Selection, Absolute Advantage, and the Agricultural Productivity Gap

Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado (), Francesco Amodio and Markus Poschke

No 14269, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: Output per worker is lower in agriculture than in other sectors, especially in poor countries. Worker sorting can explain this fact if comparative and absolute advantage in agriculture are positively correlated. We examine this correlation using representative household-level panel data from four African countries. Approximately one-third of households engage in both agriculture and non-farm entrepreneurship, providing a unique lens to study sorting patterns. We find that more productive farming households are more likely to pursue entrepreneurship, allocate more time to it, and increasingly transition into it over time. These findings suggest that agricultural comparative and absolute advantage are negatively correlated.

Keywords: Agricultural productivity gap; Selection; entrepreneurship; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J31 J43 L26 O11 O13 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-eff and nep-ent
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Journal Article: Selection, Absolute Advantage, and the Agricultural Productivity Gap (2026)
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