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Abstract

Cotton production in Uzbekistan is known as ‘white gold’ and constitutes a strategic centrepiece of the country's rural economy. However, the gradual ongoing process of market-oriented reform has had a severe impact on the cotton sector. The objective of this paper is to estimate the efficiency and total factor productivity growth of cotton farms in Uzbekistan. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied to measure technical efficiency and the Malmquist Index was used to estimate and analyse productivity. The analysis was based on a sample of 26 cotton farms observed between 2007 and 2009. The results help to provide a set of policy recommendations regarding the sector's growth potential through the efficient utilization of resources, and indicate that there has been a moderate decline in productivity attributed to technical degeneration over the period studied.

Keywords

cotton production transition economy Data Envelopment Analysis Malmquist Index Uzbekistan

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Efficiency and Productivity Change Analysis of Cotton Production in Uzbekistan

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