This study examines the effect of financial structure on technical efficiency of sugarcane farmer cooperatives (FCs) in Eswatini. Using annual data on 114 FCs from 2014 to 2017, the paper employs the one‐step Stochastic Frontier Analysis technique to estimate technical inefficiency and its determinants. The results indicate that the sugarcane FCs operate with high level of technical efficiency, averaging 85.48%. While all sources of financing were observed to improve technical efficiency, the effects were observed to follow a ‘pecking‐order’, with the greatest effect observed from internal revenue followed by grants and loans. The implications of the findings for financing decisions of FCs in emerging economies are discussed.

中文翻译：

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财务结构和合作效率：埃斯瓦蒂尼的甘蔗农民的啄食证据

这项研究探讨了财务结构对埃斯瓦蒂尼的甘蔗农民合作社（FCs）技术效率的影响。利用2014年至2017年间114个FC的年度数据，本文采用了一步随机前沿分析技术来估计技术效率低下及其决定因素。结果表明，甘蔗燃料电池以较高的技术效率运行，平均为85.48％。虽然观察到所有融资来源都可以提高技术效率，但观察到的效果却遵循“啄食顺序”，其中最大的影响来自内部收入，其次是赠款和贷款。讨论了调查结果对新兴经济体FC融资决策的影响。