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Why is Agricultural Labor Productivity so Low in the United States?

Author

Listed:
  • Todd Schoellman

    (Arizona State University)

  • Berthold Herrendorf

    (Arizona State University)

Abstract

A big question in development economics is why developing countries are so unproductive in agriculture. This question is hard to answer because of limited data. In this project, we explore what we can learn from agriculture in US states where we have rich data. Focusing on US states has the advantage that there are no major barriers or institutional differences. We provide evidence that there are large labor productivity gaps between nonagriculture and nonagriculture; in some US states the difference between the two is larger than a factor of five. We show that these gaps are not likely to be the result of imperfect measurement. We also show that sectoral differences in human capital and capital shares account for most of these labor productivity gaps.

Suggested Citation

  • Todd Schoellman & Berthold Herrendorf, 2011. "Why is Agricultural Labor Productivity so Low in the United States?," 2011 Meeting Papers 1087, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  • Handle: RePEc:red:sed011:1087
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Restuccia, Diego & Yang, Dennis Tao & Zhu, Xiaodong, 2008. "Agriculture and aggregate productivity: A quantitative cross-country analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 234-250, March.
    5. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for cross-country income differences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 5266, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    7. Mike Waugh & David Lagakos & Doug Gollin, 2011. "The Agricultural Productivity Gap in Developing Countries," 2011 Meeting Papers 1397, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for cross-country income differences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 3567, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Banerjee, Abhijit V. & Duflo, Esther, 2005. "Growth Theory through the Lens of Development Economics," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 473-552, Elsevier.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mike Waugh & David Lagakos & Doug Gollin, 2011. "The Agricultural Productivity Gap in Developing Countries," 2011 Meeting Papers 1397, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Mike Waugh & Ahmed Mobarak & David Lagakos, 2016. "Urban-Rural Wage Gaps in Developing Countries: Spatial Misallocation or Efficient Sorting?," 2016 Meeting Papers 1032, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Barry Eichengreen, 2019. "Trade Policy and the Macroeconomy," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 67(1), pages 4-23, March.

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