Transition economy of Ukraine: Analysis of agricultural efficiency, productivity, and supply response

Many researchers have studied transition economies of Eastern European countries. However, only a few have addressed the issues of technical efficiency and productivity, particularly for Ukraine.;Ukraine was a major agricultural producer within the USSR. With the break up of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine began to implement institutional and policy reforms. During this period, production of many agricultural commodities declined dramatically. The first essay of this research analyzes how economic reforms affected technical efficiency within the period 1991--1996. This analysis attempts to explain the causes of low technical efficiency. Productivity growth rates for 25 Ukrainian oblasts, were estimated. In the second essay, technical efficiency (TE) was estimated for Russia and Ukraine under a common technology assumption. These TE scores were compared to TE scores estimated for each country individually. Estimated technical efficiency was incorporated into the supply response model in the third essay. Elasticities for major crops such as grains, sunflowers, sugar beets, potatoes, and vegetables were determined within the period from 1993--1995.;Two alternative methods, Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis, used to estimate technical efficiency, were compared in this study.;This type of research can assist government research agencies to better predict questions of Ukrainian production and supply. This research can be used by the government of Ukraine for assessment and implementation of further reforms and policies.