{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/92942"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/92942","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Essays on persistent management skill","abstract":"This is a comprehensive study of farm management performance. The rapid growth of farm income and production costs has raised both new questions and warranted revising old questions; these include the existence of persistent management skill, the management strategies and profitability, farm growth and the land investing behavior associated with farm wealth. To address these questions, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 9,831 farms from 1996 through 2014. Agricultural producers operate in a volatile environment, facing a number of sources of risk. A key question is whether farmers who are more highly skilled can better mitigate these risks and consistently earn higher returns than their lower skilled peers. Two out-of-sample tests of skill persistence are used to analyze the ability of farm managers that consistently perform well over yearly and longer time horizons. The results suggest that the most skilled managers often generate better financial results and that management skills are consistent and predictable. Furthermore, the top 10% of farmers have substantial ability to persistently perform. The alpha scores (or skill estimates) for farm managers are analyzed to determine if most profitable farmers possess specific skills or knowledge against adverse events in a volatile environment. This study emphasizes the strategic and operations aspects of managing a farm. Farms are evaluated under different scenarios of management skill portfolios. Fundamental farm management basics are discussed in this study, including budgeting, production planning, financial analysis, financial management, investment analysis, and control management. Farm managers will want to consult it to improve the effectiveness, objectivity, and success of their decisions. For decades, the dominant trend in US agriculture at the farm level has been towards greater concentration. The study analyzes the factors underpinning this prominent trend. It has crucial policy implications because theory would suggest high profit farms should capture the resources over time. Two important hypotheses are derived and tested using dynamic growth model and choice behavior model: 1) farms that expand the most are more profitable; 2) returns have systemic influence on the rental and accumulation decision and hence upon the land tenure. Results suggest that high profit is often touted as a motivation factor for land investing. An innovative aspect of this study is that it brings together qualitative, quantitative, and institutional sources of information to paint a more complete picture of farm growth in the United States.","abstract_html":"This is a comprehensive study of farm management performance. The rapid growth of farm income and production costs has raised both new questions and warranted revising old questions; these include the existence of persistent management skill, the management strategies and profitability, farm growth and the land investing behavior associated with farm wealth. To address these questions, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 9,831 farms from 1996 through 2014. Agricultural producers operate in a volatile environment, facing a number of sources of risk. A key question is whether farmers who are more highly skilled can better mitigate these risks and consistently earn higher returns than their lower skilled peers. Two out-of-sample tests of skill persistence are used to analyze the ability of farm managers that consistently perform well over yearly and longer time horizons. The results suggest that the most skilled managers often generate better financial results and that management skills are consistent and predictable. Furthermore, the top 10% of farmers have substantial ability to persistently perform. The alpha scores (or skill estimates) for farm managers are analyzed to determine if most profitable farmers possess specific skills or knowledge against adverse events in a volatile environment. This study emphasizes the strategic and operations aspects of managing a farm. Farms are evaluated under different scenarios of management skill portfolios. Fundamental farm management basics are discussed in this study, including budgeting, production planning, financial analysis, financial management, investment analysis, and control management. Farm managers will want to consult it to improve the effectiveness, objectivity, and success of their decisions. For decades, the dominant trend in US agriculture at the farm level has been towards greater concentration. The study analyzes the factors underpinning this prominent trend. It has crucial policy implications because theory would suggest high profit farms should capture the resources over time. Two important hypotheses are derived and tested using dynamic growth model and choice behavior model: 1) farms that expand the most are more profitable; 2) returns have systemic influence on the rental and accumulation decision and hence upon the land tenure. Results suggest that high profit is often touted as a motivation factor for land investing. An innovative aspect of this study is that it brings together qualitative, quantitative, and institutional sources of information to paint a more complete picture of farm growth in the United States.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Li, Xin"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Agricultural & Applied Econ","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Paulson, Nicholas","Schnitkey, Gary","Mallory, Mindy","Miller, Nolan"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-11-10T18:27:47Z","date_published":"2016-11-10T18:27:47Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:35Z","subjects":["Persistent Performance","Management Skill"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Xin Li"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92942","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Paulson, Nicholas","Schnitkey, Gary","Mallory, Mindy","Miller, Nolan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Li, Xin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016-11-10T18:27:47Z","2018-11-11T10:15:40Z","2016-07-14","2016-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Agricultural & Applied Econ"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Persistent Performance","Management Skill"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Xin Li"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92942"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This is a comprehensive study of farm management performance. The rapid growth of farm income and production costs has raised both new questions and warranted