Bootstrapped Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for Estimating Bias in Technical, Allocative and Economic Efficiency of Rainy and Dry Seasons Irish Potato Production in Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study used the bootstrapped DEA analysis for estimating bias in the technical, allocative and economic efficiency scores of rainy and dry season’s Irish potato production among smallholder farmers in five selected Irish potato producing areas of Plateau state, North Central Nigeria. A random sample of 472 Irish Potato farmers was selected for the study. The primary data was analyzed using double bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Results of rainy season Variable Return to Scale (VRS) DEA shows average technical efficiency (TE) for radial, non-radial and bias-corrected estimates to be 0.90, 0.70 and 0.68, respectively. The mean allocative and economic efficiency level was found to be 0.74 and 0.64 respectively. The dry season VRS DEA reveals average TE for radial, non-radial and bias-corrected estimates to be0.95, 0.79 and 0.84 respectively with a mean allocative and economic efficiency of 0.60 and 0.56. The estimated radial TE scores were higher than the bias-corrected TE scores indicating overestimation of the radial scores which in turn leads to bias results. In conclusion, the bias-corrected technical efficiency scores, the dry season Irish potato farmers were more efficient in their use of input resources than their rainy season counterpart. The study recommends that extension workers and policy makers should guide policies towards expanding efficiency in the study area.