potential energy saving via overall efficiency relying on quality of life," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 283-299.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:ajosrd:342336. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aesstea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.