Sources of Regional Differences in Productivity in Brazilian Agriculture PDF Download

Author: Robert L. Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 45

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Author: Robert Lee Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Agricultural output in Brazil must grow at a rapid rate if the recent high rates of growth of the general economy are to continue. Growth in agricultural productivity is fundamental to such economic growth. To better understand the sources of such growth, a cross-sectional analysis of geographic differences in output and resource productivity in Brazil was undertaken. High payoff input models and models of induced development were drawn upon as sources of hypotheses to explain observed interregional differences in productivity. A Griliches - Haymi - Ruttan - type metaproduction function was especified as the analytical tool. Three input classes were included: traditional factors of production, represented by labor, cropland, and livestock; modern inputs, in the form of fertilizer and tractors; and montraditional inputs provided by society, represented by rural education and agricultural research and extesion. A Cobb - Douglas function was estimated with cross-sectional statelevel data for 1970. The following coefficient estimates resulted: labor, . 37; land, . 13; livestock, . 15; machinery, . 10; education, . 33; and research and estesion, . 24. The fertilizer variable was dropped from the function when no plausible coefficient was obtained apparently due to multicollinearity and measurement problems. With the exception of the fertilizer variable, the estimated coeficients are of comparable magnitudes to those obtained in agricultural metaproduction function studies in other countries and groups of countries. The results of this study suggest that differences in investments in rural education and in agricultural research and extesion can account for as much of observed interstate in agricultural output as differences in quantities of land and labor. Moreover, relative quantities of the traditional inputs, land and labor, imply that the Northeast of Brazil should have a higher labor productivity than the south -- contrary to what is observed. Relative differences in the quantities of education and scientific manpower tend to account for the reversal in relative position. This finding is significant since increased labor productivity tends to be a necessary condition for increased per capita income. The education and research and extesion variables act as shifters of the metaproduction function. Therefore, investiments in these activities also shift the supply curve downwards. Assuming a negatively sloped demand curve this would tend to lower food prices, benefitting the lower income classes who spend more of their incomes on food than the upper income groups. The effect on total agricultural income depends upon the price elasticity of demand. The marginal value products of all factors were clculated at 1970 input levels. The marginal value product of labor was uniformly hegher in the south and lower in the Northeast. Therefore, migration of labor from the Northeast to the South such as has been occurring, should tend to increase national agricultural output. The opposite ranking was observed in the case of the marginal value products of tractors, suggesting that the greatest output effect of a marginal increase in tractor mechanization would occur in the Northeast.However, the associated employment effects should not be overlooked. Marginal internal rates of return to investments in rural education and in agricultural research and extesion were calculated. At the geometric mean of the 18 states studied, the calculated rates were 25 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Investments in these two activites appear to have a very high payoff in Brazil. Therefore, such investments should recive consideration relative to alternative development projects by government decision-markers. A rather crude sources of growth analysis suggested that a rapid rate of growth in Brazilian agricultural output cannot be sustained through increasing the rate at wich traditional inputs are absorbed into production. Future growth must, therefore, be based increasingly upon nontraditional inputs such as rural education and agricultural research and extesion.

Author: Emerson Marinho
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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This article analyzes total productivity, technical efficiency and technological change of agricultural GDP of Brazilian regions in the period 1970-1995, using Malmquist total productivity index and the model of sthocastic metaproduction frontier. The estimated production frontiers were used to calculate production elasticities, potential growth of regional productivity and the variation in the index of total productivity of Malmquist, which is decomposed in the indexes of efficiency change and technological change. Based on the estimated coefficients of the model it was verified that investiment in capital lower banking expenditures (interest and bank rates) and greater participation of public fundings to finance such an activity could contribute to the reduction of technical inefficiencies in agriculture. The estimated potential productivity ratios indicate that the Southeast region is the most productive; moreover these gains were explained more by tecnological variation than technical efficiency variation.

Author: Alexandre Ywata de Carvalho
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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The Brazilian agricultural market is a key source of government revenues. Therefore, many studies are being done to assess the sector's productivity gain over time. However, the regional analysis of agricultural productivity still is not investigated. This work focuses on mapping the gain of agricultural productivity in Brazil in the years 1990-2012 by micro-region. After an overview of the behavior of productivity in the major regions, will be studied the ten major crops relative to the production value. The soybean, sugar cane, corn, coffee, cotton, cassava, rice, orange, bean and tobacco leaf crops accounted, on average between 2010 and 2012, 83.5% of national production. These 23 years will be divided into two periods, justified by the existing economic outlook at the time: from 1990 to 2000 and 2001 to 2012. These two periods are compared in order to analyze the evolution of productivity over the years.

