Economic impacts of livestock production in Sweden - An input-output approach

This study uses a disaggregated input-output (IO) table of Sweden to assess the economic impacts of different production lines within Swedish agriculture. Focus has especially been placed on the differences between different types of livestock production and the differences between livestock and arable productions. Swedish agriculture was divided into the production lines, or sectors, cattle (milk and beef), pig, poultry and egg, sheep, mixed livestock production, cereals and mixed farm production, and the importance and potential of each one of them were assessed. To enable such a detailed analysis we first developed and applied a method for disaggregating the single agricultural account in the Swedish IO table. To do so we disaggregated the inputs and outputs of all production lines identified in the study. We used farm accounting data for Sweden together with sector specific data from Statistics Sweden and Agriwise to determine the purchases and sales of different farm types. Within the so called Make-Use framework of the IO table we allowed different farm types to produce more than one output to take the normal heterogeneity of farm production into consideration. Turning the IO table into an IO model we analyzed the various interdependencies in the economic system and determined the relative impact and potentials of different sectors. In particular, output, employment and income multipliers, together with elasticities were calculated and analyzed. In this process we developed the already existing measure of elasticities to better capture the relative importance of sectors with limited final demand. Livestock production lines are generally more integrated in the system of intermediate sales and purchases compared with cereal production. This means that these production lines offer a greater potential in generating output throughout the economy, if the final demand for these products was to increase exogenously. Among the livestock production lines, poultry and egg production seem to be the most input-intensive; however this production line uses labour to a small extent. Combining the multipliers with the relative size of production lines to derive measures of elasticities we find that significant production lines are cattle (milk and beef), cereals and mixed farming. The output, employment and income multipliers, as well as the elasticities, calculated in this study offer a basis for decisions related to sector priorities and regional and rural development. It is however utterly important that the results are interpreted in the right way and that the reader understands that production lines with great output generating potential might for example not perform as well in generating employment. Furthermore generating employment can be measured from different perspectives. That is, a sector can generate employment from one more person employed in the sector or from exogenous increase in the demand for the product of the production line. Results might differ substantially.