IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iaae15/211752.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Agricultural Product Space: Prospects for South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Idsardi, E.F.
  • Schalkwyk, H.D.
  • Viviers, W.

Abstract

South Africa’s sluggish economic growth and limited structural transformation are at the core of the country’s high levels of unemployment and poverty. Why some countries are able to grow and others not has been the subject of much academic debate, with recent literature exploring the relationship between growth and a country’s productive structure. Although the magnitude of the role of agriculture in economic development is contentious within the context of an upper middle-income country, like South Africa, the sector has unmistakably a contribution to make in the much needed transformation and growth process. Therefore, this study analyses the structure of the agro-complex through the application of the ‘product space’ framework. This methodology investigates the product-level relatedness within the sector and arrives at a structure of an agricultural product space network. This structure allows potential diversification pathways to be identified which can form the basis of transformation within South Africa’s agro-complex.

Suggested Citation

  • Idsardi, E.F. & Schalkwyk, H.D. & Viviers, W., 2015. "The Agricultural Product Space: Prospects for South Africa," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211752, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae15:211752
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.211752
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/211752/files/Idsardi-The%20Agricultural%20Product%20Space-1045.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.211752?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2002. "Growth Is Good for the Poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 195-225, September.
    2. Cesar A. Hidalgo & Ricardo Hausmann, 2009. "The Building Blocks of Economic Complexity," Papers 0909.3890, arXiv.org.
    3. Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian & Francesco Trebbi, 2004. "Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions Over Geography and Integration in Economic Development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 131-165, June.
    4. Block, Steven & Timmer, C Peter, 1994. "Agriculture and Economic Growth: Conceptual Issues and the Kenyan Experience," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294430, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    5. Mr. Arvind Subramanian & Mr. Francesco Trebbi & Mr. Dani Rodrik, 2002. "Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions over Integration and Geography in Economic Development," IMF Working Papers 2002/189, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Ricardo Hausmann & Bailey Klinger, 2007. "The Structure of the Product Space and the Evolution of Comparative Advantage," Growth Lab Working Papers 10, Harvard's Growth Lab.
    7. Nicita, Alessandro & Olarreaga, Marcelo & Porto, Guido, 2014. "Pro-poor trade policy in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 252-265.
    8. Diao, Xinshen & Hazell, Peter & Thurlow, James, 2010. "The Role of Agriculture in African Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1375-1383, October.
    9. Fischer, Ronald D., 2001. "The evolution of inequality after trade liberalization," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 555-579, December.
    10. Ricardo J. Caballero & Adam B. Jaffe, 1993. "How High Are the Giants' Shoulders: An Empirical Assessment of Knowledge Spillovers and Creative Destruction in a Model of Economic Growth," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1993, Volume 8, pages 15-86, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Barro, Robert J, 2000. "Inequality and Growth in a Panel of Countries," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 5-32, March.
    12. Hausmann, Ricardo & Klinger, Bailey, 2006. "Structural Transformation and Patterns of Comparative Advantage in the Product Space," Working Paper Series rwp06-041, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    13. C. A. Hidalgo & B. Klinger & A. -L. Barabasi & R. Hausmann, 2007. "The Product Space Conditions the Development of Nations," Papers 0708.2090, arXiv.org.
    14. Connie Bayudan-Dacuycuy, 2012. "The Philippine export portfolio in the product space: potentials, possibilities and policy challenges," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(1), pages 59-66.
    15. Cesar A. Hidalgo, 2009. "The Dynamics of Economic Complexity and the Product Space over a 42 year period," CID Working Papers 189, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    16. Thomas Vollrath, 1991. "A theoretical evaluation of alternative trade intensity measures of revealed comparative advantage," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 127(2), pages 265-280, June.
    17. Bailey Klinger, 2007. "Uncertainty in the Search for New Exports," CID Working Papers 16, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    18. Unknown, 1961. "The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development," International Journal of Agrarian Affairs, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 3(2), pages 1-1, April.
    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. Caitlin Allen Whitehead & Haroon Bhorat, 2021. "Understanding Economic Complexity: An Application to the MER Sector," Working Papers 202105, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    2. Haroon Bhorat & Francois Steenkamp & Caitlin Allen & Robert Hill & Christopher Rooney, 2019. "Building Economic Complexity in the South African Fibrous Plant Economy," Working Papers copwp201904, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.

