IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/revage/v29y2007i1p141-155..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Meeting the Needs of Organic Farmers: Benchmarking Organizational Performance of University Extension

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy A. Park
  • Luanne Lohr

Abstract

A stochastic frontier model is used to explain the performance evaluation by organic producers of programs provided by the U.S. university extension systemproviders. We identify nonmanagerial factors that influence both performance ratings and performance efficiency, defined as achieving a rating as close to the highest rating as possible. Results based on the organic farmer evaluators indicate that extension agents are performing at high mean efficiency of 0.95, but that the average rating is relatively low at 2.66 on a four-point scale. Years of experience in organic farming and the severity of production problems facing farmers have significant impacts on performance ratings.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy A. Park & Luanne Lohr, 2007. "Meeting the Needs of Organic Farmers: Benchmarking Organizational Performance of University Extension," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 29(1), pages 141-155.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revage:v:29:y:2007:i:1:p:141-155.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-9353.2006.00334.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter C. Smith & Maria Goddard, 2008. "Performance Management and Operational Research: A Marriage Made in Heaven?," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Richard Thorpe & Jacky Holloway (ed.), Performance Management, chapter 9, pages 120-136, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Foster, Andrew D & Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1995. "Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and Technical Change in Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(6), pages 1176-1209, December.
    3. Atkinson, Scott E. & Primont, Daniel, 2002. "Stochastic estimation of firm technology, inefficiency, and productivity growth using shadow cost and distance functions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 203-225, June.
    4. George B. Frisvold & Kathleen Fernicola & Mark Langworthy, 2001. "Market Returns, Infrastructure and the Supply and Demand for Extension Services," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(3), pages 758-763.
    5. Papke, Leslie, 1998. "How Are Participanats Investing Their Accounts in Participant-Directed Individual Account Pension Plans?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 212-216, May.
    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. Lohr, Luanne & Park, Timothy A., 2008. "Testing Nonlinear Logit Models of Performance Effectiveness Ratings: Cooperative Extension and Organic Farmers," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(2), pages 667-679, August.
    2. Lohr, Luanne & Park, Timothy A., 2004. "Benchmarking Organizational Performance Of University Extension: A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Faculty Series 16721, University of Georgia, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    3. S Anukriti & Catalina Herrera‐Almanza & Praveen K. Pathak & Mahesh Karra, 2020. "Curse of the Mummy‐ji: The Influence of Mothers‐in‐Law on Women in India†," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1328-1351, October.
    4. Das Gupta, Monica & Bongaarts, John & Cleland, John, 2011. "Population, poverty, and sustainable development : a review of the evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5719, The World Bank.
    5. Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew & Gerber, Nicolas & Matz, Julia Anna, 2018. "Gendered Social Networks, Agricultural Innovations, and Farm Productivity in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 321-335.
    6. Peter Bergman, 2020. "Nudging Technology Use: Descriptive and Experimental Evidence from School Information Systems," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 623-647, Fall.
    7. Francesco Amodio & Miguel A. Martinez-Carrasco, 2023. "Workplace Incentives and Organizational Learning," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 453-478.
    8. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    9. Raphaël Soubeyran, 2019. "Technology adoption and pro-social preferences," CEE-M Working Papers halshs-02291905, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    10. Feng, Yao, 2011. "Local spillovers and learning from neighbors: Evidence from durable adoptions in rural China," MPRA Paper 33924, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Leavens, Laura & Bauchet, Jonathan & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob, 2021. "After the project is over: Measuring longer-term impacts of a food safety intervention in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    12. Christopher B. Barrett & Christine M. Moser & Oloro V. McHugh & Joeli Barison, 2004. "Better Technology, Better Plots, or Better Farmers? Identifying Changes in Productivity and Risk among Malagasy Rice Farmers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(4), pages 869-888.
    13. Awudu Abdulai, 2023. "Information acquisition and the adoption of improved crop varieties," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(4), pages 1049-1062, August.
    14. Fishman, Arthur & Fishman, Ram & Gneezy, Uri, 2019. "A tale of two food stands: Observational learning in the field," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 101-108.
    15. Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O. & Winter-Nelson, Alex, 2009. "Poverty status and the impact of social networks on smallholder technology adoption in rural Ethiopia," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49357, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Mbassi, Christophe Martial & Messono, Omang Ombolo, 2023. "Historical technology and current economic development: Reassessing the nature of the relationship," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    17. Smale, Melinda & Assima, Amidou & Kergna, Alpha & Thériault, Veronique & Weltzien, Eva, 2016. "Farm Family Effects Of Improved Sorghum Varieties In Mali: A Multivalued Treatment Approach," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259076, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    18. B Kelsey Jack, "undated". "Market Inefficiencies and the Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Developing Countries," CID Working Papers 50, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    19. Sauer, Johannes & Zilberman, David, 2009. "Innovation Behaviour At Farm Level – Selection And Identification," 83rd Annual Conference, March 30 - April 1, 2009, Dublin, Ireland 51073, Agricultural Economics Society.
    20. Lee, Yu Na & Chau, Nancy & Just, David, 2014. "The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program for Farmers in the U.S.: Role of Incentives in Program Participation," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 176205, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:oup:revage:v:29:y:2007:i:1:p:141-155.. 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: Oxford University Press or Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.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.