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A Parametric Estimation of Total Factor Productivity and Its Components in U.S. Agriculture

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  • Plastina, Alejandro
  • Lence, Sergio H

Abstract

The present study aims at improving our understanding of the individual contribution of the components of total factor productivity (TFP) change to U.S. agricultural productivity. A novel sequential primal-dual estimation routine to calculate TFP change is proposed, using a multi-output input distance function in the first stage, followed by a cost minimization routine in the second stage. TFP change is estimated as the direct sum of the estimates of technical change, technical efficiency change, allocative efficiency change, input price effects, changes in output markup, and changes in returns to scale in each state. The validity of the proposed methodology is supported by the remarkable overlap and high correlation of our annual estimates of TFP change with the USDA’s measures of change in TFP by state. Although technical change tends to be the largest contributor to productivity change, it bears a low and statistically insignificant correlation with TFP change on an annual basis, whereas annual changes in the markup effect and returns to scale are highly and significantly correlated with TFP changes. This is the first study to find a slowdown of technical progress in the U.S. farm sector in the 1990s and 2000s, and technical regress during the farm crisis of the 1980s. While technical efficiency shows a positive overall trend, allocative efficiency shows a negative overall trend, and their combined effect (i.e., the overall cost efficiency) slows down TFP growth. The profound implications of these findings for agricultural policy design beg for a revision of the literature on the major drivers of TFP change.

Suggested Citation

  • Plastina, Alejandro & Lence, Sergio H, 2018. "A Parametric Estimation of Total Factor Productivity and Its Components in U.S. Agriculture," ISU General Staff Papers 201804250700001618, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:isu:genstf:201804250700001618
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    Cited by:

    1. Tsionas, Mike G. & Malikov, Emir & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2020. "Endogenous dynamic efficiency in the intertemporal optimization models of firm behavior," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 284(1), pages 313-324.
    2. Frederic Ang & Pieter Jan Kerstens, 2023. "Robust nonparametric analysis of dynamic profits, prices and productivity: An application to French meat-processing firms," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(2), pages 771-809.
    3. Alejandro Plastina & Sergio H. Lence & Ariel Ortiz‐Bobea, 2021. "How weather affects the decomposition of total factor productivity in U.S. agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(2), pages 215-234, March.
    4. Lindikaya W. Myeki & Yonas T. Bahta & Nicolette Matthews, 2022. "Exploring the Growth of Agricultural Productivity in AFRICA: A Färe-Primont Index Approach," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Chenyang Liu & Lihang Cui & Cuixia Li, 2022. "Impact of Environmental Regulation on the Green Total Factor Productivity of Dairy Farming: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    6. Koiry, Subrata & Huang, Wei, 2023. "Do ecological protection approaches affect total factor productivity change of cropland production in Sweden?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    7. YAHATA, Tomonori & NAKATANI, Tomoaki & NAKASHIMA, Yasuhiro & SENDA, Tetsuji & FUJIE, Takeshi, 2024. "Total Factor Productivity and its Decomposition of Multi-Output Paddy Farming in Japan," IAAE 2024 Conference, August 2-7, 2024, New Delhi, India 344326, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE).
    8. Zhihao Zheng & Shen Cheng & Shida R. Henneberry, 2023. "Total factor productivity change in China's grain production sector: 1980–2018," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(1), pages 38-55, January.
    9. Stefan Wimmer & K Hervé Dakpo, 2023. "Components of agricultural productivity change: Replication of US evidence and extension to the EU," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 1332-1355, September.
    10. Fabian Frick & Johannes Sauer, 2021. "Technological Change in Dairy Farming with Increased Price Volatility," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(2), pages 564-588, June.
    11. Kumbhakar, Subal C. & Li, Mingyang & Lien, Gudbrand, 2023. "Do subsidies matter in productivity and profitability changes?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).

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