Amin W. Mugera

University of Western Australia | UWA · UWA Institute of Agriculture

New Structural Economics (NSE) predicts that structural change in energy production would follow different patterns during different development stages and across different sectors. These variations require a range of policy responses. In this paper, we investigate this assertion by modeling China’s energy transition and economic development based...

This paper investigates the factors that influence the adoption of laser land leveler and its impact on groundwater usage in the Punjab province of Pakistan. A farm household survey of 504 agriculture producers was conducted in 2019. A discrete‐time duration model is used to investigate factors influencing the speed of adoption and an endogenous sw...

The Debreu–Farrell measure of technical efficiency is widely used to benchmark firm performance. A limitation of this measure is that it is orientation restricted and evaluates the performance of a decision-making unit in an explicit direction relative to the best-practice frontier and not the most productive point on the frontier. Therefore, the m...

This study estimates the technical efficiency measures of maize producing farm households in Ethiopia using stochastic frontier (SF) panel models that take different approaches to model firm heterogeneity. The efficiency measures are found to vary depending on how the estimation model treats both unobserved and observed firm heterogeneity. Estimate...

Soil salinization is a serious environmental problem in arid and semi-arid regions, affecting crop yields and jeopardizing the food security of affected households. A common prescription to ameliorate salt-affected soils is the application of gypsum. However, little is known about the factors that motivate land managers to adopt gypsum and its like...

Governments and international donors are actively promoting laser-land leveller (LLL) technology to produce environmental benefits (i.e., avoid soil salinity, minimize soil erosion risk, and groundwater security) that could lead to sustainable agricultural production and averting land degradation. We investigate the adoption process of laser-land l...

Purpose This paper analysed survey data of 715 rice-producing households in China to assess the determinants of adoption of five mutually exclusive soil conservation practices (SCPs) and their impact on rice yield and chemical fertiliser use. Design/methodology/approach The multinomial endogenous treatment effects model was used to account for sel...

Soil acidification due to crop removal and the use of acidifying fertilisers reduce land productivity in many agricultural systems worldwide. The most common remedy is to apply lime to the soil surface. An alternative approach is to incorporate lime into the sub‐soil. This is a more expensive option, but it substantially reduces the time required t...

The viability and profitability of a farm business can be influenced by how it chooses to fund its operations and capital investments either using debt or internal funds. This study examines the determinants and speed of adjustment of the capital structure of broadacre farm businesses in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt. Results show that prior period...

Context Since COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in the human population, it has had immediate and significant effects on peoples' health and the worldwide economy. In the absence of a vaccine, control of the virus involved limiting its spread through restrictions in the movement of people, goods and services. This has led to unprecedented...

Sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) practices have been promoted in developing countries to improve farm productivity and environmental services. However, it is still unclear whether use of a combination of SAI practices has a significant influence on the cost efficiency of smallholder farms. This study investigates whether the cost effi...

The impacts of zero tillage (ZT) on soil physical, biological, and chemical properties have been fairly documented in the literature. However, there is still an information gap in the developing world in general and in integrated crop–livestock production systems in dry areas of the world in particular. Using a sample of 621 farmers in Syria, this...

Compared with point forecasting, interval forecasting is believed to be more effective and helpful in decision making, for it provides more information about the data generation process. Based on the well‐established “linear and nonlinear” modeling framework, a hybrid model is proposed by coupling vector error correction model (VECM) with artificia...

Online search data provide us with a new perspective for quantifying the public concern about animal diseases, which can be regarded as a major external shock to price fluctuations. We propose a modeling framework for pork price forecasting that incorporates online search data with support vector regression (SVR) model. This novel framework involve...

China’s livestock market has experienced exceptionally severe price fluctuations over the past few years. In this paper, based on the well-established idea of “forecast combination,” a forecast combination framework with different time scales is proposed to improve the forecast accuracy for livestock products. Specifically, we combine the forecasts...

This paper analyses the causes of China's energy transition since 1978 when the economic reform policy was launched. We aim to determine if increasing capital intensity in the Chinese economy is driving a shift in the energy mix towards modern energy sources, such as solar electricity. The empirical investigation is based on national level time ser...

