FARM SIZE, MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY: A STUDY OF FOUR IRANIAN VILLAGES

• Published in: Oxford bulletin of economics and statistics 1982-11, Vol.44 (4), p.357-379
• Main Author: Moghadam, Fatemeh Etemad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural; Farms; Productivity; Size; Studies; Variance analysis
• ISSN: 0305-9049; 1468-0084
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0084.1982.mp44004005.x

This research attempts to study the issue of the relationship between farm size and productivity in Iran; the research is based on a field survey of 4 Iranian villages during the agricultural year 1974-1975. The 4 villages under study had production characteristics which were fairly representative for their areas, although each area was above the national average. Intensive field survey methods were applied to measure all farm output and factor inputs, and statistical tests of analysis of variance and covariance were applied to the results. Results indicate that the highest total productivities (all quantifiable outputs and inputs) are observed in the category of the medium-size peasant producers. The small-size peasant producers showed a lower total productivity, but usually a higher return per unit of land input. The data suggest an inverse relationship between size and the total productivity ratios among the capitalist farms. In general, the results indicate that the highest total productivities are obtained when the share of family labor and management in total labor input lies within a certain range.