Technology catch-up in agriculture among advanced economies

Virgil Eldon Ball, Carlos San Juan Mesonada, Carlos Sunyer Manteiga, Kennet Ericson, Yu Sheng*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We examine whether countries with low initial levels of agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) tend to ‘catch up’ with the technology leaders. We first compare relative levels of agricultural TFP, capital services and labour input levels in agriculture for 17 OECD countries between 1973 and 2011. Then we apply (conditional) convergence analysis to the panel data to examine the speed of convergence and test whether the convergence is transitory or permanent by analysing TFP changes over the business cycle. Capital intensities, quality improvement of capital, factors such as human capital spillovers, and certain agricultural policies are conditioning variables. We examine how differences in relative capital intensities affect agricultural productivity convergence over the business cycle. We find evidence that the speed of convergence increases during periods of contraction in economic activity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)18-37
Number of pages20
JournalAustralian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Volume67
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2023
Externally publishedYes

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