The inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries

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dc.contributor.advisorConradie, Beatrice
dc.contributor.authorChew, Euan
dc.date.accessioned2026-11-13T08:03:23Z
dc.date.available2026-11-13T08:03:23Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.date.updated2026-11-13T06:46:23Z
dc.description.abstractThis paper presents a novel application of the non-monotonic Stochastic Frontier model of Wang (2002) to South African agriculture in order to investigate the inverse farm size relationship. Using data for 1989 beneficiary farms from the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy programme, the marginal effects of farm size, managerial capacity and extension frequency on inefficiency and output are estimated and the effect of the Recapitalisation and Development programme evaluated. The estimated results demonstrate that increased farm size is associated with decreasing returns to inefficiency reduction. For livestock farms beyond 2 415 ha land is no longer significant in affecting inefficiency. For mixed farms, the marginal effect of land in decreasing inefficiency is negatively correlated with farm size. For livestock farms in the 90th and 95th percentile of farm size, the marginal effect of increasing farm size is an increase in inefficiency although this effect is not significant. The nonlinearity of the marginal effects of farm size justifies adopting the non-monotonic Stochastic Frontier approach to model the inverse relationship.
dc.identifier.apacitationChew, E. (2026). <i>The inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43941en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationChew, Euan. <i>"The inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics, 2026. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43941en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationChew, E. 2026. The inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43941en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Chew, Euan AB - This paper presents a novel application of the non-monotonic Stochastic Frontier model of Wang (2002) to South African agriculture in order to investigate the inverse farm size relationship. Using data for 1989 beneficiary farms from the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy programme, the marginal effects of farm size, managerial capacity and extension frequency on inefficiency and output are estimated and the effect of the Recapitalisation and Development programme evaluated. The estimated results demonstrate that increased farm size is associated with decreasing returns to inefficiency reduction. For livestock farms beyond 2 415 ha land is no longer significant in affecting inefficiency. For mixed farms, the marginal effect of land in decreasing inefficiency is negatively correlated with farm size. For livestock farms in the 90th and 95th percentile of farm size, the marginal effect of increasing farm size is an increase in inefficiency although this effect is not significant. The nonlinearity of the marginal effects of farm size justifies adopting the non-monotonic Stochastic Frontier approach to model the inverse relationship. DA - 2026 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Stochastic frontier analysis KW - Agriculture KW - Land reform KW - Farm size LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2026 T1 - The inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries TI - The inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43941 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/43941
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationChew E. The inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics, 2026 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43941en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Economics
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerce
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectStochastic frontier analysis
dc.subjectAgriculture
dc.subjectLand reform
dc.subjectFarm size
dc.titleThe inverse farm size relationship revisited: a productivity benchmarking analysis of South African land reform beneficiaries
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMCom
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