Soil acidification due to crop removal and the use of acidifying fertilizers reduces land productivity across agricultural systems worldwide. The standard remedy is to periodically apply lime to the soil surface which, over a number of years, is assimilated into the soil profile and raises soil pH. However, an alternative approach is to incorporate...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the impact of adoption of soil conservation practices (SCPs) on the technical efficiency of smallholder rice producers in Central China. We address self-selection bias and unobserved heterogeneity problems by estimating a switching regression model for the adoption decision function and separate stoc...

Low and slow adoption of improved agricultural technologies among smallholders often frustrate technology development and promotion efforts in the developing world. That is especially true for technologies requiring high initial investment. This study investigates how increasing farmers' awareness and exposure to new agricultural technologies throu...

Groundwater resources are crucial in sustaining agro-ecosystems and ensuring food security in many parts of the world, including Pakistan. However, the sustainability of groundwater resources is subject to a number of challenges, including over-extraction, deterioration in quality, and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and population g...

Empirical studies in different developing countries have investigated the impact of social protection (SP) on ex-post poverty; however, few studies analysed the impact of SP on ex-ante vulnerability to poverty (VtP). This paper contributes to the literature by evaluating the impact of SP on vulnerability to poverty (VtP) and poverty rates among hou...

This paper investigates whether estimating vulnerability to poverty using consumption expenditures and food calorie intake provide consistent policy implications based on the vulnerability as expected poverty framework. Feasible generalized least square (3FGLS) method is applied on large data-set of about 90,000 households in the Punjab province, P...

The main goal of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the real exchange rate and key components of aggregate productivity while controlling for other exchange rate fundamentals and civil conflicts. Our analysis proceeds in two stages. First, recent advances in non-parametric methods are used to estimate total factor productivity (T...

This paper investigates whether different measures of ex-post poverty and ex-ante vulnerability to poverty provide consistent estimates of poverty and vulnerability to poverty across households. Moreover, if there is some heterogeneity in the identification of households as poor and vulnerable, it investigates the degree of mismatch between measure...

This study investigates the prevalence, sources and distribution of household vulnerability to food-insecurity in the Punjab, Pakistan. Applying a multilevel model on a large dataset of about 90,000 households, we find that the share of households at risk of becoming food-insecure (vulnerability) is higher than the share that is current food-insecu...

Insufficient and high variability in rice yield is a threat to food security in China, prompting the need for strategies to mitigate yield variability and increase productivity. This study investigates the presence of production risk and technical inefficiency for a sample of rice farms in the Xiangyang city of China using a stochastic production f...

The sustainability of agricultural growth has been greatly influenced by the massive use of groundwater in Pakistan for the last few decades. However, the groundwater economy of Pakistan is at critical juncture now. Concomitant with massive pumping of groundwater aquifers through unrestricted expansion of tube-wells, groundwater exploitation has le...

This article investigates the sources of profitability change at the farm level, by farm size and specialization, with an application to a sample of 256 farms in Kansas from 1993 to 2010. Using the Lowe index method, profitability change is decomposed into changes in total factor productivity and terms of trade. The nonparametric data envelopment a...

The depletion of groundwater aquifers has raised serious concerns about the sustainability of groundwater resources with serious repercussions to irrigated agriculture in Pakistan. Within the context of diminishing water resources, it is important to improve agricultural water productivity by making efficient use of the available water resources. T...

This study estimates the prevalence and extent of vulnerability to poverty in the Punjab province of Pakistan. A multilevel model is used to analyse survey data of about 90,000 households distributed across 150 towns/tehsils. Empirical estimates show that the vulnerability rate is higher than the rate of poverty, and poverty-induced vulnerability i...

This study investigates Western Australia’s consumer attitudes toward and preferences for locally produced food products signified by a state-funded campaign logo, Buy West Eat Best (BWEB). A choice experiment using both a fresh and a processed food product (skinless chicken breast and fruit yogurt) is conducted to assess willingness to pay for a l...

This study employs the positive mathematical programming (PMP) approach to estimate groundwater derived demand for irrigation using a cross-sectional dataset of 200 predominantly groundwater irrigated farms from the Punjab province of Pakistan. First, we find that the PMP optimal solution uses less water than what is available (being extracted) in...

Abstract This study employs the Heckman selection model to identify factors affecting the adoption of zero tillage (ZT) and measure its yield, income, and consumption impacts among Syrian wheat producers. A stochastic production frontier model is also estimated to compare the productive efficiency of adopters and non-adopters. Model results show th...

