RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FRONTIER MODELING AND EFFICIENCY MEASUREMENT

In this paper recent developments in the estimation of frontier functi ons and the measurement of efficiency are surveyed, and the potential applicability of these methods in agricultural economics is discussed. Frontier production, cost and profit functions are discussed, along w ith the construction of technical, allocative, scale and overall effic iency measures relative to these estimated frontiers. The two primary methods of frontier estimation, econometric and linear programming, ar e compared. A survey of recent applications of frontier methods in agr iculture is also provided.