Abstract: The improvement of operating efficiency of family farms is crucial to the healthy development of family farms. Based on the questionnaire survey of 400 family farms in Yuncheng city, Shanxi province, this study used DEA-Tobit model to estimate the comprehensive efficiency of family farms, and analyzed the key factors affecting the efficiency. The results show that the comprehensive efficiency of family farms in Shanxi province is generally low, and the pure technical efficiency is obviously lower than the scale efficiency. The improvement of the comprehensive efficiency largely depends on the improvement of the scale efficiency. There is an “inverted U-shaped” curve relationship between land management area and comprehensive efficiency of family farms. Too large or too small land scale is not conducive to the improvement of management efficiency. The operators’ age, working experience in agriculture, term of operation right contract, government subsidies, whether to borrow the loans and other factors have a positive effect on the operating efficiency, in which the loan has a significant effect on the operating efficiency of family farms; The labor input and the purchase of farm machinery services restrain the operating efficiency. Therefore, measures such as improving rural financial market, expanding agricultural technology promotion channels, perfecting land transfer mechanismand strengthening the education and training of operators will effectively improve the operating efficiency of family farms.

Key words: family farm, operational efficiency, DEA-Tobit model, influence factors