The biophysical benefits of zero tillage (ZT) are well documented in the literature. However, the literature on its economic benefits, especially in the context of small and medium-scale farmers in the temperate developing world is scanty. Using a study of 621 wheat farmers in Syria, we provide empirical evidence on the impacts of adoption of ZT on...

Study region: Lodhran and Jhang districts in the Central and South Punjab province of Pakistan. Study focus: Pakistan is amongst the largest groundwater withdrawing countries. With 5.2 million hectares groundwater irrigated area, Pakistan irrigates 4.6% of the global groundwater-fed cropland. However, over the last few decades the groundwater resou...

Background Massive groundwater pumping for irrigation has started lowering water tables rapidly in different regions of Pakistan. Declining water tables has thus prompted research efforts to improve agricultural productivity and efficiency to make efficient use scarce water resources. This study employs a restricted stochastic production frontier t...

Background The diminishing irrigation water supplies are threatening the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in Pakistan. Within the context of dwindling water resources and low agricultural water productivity, it is imperative to improve efficiency in agricultural production and to make efficient use available water resources. This study emplo...

We employ a non-parametric approach, data envelopment analysis, to estimate the technical and irrigation efficiency of rice farms in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. We use a cross-sectional dataset of 80 rice growers, including 45 tube-well owners and 35 water buyers. Mean technical efficiency scores show that tube-well owners and water buyers are...

Farming activities are often financed using debt, yet empirical studies investigating the relationship between farm debt structure and performance are still rare. Using a 10 year unbalanced panel of Broadacre farms in Western Australia, we relate the impact of long-term debt, short-term debt and tax liability on farm performance measured by input-o...

We employ a moment-based approach to empirically analyze farmer's decisions to adopt tube-well technology under the risk of groundwater depletion and associated production uncertainties from the Indus Basin of Pakistan. We use a cross-sectional farm level data from 200 farming households comprising of 100 adopters and 100 non-adopters. The results...

This article uses recent advances in data envelopment analysis, bootstrap data envelopment analysis to investigate whether technical efficiency in the agricultural sector of 33 African countries improved (catching up) for the period 1966–2001. We also investigate whether there is evidence of efficiency catching-up within the five regions of Central...

Agricultural production in Ghana is mainly carried out by smallholder farmers on a subsistence basis. Smallholders constitute about 95% of the farming population and produce 80% of the annual output. This study investigates the level of technical efficiency of farms using a sample of 294 households from the Upper East region of Ghana. Bootstrap DEA...

framework to compute technical efficiency scores when input and output data are imprecise. The underlying assumption in convectional DEA is that inputs and outputs data are measured with precision. However, production agriculture takes place in an uncertain environment and, in some situations, input and output data may be imprecise. We present an a...

This article employs a two-stage procedure to investigate the impact of macroeconomic policy reforms on the agricultural productivity growth of 33 African countries from 1981 to 2001. In the first stage, we measure agricultural productivity using a nonparametric Malmquist productivity index. In the second stage, we build a generalized method of mom...

The state government of Western Australia has suggested there are economies of scale in local government service delivery and that council amalgamations would allow substantial efficiencies to be realised. In this article, the Data Envelopment Analysis method is used to measure efficiency at 98 local councils in Western Australia in 2009 and 2010....

We use nonparametric production function methods to decompose farm-level labor productivity growth into components attributable to efficiency change, technical change, and factor intensity. The estimation is accomplished using balanced panel data drawn from the Kansas Farm Management Association for the period 1993 to 2007. We find that labor produ...

This paper employs a three stage procedure to investigate labor productivity growth and convergence in the Kansas farm sector for a balanced panel of 564 farms for the period 1993–2007. In the first stage, Data Envelopment Analysis is used to compute technical efficiency indices. In the second stage, labor productivity growth is decomposed into com...

Analysis of farm household technical efficiency in Northern Ghana using bootstrap DEA Paper presented at the 56th annual conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. The Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle WA, 7-10 February 2012.

Crop production is the main source of livelihood for households in Northern Ghana. The government is committed to improving crop production and knowledge about the technical efficiency of crop farms is essential in guiding policy decisions. This paper examined the technical efficiency of 189 crop farms in Northern Ghana using data envelopment analy...

This article investigates the production efficiency of rice farming in Sri Lanka using cross section survey data of 90 farms. Past studies on rice farming have mostly focused on technical efficiency (TE). Here, we examine technical efficiency, allocative efficiency (AE) and cost efficiency (CE) using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. On...

