Technological Progress in the Meatpacking Industry, 1919-1947

Vernon Ruttan

No 310018, Marketing Research Reports from United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Transportation and Marketing Program

Abstract: Excerpts from the report Summary: During the last several decades developments in refrigeration, transportation, power, and chemical and biological research have had a pronounced effect on the meatpacking industry. The resulting technological progress has not been spectacular, but it has made a significant contribution to increasing the output of the industry. A number of problems arise in measuring change in an industry over a 30-year period. In consequence considerable attention has been given in this study to the analytical framework and techniques to be employed in measuring technological progress. On the basis of this examination it was concluded that the net input-output approach is superior to either the measurement of labor productivity or the production-function approach for the purposes of this study. Computations based on the net input-output approach indicate that the input required by the meatpacking industry to produce a given output probably fell, by roughly 25 percent or more from 1919 to 1947. Reduced input of capital and an increased output from a given volume of livestock are the two principal reasons for this progress.

Keywords: Labor and Human Capital; Livestock Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Research Methods/Statistical Methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50
Date: 1954-01
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uamsmr:310018

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.310018

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