IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/uerstb/344773.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Measurement of Output, Inputs, and Total Factor Productivity in U.S. Agricultural Productivity Accounts

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Sun Ling
  • Nehring, Richard
  • Mosheim, Roberto
  • Njuki, Eric

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been monitoring the U.S. farm sector’s productivity performance since the 1960s. Today, USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) bases its U.S. agricultural productivity statistics on a sophisticated system of production accounts, drawing data from numerous sources. A notable feature of the U.S. productivity accounts is the input quality adjustment, as some inputs have undergone significant changes in their quality over time. According to USDA, ERS estimates, between 1948 and 2021, total farm output grew by 1.46 percent annually. With total input declining by -0.03 percent per year on average, total factor productivity has become the primary driver in promoting output growth, increasing by 1.49 percent per year. Over time, the input composition has changed, shifting from labor and land use to more use of intermediate inputs (e.g., fertilizer, pesticides, and purchased services) and durable capital assets (e.g., tractors, combines, and other machinery). Input quality changes in labor, capital (including land), and intermediate inputs have contributed positively to annual output growth by 0.11, 0.04, and 0.04 percentage points, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Sun Ling & Nehring, Richard & Mosheim, Roberto & Njuki, Eric, 2024. "Measurement of Output, Inputs, and Total Factor Productivity in U.S. Agricultural Productivity Accounts," Technical Bulletins 344773, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uerstb:344773
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.344773
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/344773/files/tb-1966.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.344773?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. Wang, Sun Ling & Hoppe, Robert A & Hertz, Thomas & Xu, Shicong, 2022. "Farm Labor, Human Capital, and Agricultural Productivity in the United States," Economic Research Report 327178, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Raymond B. Palmquist, 1989. "Land as a Differentiated Factor of Production: A Hedonic Model and Its Implications for Welfare Measurement," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 65(1), pages 23-28.
    3. Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge, 2004. "The Seed Industry In U.S. Agriculture: An Exploration Of Data And Information On Crop Seed Markets, Regulation, Industry Structure, And Research And Development," Agricultural Information Bulletins 33671, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. D. W. Jorgenson & Z. Griliches, 1967. "The Explanation of Productivity Change," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 34(3), pages 249-283.
    5. Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge & Caswell, Margriet, 2006. "The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the USA," Economic Information Bulletin 33897, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Sendhil Mullainathan & Jann Spiess, 2017. "Machine Learning: An Applied Econometric Approach," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 87-106, Spring.
    7. Clemente, Jesus & Montanes, Antonio & Reyes, Marcelo, 1998. "Testing for a unit root in variables with a double change in the mean," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 175-182, May.
    8. Vince Breneman, 2006. "Urban Influence on Costs of Production in the Corn Belt," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(4), pages 930-946.
    9. Zvi Griliches, 1958. "The Demand for Fertilizer: An Economic Interpretation of a Technical Change," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 40(3), pages 591-606.
    10. Jack E. Triplett & Richard J. McDonald, 1977. "Assessing The Quality Error In Output Measures: The Case Of Refrigerators," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 23(2), pages 137-156, June.
    11. V. Eldon Ball & W. A. Lindamood & Richard Nehring & Carlos San Juan Mesonada, 2008. "Capital as a factor of production in OECD agriculture: measurement and data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(10), pages 1253-1277.
    12. repec:bla:revinw:v:23:y:1977:i:2:p:137-56 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. V. Eldon Ball & Charles Hallahan & Richard Nehring, 2004. "Convergence of Productivity: An Analysis of the Catch-up Hypothesis within a Panel of States," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1315-1321.
    14. Frederick V. Waugh, 1928. "Quality Factors Influencing Vegetable Prices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 10(2), pages 185-196.
    15. Peterson, Willis L., 1987. "International Land Quality Indexes," Staff Papers 13877, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    16. John B. Penson & Dean W. Hughes & Glenn L. Nelson, 1977. "Measurement of Capacity Depreciation Based on Engineering Data," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 59(2), pages 321-329.
