Agricultural Production Inputs Comprehensive Efficiency: A View of Jiangsu Province China Second Agricultural Census

Introduction Maintaining and encouraging sustainable development of agricultural economy is one of the most important central issues in socio-economic development. Around the subject, many scholars have conducted extensive discussion and research on the various economic phenomena shown in Chinese agricultural economic development. They also put forward their own views on Chinese agricultural productivity status and the genesis. Guanzhong Wen (1989) pointed out that there has appeared the phenomenon of a long-term decline in input for Chinese agricultural economy. We must pay more attention and efforts to eliminate the short-term behavior of individual farmers in production and business activities. Otherwise it would inhibit long-term performance on agricultural production inputs. Jiyuan Chen (1989) and Jingyuan Kong (1993) pointed out that the over-segmentation of land in the process of agricultural production, which is not conducive to increase agricultural returns to scale production inputs in efficiency and to sustained growth in agricultural production, would impede the optimal allocation of land and lead to outflow of production factors such as high-quality labor and capital in the field of agricultural production. Yang Yao (1998) pointed out that the instability of agricultural land ownership and restrictions on trading rights on land in Chinese agricultural economy would impose a negative impact on the land-output ratio by reducing agricultural production factors allocation efficiency and inhibiting long-term investment of farmers in agricultural production. Hence, we need to strengthen the stability of agricultural land through effective measures. Sui Yao (2004) hold the view that the current system, based on setting rent-seeking behavior in residual control rights of incomplete contract, has corroded the residual claim rights of farmers, reduced comprehensive efficiency of agricultural production inputs and inhibited enthusiasm of long-term investment in agricultural production. China lacks the overall macro-data to reflect the efficiency of agricultural production inputs comprehensively. This has a direct impact on the effective application of modern research methods and econometric models and also is the reason why most related research is based on partial sampling data and survey data as well as case analysis. Therefore, the limitations of inductive analysis based on such limited information can't be avoided. The Second National Census increased the surveys on non-rural residents engaged in agricultural production and business activities and units engaged in agricultural service, on income for farmers, rural residents' quality of life, conditions of focused-on farmers in agricultural production, migration of rural residents and labor mobility, agricultural services, agricultural investment and other key issues. The survey collected a total number of more than 500 indicators, reflected the volume and structure of Chinese agricultural production inputs and income more comprehensively. For research on efficiency of agriculture production inputs, it provided valuable overall data in the area of the country's agricultural production. Jiangsu Province is located in Yangtze River Delta. Its socio-economic development is relatively well-developed in China and it crosses the north and south of Yangtze River. It abounds with agricultural productions and has the leading edge and the decisive effect in leading the development in the area of agricultural production. Hence, Jiangsu has a good comprehensive representative in the study of the efficiency of agricultural production inputs. Therefore, we choose the Second National Agricultural Census of Jiangsu Province as the basic data for the study on comprehensive efficiency of agricultural production inputs and establishes multi-input and multi-output agricultural production efficiency evaluation model based on DEA efficiency decomposition model. …