    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. Ferrarini, Benno & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2016. "Production complexity, adaptability and economic growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 52-61.
    2. Ferrarini, Benno & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2013. "Complexity, Specialization, and Growth," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 344, Asian Development Bank.
    3. Sergey Kadochnikov & Anna Fedyunina, 2013. "Export diversification in the product space and regional growth: Evidence from Russia," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1327, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Dec 2013.
    4. Güzin Bayar, 2022. "Turkey's sectoral exports: A competitiveness approach," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 2268-2289, April.
    5. repec:ocp:rpaper:rp-1923 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ferrarini, Benno & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2011. "Indicators and Patterns of Specialization in International Trade," Papers 148, World Trade Institute.
    7. Sami Atallah & Ilina Srour, 2014. "The Emergence of Highly Sophisticated Lebanese Exports in the Absence of an Industrial Policy," Working Papers 876, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2014.
    8. El-Haddad, Amirah, 2018. "Exporting for growth: identifying leading sectors for Egypt and Tunisia using the Product Space Methodology," IDOS Discussion Papers 25/2018, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    9. Filippo Bontadini & Maria Savona, 2019. "Revisiting the Natural Resource ‘Curse’ in the Context of Trade in Value Added: Enclave or High-development Backward Linkages?," SPRU Working Paper Series 2019-15, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. Nomaler, Önder & Verspagen, Bart, 2024. "Related or unrelated diversification: What is smart specialization?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 503-515.
    11. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz & Abdoul’ Ganiou Mijiyawa, 2022. "What Can Trade Tell Us About Economic Transformation? Composition of Trade and Structural Transformation in African Countries," Springer Books, in: Evelyn F. Wamboye & Bichaka Fayissa (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Africa’s Economic Sectors, pages 627-649, Springer.
    12. World Bank, 2003. "Kenya : A Policy Agenda to Restore Growth," World Bank Publications - Reports 14363, The World Bank Group.
    13. Hausmann, Ricardo & Stock, Daniel P. & Yıldırım, Muhammed A., 2022. "Implied comparative advantage," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(8).
    14. repec:ocp:rptrad:rp-20-09 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Andreas Reinstaller & Werner Hölzl & Johannes Kutsam & Christian Schmid, 2013. "The Development of Productive Structures of EU Member Countries and Their International Competitiveness," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46823, January.
    16. Schweickert, Rainer & Thiele, Rainer, 2004. "From Washington to post-Washington? Consensus policies and divergent developments in Latin America and Asia," Kiel Discussion Papers 408, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    17. Heder de Oliveira & Timo Verheij, 2017. "Is Economic Complexity Spatially Dependent? A spatial analysis of interactions of economic complexity between municipalities in Brazil," EcoMod2017 10537, EcoMod.
    18. repec:ocp:rpaper:pp-1923 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. repec:wsr:ecbook:2015:i:vi-004 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2016. "On firms’ product space evolution: the role of firm and local product relatedness," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(5), pages 975-1006.
    21. Cyrielle Gaglio, 2015. "Measuring Country Competitiveness: A Survey of Exporting-based Indexes," GREDEG Working Papers 2015-42, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    22. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2020. "Aid for Trade flows and Poverty Reduction in Recipient-Countries," EconStor Preprints 213807, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    23. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz & Abdoul‘ Ganiou Mijiyawa, 2020. "What Can Trade Tell Us About Economic Transformation? Composition of Trade and Structural Transformation in African Countries," Research papers & Policy papers 1909, Policy Center for the New South.
    24. Wai Kit Si Tou, 2021. "Enhancing export competitiveness by deeper integration: The case of the East African Community," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(3), pages 493-507, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy;

    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:ags:iaae15:211752. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.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.