IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sls/ipmsls/v29y20153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparing Agricultural Total Factor Productivity between Australia, Canada, and the United States, 1961-2006

Author

Listed:
  • Yu Sheng
  • Eldon Ball
  • Katerina Nossal

Abstract

This article provides a comparison of levels and growth of agricultural total factor productivity between Australia, Canada, and the United States for the 1961–2006 period. A production account for agriculture that is consistent across the three countries is constructed to estimate output, input and total factor productivity, and a dynamic panel regression is used to link the productivity estimates to potential determinants. We show that investment in public research and development and infrastructure plays an important role in explaining differences in productivity levels between countries. The findings provide useful insights into how public policy could be used to sustain agricultural productivity growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu Sheng & Eldon Ball & Katerina Nossal, 2015. "Comparing Agricultural Total Factor Productivity between Australia, Canada, and the United States, 1961-2006," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 29, pages 38-59, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:ipmsls:v:29:y:2015:3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.csls.ca/ipm/29/shengballandnossal.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ball, V Eldon, et al, 1997. "Aggregation Methods for Intercountry Comparisons of Prices and Real Values in Agriculture: A Review and Synthesis," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 24(2), pages 183-206.
    2. Angela Lusigi & Colin Thirtle, 1997. "Total Factor Productivity And The Effects Of R&D In African Agriculture," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(4), pages 529-538.
    3. Alston, Julian M. & Wyatt, T. J. & Pardey, Philip G. & Marra, Michele C. & Chan-Kang, Connie, 2000. "A meta-analysis of rates of return to agricultural R & D: ex pede Herculem?," Research reports 113, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Angus Maddison & D. S. Prasada & William Shepherd (ed.), 2002. "The Asian Economies in the Twentieth Century," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1721, December.
    5. László Drechsler, 1973. "Weighting Of Index Numbers In Multilateral International Comparisons," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 19(1), pages 17-34, March.
    6. Robert F. J. Romain & John B. Penson jr. & Rémy E. Lambert, 1987. "Capacity Depreciation, Implicit Rental Price, and Investment Demand for Farm Tractors in Canada," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 35(2), pages 373-385, July.
    7. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    8. Tim J. Coelli & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2005. "Total factor productivity growth in agriculture: a Malmquist index analysis of 93 countries, 1980–2000," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 115-134, January.
    9. Diewert, W Erwin, 1978. "Superlative Index Numbers and Consistency in Aggregation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 883-900, July.
    10. Yu Sheng & Shiji Zhao & Katarina Nossal & Dandan Zhang, 2015. "Productivity and farm size in Australian agriculture: reinvestigating the returns to scale," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 59(1), pages 16-38, January.
    11. Yue Jin Shi & Timothy T. Phipps & Dale Colyer, 1997. "Agricultural Land Values under Urbanizing Influences," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 73(1), pages 90-100.
    12. World Bank, 2015. "World Development Indicators 2015," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21634, December.
    13. M.W. Butlin, 1977. "A Preliminary Annual Database 1900/01 to 1973/74," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp7701, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    14. Wallace E. Huffman & Robert E. Evenson, 2006. "Do Formula or Competitive Grant Funds Have Greater Impacts on State Agricultural Productivity?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(4), pages 783-798.
    15. V. Eldon Ball & Jean‐Pierre Butault & Carlos San Juan & Ricardo Mora, 2010. "Productivity and international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(6), pages 611-627, November.
    16. Pardey, Philip G. & Beintema, Nienke M. & Dehmer, Steven & Wood, Stanley, 2006. "Agricultural research: a growing global divide?," Food policy reports 17, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Beddow, Jason M. & Pardey, Philip G. & Alston, Julian M., 2009. "The Shifting Global Patterns of Agricultural Productivity," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 24(4), pages 1-10.
    18. Craig, Barbara J. & Pardey, Philip G. & Roseboom, Johannes, 1994. "International Agricultural Productivity Patterns," Working Papers 14470, University of Minnesota, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy.
    19. Ludena, Carlos E. & Hertel, Thomas W. & Preckel, Paul V. & Foster, Kenneth A. & Nin Pratt, Alejandro, 2006. "Productivity Growth and Convergence in Crop, Ruminant and Non-Ruminant Production: Measurement and Forecasts," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25392, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. V.E. Ball & A. Barkaoui & J.C. Bureau & J.P. Butault, 1997. "Aggregation methods for intercountry comparisons of prices and real values in agriculture : a review and synthesis," Post-Print hal-01072590, HAL.
    21. Julian M. Alston, 2010. "The Benefits from Agricultural Research and Development, Innovation, and Productivity Growth," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 31, OECD Publishing.
    22. Sheng, Yu & Gray, Emily M. & Mullen, John D., 2011. "Public investment in R&D and extension and productivity in Australian broadacre agriculture," 2011 Conference (55th), February 8-11, 2011, Melbourne, Australia 100712, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    23. Barbara J. Craig & Philip G. Pardey & Johannes Roseboom, 1997. "International Productivity Patterns: Accounting for Input Quality, Infrastructure, and Research," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(4), pages 1064-1076.
    24. Derek Headey & Mohammad Alauddin & D.S. Prasada Rao, 2010. "Explaining agricultural productivity growth: an international perspective," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(1), pages 1-14, January.
