Estimating internal transaction costs: the case of corporate dairy farms in Russia’s Moscow oblast

Abstract

The paper develops a methodological framework for estimating internal transaction costs from observed input-output mixes and prices. The empirical model is a modified DEA. This framework is applied to corporate dairy farms located in Russia’s Moscow oblast. The estimates provided that internal transaction costs significantly distort the allocation of marketable output and in addition hamper the evolution of more efficient farm structures. Cutting the internal transaction costs should be a priority of regional and federal agricultural development.