Abstract
Annual data from 1949 through 1991 for 48 states are used to account for changes in the composition of input and output aggregates over space and time, and thereby to obtain new evidence on changes in inputs, outputs, and productivity in U.S. agriculture. The measures change significantly when we use state-specific rather than national prices and when we allow for changes in the composition of the aggregates, especially of labor and capital inputs. The national picture is not representative of spatial sub-aggregates. For instance, state-specific annual average productivity growth rates for 1949–1991 ranged from 0.79 percent (Nevada) to 3.23 percent (Georgia) compared with a national aggregate rate of 1.90 percent per annum. We compare our estimates and those reported by Ball et al. (1999). The national estimates were similar but some substantial differences were found in state-level productivity growth, accounted for by differences in the underlying patterns of measured output and especially input quantities.
An earliear version of this paper was presented at the NC-208 Conference on “Agricultural Productivity: Data, Methods, and Measures,” Waugh Auditorium, USDA-ERS, Washington D.C., March 9–10, 2000. The authors gratefully acknowledge the considerable help they received from Barbara Craig in the construction of the data that underpin this paper. Helpful comments were provided by Bruce Beattie, Paul Cashin, Jim Chalfant, Bruce Gardner, Alan Olmstead, and participants at workshops at UC Berkeley and UC Davis, as well as the NC-208 conference. Financial assistance for this work was provided by the Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, the Farm Foundation, and the University of California Pacific-Rim Research Program. Senior authorship is not assigned.
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Acquaye, A.K.A., Alston, J.M., Pardey, P.G. (2002). A Disaggregated Perspective on Post-War Productivity Growth in U.S. Agriculture: Isn’t That Spatial?. In: Ball, V.E., Norton, G.W. (eds) Agricultural Productivity. Studies in Productivity and Efficiency, vol 2. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0851-9_3
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