    25. V. Ball & Jean-Christophe Bureau & Jean-Pierre Butault & Richard Nehring, 2001. "Levels of Farm Sector Productivity: An International Comparison," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 5-29, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sheng, Yu & Jackson, Thomas & Lawson, Kenton, 2018. "Evaluating the benefits from transport infrastructure in agriculture: a hedonic analysis of farmland prices," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 62(2), April.
    2. Alexander Murray, 2016. "Partial versus Total Factor Productivity: Assessing Resource Use in Natural Resource Industries in Canada," CSLS Research Reports 2016-20, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    3. Robert G. Chambers & Yu Sheng, "undated". "Genetically Modified Organisms and Agricultural Productivity," Working Papers 3, International Society for Efficiency and Productivity Analysis.
    4. Boima M. Bernard & Yanping Song & Sehresh Hena & Fayyaz Ahmad & Xin Wang, 2022. "Assessing Africa’s Agricultural TFP for Food Security and Effects on Human Development: Evidence from 35 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, May.
    5. Yu Sheng & V. Eldon Ball & Kenneth Erickson & Carlos San Juan Mesonada, 2022. "Cross-country agricultural TFP convergence and capital deepening: evidence for induced innovation from 17 OECD countries," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 185-202, December.
    6. Wenbiao Cai, 2017. "We See Thee Rise: Quantifying Farm Size Expansion in Canada," Departmental Working Papers 2017-01, The University of Winnipeg, Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jules-Daniel Wurlod & Derek Eaton, 2015. "Chasing After the Frontier in Agricultural Productivity," CIES Research Paper series 37-2015, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    2. Virgil Eldon Ball & Carlos San Juan Mesonada & Carlos Sunyer Manteiga & Kennet Ericson & Yu Sheng, 2023. "Technology catch‐up in agriculture among advanced economies," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(1), pages 18-37, January.
    3. Arega D. Alene, 2010. "Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(3‐4), pages 223-238, May.
    4. Yu Sheng & V. Eldon Ball & Kenneth Erickson & Carlos San Juan Mesonada, 2022. "Cross-country agricultural TFP convergence and capital deepening: evidence for induced innovation from 17 OECD countries," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 185-202, December.
    5. Sheng, Yu & Xu, Xinpeng, 2019. "The productivity impact of climate change: Evidence from Australia's Millennium drought," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 182-191.
    6. Stéphane Lemarié & Valérie Orozco & Jean-Pierre Butault & Antonio Musolesi & Michel Simioni & Bertrand Schmitt, 2020. "Assessing the long-term impact of agricultural research on productivity: evidence from France," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(4), pages 1559-1586.
    7. Robert Evenson & Keith Fuglie, 2010. "Technology capital: the price of admission to the growth club," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 173-190, June.
    8. Butzer, Rita & Mundlak, Yair & Larson, Donald F., 2010. "Measures of fixed capital in agriculture," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5472, The World Bank.
    9. Esposti, Roberto, 2012. "Knowledge, Technology and Innovations for a Bio-based Economy: Lessons from the Past, Challenges for the Future," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 1(3), pages 1-34, December.
    10. V. Eldon Ball & Sean Cahill & Carlos San Juan Mesonada & Richard Nehring & Yu Sheng, 2016. "Comparisons of Capital Input in OECD Agriculture, 1973-2011," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 6, pages 25-48, August.
    11. Ball, V. Eldon & Nehring, Richard & Mesonada, Carlos San Juan & Sheng, Yu, 2016. "Comparisons of Real Values of Capital Input," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235914, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Tim J. Coelli & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2005. "Total factor productivity growth in agriculture: a Malmquist index analysis of 93 countries, 1980–2000," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 115-134, January.
    13. Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Yu, Bingxin, 2008. "An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa:," IFPRI discussion papers 787, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    14. Lajos Baráth & Imre Fertő, 2017. "Productivity and Convergence in European Agriculture," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 228-248, February.
    15. Zuniga Gonzalez, Carlos Alberto, 2012. "Total factor productivity and Bio Economy effects," MPRA Paper 49355, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 Nov 2012.
    16. N�stor A. Le Clech & Carmen Fillat Castej�n, 2017. "Productivity, efficiency and technical change in world agriculture: a f�re-primont index approach," Documentos de Trabajo dt2017-09, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Zaragoza.
    17. Steven Block, 2014. "The Decline and Rise of Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1961," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 13-67, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Alessandro Magrini & Fabio Bartolini & Alessandra Coli & Barbara Pacini, 2019. "A structural equation model to assess the impact of agricultural research expenditure on multiple dimensions," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 2063-2080, July.
    19. Anderson, Kym & Strutt, Anna, 2012. "Asia?s Growth, the Changing Geography of World Trade, and Food Security: Projections to 2030," CEPR Discussion Papers 8950, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Fuglie, Keith, 2015. "Accounting for growth in global agriculture," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 4(3), pages 1-34, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agriculture; Canada; Australia; United States; Total Factor Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • N52 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N57 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Africa; Oceania
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sls:ipmsls:v:29:y:2015:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CSLS (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cslssca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.