    17. Dale W. Jorgenson & Mun S. Ho & Kevin J. Stiroh, 2005. "Productivity, Volume 3: Information Technology and the American Growth Resurgence," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 3, number 0262101114, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Eric Njuki & Boris E Bravo-Ureta & Christopher J O’Donnell, 2018. "A new look at the decomposition of agricultural productivity growth incorporating weather effects," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, February.
    2. V. Eldon Ball & W. A. Lindamood & Richard Nehring & Carlos San Juan Mesonada, 2008. "Capital as a factor of production in OECD agriculture: measurement and data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(10), pages 1253-1277.
    3. Andersen, Matthew A. & Alston, Julian M. & Pardey, Philip G., 2009. "Capital Service Flows: Concepts and Comparisons of Alternative Measures in U.S. Agriculture," Staff Papers 50098, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    4. Robert G. Chambers & Simone Pieralli, 2020. "The Sources of Measured US Agricultural Productivity Growth: Weather, Technological Change, and Adaptation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(4), pages 1198-1226, August.
    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. Nehring, Richard F. & Hallahan, Charlie & Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge & Wang, Sun-Ling & Wechsler, Seth & Hart, Jarrett & Mosheim, Roberto, 2015. "Revisiting Quality-Adjusted Price and Quantity Indices for Pesticides," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205317, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. 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.
    8. David Tao,Liang & Harry X,Wu, 2023. "Revisiting the role of ICT in China's growth," IDE Discussion Papers 883, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    9. Weilin Liu, 2022. "Did Trade Liberalization Boost Total Factor Productivity Growth in Manufacturing in India in the 1990s?," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 43, pages 110-139, Fall.
    10. Lachaud, Michee Arnold & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Ludena, Carlos E., 2015. "Agricultural productivity growth in Latin America and the Caribbean and other world regions: An analysis of climatic effects, convergence and catch-up," Working Papers 40, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    11. Robert Inklaar, 2010. "The Sensitivity Of Capital Services Measurement: Measure All Assets And The Cost Of Capital," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(2), pages 389-412, June.
    12. Nehring, Richard & Gillespie, Jeffrey & Hallahan, Charles & Sauer, Johannes, 2015. "The Economics and Productivity of Organic versus Non-organic U.S. Dairy Farms," 2015 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia 196805, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    13. Dariusz Cezary Kotlewski, 2023. "The soundness of returning to manufacturing through the lens of productivity accounting," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 3, pages 253-274.
    14. Zvi Griliches, 1991. "Hedonic Price Indexes and the Measurement of Capital and Productivity: Some Historical Reflections," NBER Chapters, in: Fifty Years of Economic Measurement: The Jubilee of the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, pages 185-206, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Cindy Zoghi, 2010. "Measuring Labor Composition: A Comparison of Alternate Methodologies," NBER Chapters, in: Labor in the New Economy, pages 457-485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Claudio Aravena F. & André A. Hofman & Luis Eduardo Escobar F., 2018. "Fuentes del crecimiento económico y la productividad en América Latina y el Caribe, 1990-2013," Journal Economía Chilena (The Chilean Economy), Central Bank of Chile, vol. 21(1), pages 034-066, April.
    17. Michée A. Lachaud & Boris E. Bravo‐Ureta, 2021. "Agricultural productivity growth in Latin America and the Caribbean: an analysis of climatic effects, catch‐up and convergence," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(1), pages 143-170, January.
    18. Nehring, Richard & Erickson, Kenneth & Michael, Harris & Hallahan, Charlie & Katchova, Ani, 2016. "Heartland, Southern Seaboard, and Prairie Gateway: A Farm-Level Analysis," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235666, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Mariela Dal Borgo & Peter Goodridge & Jonathan Haskel & Annarosa Pesole, 2013. "Productivity and Growth in UK Industries: An Intangible Investment Approach," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 75(6), pages 806-834, December.
    20. Eric Njuki & Boris E. Bravo-Ureta, 2019. "Examining irrigation productivity in U.S. agriculture using a single-factor approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 125-136, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor and Human Capital; Land Economics/Use; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:uerstb:344773. 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/ersgvus.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.