Agricultural development: issues, evidence, and consequences

Yair Mundlak, Donald Larson (don.larson@iides.org) and Al Crego

No 1811, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: A comprehensive examination of data from many countries shows that in 1967-92, eighty-one percent of the world's population lived in countries where agricultural growth exceeded population growth. Moreover, that growth occurred as agricultural prices declined. Productivity gains are a dominant characteristic of agriculture for the period. Average productivity increased for land and labor. Moreover, agricultural productivity gains were greater than average productivity gains for the economy in 80 percent of the countries studied. Measuring the effects of technology choice on productivity is crucial to understanding the determinants of agricultural growth. After selectively reviewing applied production studies, the authors conclude that the choice-of-technique method, which has its roots in Tinter's early production function studies, is best suited for examining the determinants of agricultural growth. Investments in technology have yielded large gains for agriculture, and the benefits have been passed on to customers in the form of lower prices. Thus history justifies public spending on agricultural research.

Keywords: Labor Policies; Environmental Economics&Policies; Economic Theory&Research; Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems; Banks&Banking Reform; Environmental Economics&Policies; Economic Theory&Research; Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems; Economic Growth; Banks&Banking Reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997-08-31
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSC ... d/PDF/multi_page.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Chapter: Agricultural Development: Issues, Evidence and Consequences (1998)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1811

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roula I. Yazigi (ryazigi@worldbank.org).