Author: John W. Kendrick
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 23

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Author: Alistair Dieppe
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464816093
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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The COVID-19 pandemic struck the global economy after a decade that featured a broad-based slowdown in productivity growth. Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies presents the first comprehensive analysis of the evolution and drivers of productivity growth, examines the effects of COVID-19 on productivity, and discusses a wide range of policies needed to rekindle productivity growth. The book also provides a far-reaching data set of multiple measures of productivity for up to 164 advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies, and it introduces a new sectoral database of productivity. The World Bank has created an extraordinary book on productivity, covering a large group of countries and using a wide variety of data sources. There is an emphasis on emerging and developing economies, whereas the prior literature has concentrated on developed economies. The book seeks to understand growth patterns and quantify the role of (among other things) the reallocation of factors, technological change, and the impact of natural disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is must-reading for specialists in emerging economies but also provides deep insights for anyone interested in economic growth and productivity. Martin Neil Baily Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution Former Chair, U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers This is an important book at a critical time. As the book notes, global productivity growth had already been slowing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and collapses with the pandemic. If we want an effective recovery, we have to understand what was driving these long-run trends. The book presents a novel global approach to examining the levels, growth rates, and drivers of productivity growth. For anyone wanting to understand or influence productivity growth, this is an essential read. Nicholas Bloom William D. Eberle Professor of Economics, Stanford University The COVID-19 pandemic hit a global economy that was already struggling with an adverse pre-existing condition—slow productivity growth. This extraordinarily valuable and timely book brings considerable new evidence that shows the broad-based, long-standing nature of the slowdown. It is comprehensive, with an exceptional focus on emerging market and developing economies. Importantly, it shows how severe disasters (of which COVID-19 is just the latest) typically harm productivity. There are no silver bullets, but the book suggests sensible strategies to improve growth prospects. John Fernald Schroders Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness and Reform and Professor of Economics, INSEAD

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309047498
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 721

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Rainforests are rapidly being cleared in the humid tropics to keep pace with food demands, economic needs, and population growth. Without proper management, these forests and other natural resources will be seriously depleted within the next 50 years. Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment in the Humid Tropics provides critically needed direction for developing strategies that both mitigate land degradation, deforestation, and biological resource losses and help the economic status of tropical countries through promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. The book includes: A practical discussion of 12 major land use options for boosting food production and enhancing local economies while protecting the natural resource base. Recommendations for developing technologies needed for sustainable agriculture. A strategy for changing policies that discourage conserving and managing natural resources and biodiversity. Detailed reports on agriculture and deforestation in seven tropical countries.

Author: Sérgio Margulis
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 106

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Annotation This title studies the role of cattle ranching its dynamic and profitability in the expansion of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia. It provides a social evaluation of deforestation in this region and presents and compares a number of different scenarios and proposed recommendations.

Author: Mariano Turzi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319459465
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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This book offers an in-depth analysis of the political economy of soybean production in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, by identifying the dominant private and public actors and control mechanisms that have given rise to a corporate-driven, vertically integrated system of regionalized agricultural production in the Southern Cone of South America. The current agricultural boom surrounding soybean production has been aided by aggressive new agro-technologies, including biotechnology, leading to massive organizational changes in the agricultural sector and a significant rise in the power of special interest groups and corporations. Despite having similar initial production conditions, the pattern of economic activity surrounding soybean production in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, continues to be largely determined by the needs of the multinational corporations involved, rather than national considerations of comparative advantage. The author uses these findings to argue that the new international model of agricultural production empowers chemical and trading multinational companies over national governments.

Author: Mark A. Dutz
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464813205
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Brazil approaches its 2018 election with an economy that is gradually recovering from the deepest recession in its recent economic history. However, for many Brazilians, the recovery has not yet translated into new and better jobs, or rising incomes. This book explores the drivers of future employment and income growth. Its key finding: Brazil needs to dramatically improve its performance across all industries in terms of productivity if the country is to provide better jobs for its citizens and generate lasting gains in incomes growth for all. This is particularly important as Brazil is aging rapidly and the boost the country has enjoyed thanks to its young and growing labor force in the past decades will disappear in just a few years’ time. The book recommends a change in the relationship between the state and business, from rewarding privileged incumbents to fostering competition and innovation—together with supporting workers and firms to adjust to the demands of the market. The book is addressed to all scholars and students of Brazil’s economy, especially those interested in why the country’s economic performance has not kept up with earlier achievements since the reintroduction of democracy in the mid-1980s. Its conclusions are urgent and pertinent but also optimistic. With the right policy mix, Brazil could enter the third century of its independence in 2022 well on track to join the ranks of high income countries.