Economias de Escala e Eficiência Econômica na Produção de Laranja no Estado de São Paulo

This study aimed to investigate the existence of economies of scale and cost inefficiency in citrus production in São Paulo State. To this end, primary data was collected from a random sample of 98 citrus farms. Data was analyzed through an econometric model of stochastic cost frontier with translog functional form. It was found the existence of significant economies of scale for low/medium production levels (up to 40 thousand boxes). Diseconomies of scale for production emerge for production larger than 300 thousand boxes. Minimum average cost is between 150,000 and 300,000 boxes regarding production levels. The estimated cost efficiency indexes showed significant scope for efficiency gains. The most cost efficient farms in the sample are capital intensive. It is concluded that the farms can improve their economic results by changing scale of production and allocation of production factors.