| This thesis examines some basic aspects of production for the shepherds of Balochistan, Pakistan. Balochistan is a province of Pakistan, whose people are arguably the most economically disadvantaged in the country. The unforgiving terrain and harsh weather of the region have made data collection nearly impossible. Therefore, very little is known about these people and their way of life. A new data set containing a sample of 76 sheep and goat shepherds in the mountains of Balochistan has enabled economic research on the area to begin.;The inverse relationship between holding size and productivity per acre found by Sen (1962) in Indian agriculture is also discovered to be present for the pastoral economy of Balochistan. Possible causes of this inverse relationship, namely heterogeneity between family and hired labor and decreasing returns to scale, have also been investigated with respect to these shepherds. To do this, six Cobb-Douglas production functions are estimated: two including a stochastic element meant to capture inefficiency present in the production process, and four without this element. The homogeneity of family and hired labor cannot he rejected and five of the six production functions are found to demonstrate constant returns to scale. |