revising old questions; these include the existence of persistent management skill, the management strategies and profitability, farm growth and the land investing behavior associated with farm wealth. To address these questions, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 9,831 farms from 1996 through 2014. Agricultural producers operate in a volatile environment, facing a number of sources of risk. A key question is whether farmers who are more highly skilled can better mitigate these risks and consistently earn higher returns than their lower skilled peers. Two out-of-sample tests of skill persistence are used to analyze the ability of farm managers that consistently perform well over yearly and longer time horizons. The results suggest that the most skilled managers often generate better financial results and that management skills are consistent and predictable. Furthermore, the top 10% of farmers have substantial ability to persistently perform. The alpha scores (or skill estimates) for farm managers are analyzed to determine if most profitable farmers possess specific skills or knowledge against adverse events in a volatile environment. This study emphasizes the strategic and operations aspects of managing a farm. Farms are evaluated under different scenarios of management skill portfolios. Fundamental farm management basics are discussed in this study, including budgeting, production planning, financial analysis, financial management, investment analysis, and control management. Farm managers will want to consult it to improve the effectiveness, objectivity, and success of their decisions. For decades, the dominant trend in US agriculture at the farm level has been towards greater concentration. The study analyzes the factors underpinning this prominent trend. It has crucial policy implications because theory would suggest high profit farms should capture the resources over time. Two important hypotheses are derived and tested using dynamic growth model and choice behavior model: 1) farms that expand the most are more profitable; 2) returns have systemic influence on the rental and accumulation decision and hence upon the land tenure. Results suggest that high profit is often touted as a motivation factor for land investing. An innovative aspect of this study is that it brings together qualitative, quantitative, and institutional sources of information to paint a more complete picture of farm growth in the United States.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2018-08-01","The student, Xin Li, accepted the attached license on 2016-07-11 at 19:32.","The student, Xin Li, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-07-11 at 19:46.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-07-14 at 13:51.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9875 on 2016-11-10 at 12:20:31","Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-10T18:27:47Z (GMT). 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The rapid growth of farm income and production costs has raised both new questions and warranted revising old questions; these include the existence of persistent management skill, the management strategies and profitability, farm growth and the land investing behavior associated with farm wealth. To address these questions, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 9,831 farms from 1996 through 2014. Agricultural producers operate in a volatile environment, facing a number of sources of risk. A key question is whether farmers who are more highly skilled can better mitigate these risks and consistently earn higher returns than their lower skilled peers. Two out-of-sample tests of skill persistence are used to analyze the ability of farm managers that consistently perform well over yearly and longer time horizons. The results suggest that the most skilled managers often generate better financial results and that management skills are consistent and predictable. Furthermore, the top 10% of farmers have substantial ability to persistently perform. The alpha scores (or skill estimates) for farm managers are analyzed to determine if most profitable farmers possess specific skills or knowledge against adverse events in a volatile environment. This study emphasizes the strategic and operations aspects of managing a farm. Farms are evaluated under different scenarios of management skill portfolios. Fundamental farm management basics are discussed in this study, including budgeting, production planning, financial analysis, financial management, investment analysis, and control management. Farm managers will want to consult it to improve the effectiveness, objectivity, and success of their decisions. For decades, the dominant trend in US agriculture at the farm level has been towards greater concentration. The study analyzes the factors underpinning this prominent trend. It has crucial policy implications because theory would suggest high profit farms should capture the resources over time. Two important hypotheses are derived and tested using dynamic growth model and choice behavior model: 1) farms that expand the most are more profitable; 2) returns have systemic influence on the rental and accumulation decision and hence upon the land tenure. Results suggest that high profit is often touted as a motivation factor for land investing. An innovative aspect of this study is that it brings together qualitative, quantitative, and institutional sources of information to paint a more complete picture of farm growth in the United States.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2018-08-01","The student, Xin Li, accepted the attached license on 2016-07-11 at 19:32.","The student, Xin Li, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-07-11 at 19:46.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-07-14 at 13:51.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9875 on 2016-11-10 at 12:20:31","Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-10T18:27:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 LI-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf: 2667780 bytes, checksum: aab14b020833ab1d3c61886a24bfd56b (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4203 bytes, checksum: dcd2e6ee21fd2ac81034e20bec106e1f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-14","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 95362 Lift date: 2018-11-10T18:28:02Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited Restriction Lifted for Item 95362 on 2018-11-11T10:15:40Z."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92942"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2016 Xin Li"],"dc:subject":["Persistent Performance","Management Skill"],"dc:title":["Essays on persistent management skill"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Agricultural & Applied Econ"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:35Z"}