Originally published:1978-09 as Research report (Lincoln College (University of Canterbury). Agricultural Economics Research Unit) ; no. 88 by Lincoln College. Agricultural Economics Research Unit.
This study has been concerned with the development of
an econometric model capable of explaining the annual changes
in total livestock units that are carried on New Zealand sheep
and beef farms.
Although there have been a number of previous econometric
studies of New Zealand livestock production, none of these has
analysed the effect of annual variations in climatic and other
physical factors on the numbers of livestock carried. In addition
there have been no studies of livestock numbers that have considered
sheep and cattle as enterprises that are competing for the same set
of input resources. For these reasons it was considered that none
of the previous studies provided a suitable framework for analysing
the changes in the industry that have occurred in the decade up to
1975.
The development of a new econometric model was seriously
affected by a lack of suitable data. A number of tests were conducted
on the national livestock series as published by the New Zealand
Department of Statistics. These tests indicated a number of
inconsistencies in these data that appear to be sufficiently serious
as to confound any econometric analysis of annual changes in the
numbers of livestock as measured by these series.
Analyses indicated that, for the period 1964 to 1975, data
obtained by the New Zealand Meat and Wool Boards Economic Service
during the course of their Sheep and Beef Farm Survey are the best
available source of information on changes in livestock numbers.
However, before these data could be incorporated into an econometric
model a standardisation procedure had to be devised so as to link
successive years of the survey.[Show full abstract]
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