Employees are a strategic resource for agribusiness firms to achieve sustained competitive advantage (SCA). The resource-based theory (RBT) has emerged as a useful framework to analyze the significance of the human resource system in achieving SCA. However, few empirical studies in agribusiness provide evidence of a relationship between human resou...

Farming activities are often financed using debt yet empirical studies that investigate the relationship between farm debt structure and performance are still rare. In a ten years unbalanced panel (1995-2005) of Western Australia broadacre farms, we relate the impact of long-term debt, short-term debt and tax liability on farm performance measured...

Farmers need to undertake adaptive action to protect their livelihoods from the impacts of climate change. There is an emerging discourse about existing limits (absolute obstacles) and barriers (mutable obstacles) to climate change adaptation. Given the complex, multifaceted nature of climate change, interdisciplinary research is the most effective...

In this article, we used bootstrap data envelopment analysis techniques to examine technical and scale efficiency scores for a balanced panel of 564 farms in Kansas for the period 1993–2007. The production technology is estimated under three different assumptions of returns to scale and the results are compared. Technical and scale efficiency is...

Recent empirical studies on agricultural productivity growth in African countries have produced mixed results; some find that uptake of new technology (technical progress) is the main source of total factor productivity growth while others point to improved use of existing technology (efficiency catch-up). This study tests for efficiency catch-up i...

This paper investigates whether deregulation of the Australian wheat export market induced a structural change in the price data generation process. We examine the unit root properties of Western Australian wheat prices by testing for the possibility of single and double structural breaks in the price series. Daily prices for the period 20th of May...

The State government of Western Australia is currently working through a significant program of local government reform that has as a core objective a reduction in the number of local councils. The perception that there are economies of scale in service delivery is a key reason behind the State government’s desire to see a reduction in the number o...

Agribusiness firms are often faced with the challenge of strategically managing employees to achieve a favorable position in the market (i.e. sustained competitive advantage). The resource based view (RBV) has been given considerable attention in the strategic management literature as a useful framework to analyze the significance of human resource...

This article investigates the economic efficiency and the factors associated with efficiency for a sample of 126 hog producers in the Philippines. The input-oriented efficiency indices are computed and bootstrapped using data envelopment analysis. Econometric analysis of the factors influencing the efficiency indices are conducted using the Tobit m...

The objective of this paper is to analyze sources of labor productivity growth in the Kansas farm sector over the period 1993-2006 for a sample of 668 farms. The nonparametric production frontier method is used to decompose labor productivity growth into three components: (1) technological catch-up, (2) technological change, and (3) capital deepeni...

This study investigates factors related to loan approval, disbursement, repayment, and loan rationing among 1,012 farmers in the Rural Farmers Scheme (RFS), Uganda, between 1987 and May 1995. Results indicate that women had a higher loan approval rate and loan repaid/loan borrowed ratio than men, but lower actual disbursement levels. Loan rationing...

Human resource management in agriculture and associated risks are under-researched topics. To identify the sources of human resource management risks confronting dairy farms, gain insights into how dairy farmers perceive the impacts of these risks, and identify control strategies, four focus group discussions were held with dairy farm managers. Man...

Labor management practices in agriculture are a marginally and fragmentally researched subject with limited theoretical background in agricultural economics. The resource-based theory is proposed as a framework to analyze labor management on farms and its application discussed with evidence of six case studies. In-depth interviews with farm manager...

How do dairy farms manage their human resources and how can the farms achieve competitive advantage through the human resource management (HRM) function? This inductive study of six dairy farms in Michigan explores those two questions using the resource-based theory (RBT) framework. Onsite interviews were conducted with 7 managers, 6 herdsmen and 7...

Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any Employees are both a source of risk and means of addressing risk, and good employee management practices can increase risk resilience. Forty green industry managers (greenhouse operations, nurseries, landscape contractors) and 22 dairy managers participated in mode...

The paper has several specific objectives. First, it identifies how fertilizer marketing costs and the types of fertilizers used have changed over the course of the liberalization process in Kenya. A second objective is to examine the fertilizer subsector in Kenya with a view to identifying organizational and institutional changes that could improv...

This study applies recent advances in nonparametric techniques to investigate growth in labor productivity and convergence in the Kansas farm sector for a panel of 564 farms for the period 1993-2007. The study seeks to answer two questions: First, what are the sources of labor productivity growth in the farm sector and second, is there evidence of...