Agricultural Productivity: Measurement and Sources of Growth
addresses measurement issues and techniques in agricultural productivity
analysis, applying those techniques to recently published data sets for
American agriculture. The data sets are used to estimate and explain
state level productivity and efficiency differences, and to test
different approaches to productivity measurement. The rise in
agricultural productivity is the single most important source of
economic growth in the U.S. farm sector, and the rate of productivity
growth is estimated to be higher in agriculture than in the non-farm
sector. It is important to understand productivity sources and to
measure its growth properly, including the effects of environmental
externalities.
Both the methods and the data can be accessed by economists at the state
level to conduct analyses for their own states. In a sense, although not
explicitly, the book provides a guide to using the productivity data
available on the website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Economic
Research Service. It should be of interest to a broad spectrum of
professionals in academia, the government, and the private sector.