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dc.titleProductivity and the Performance of Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean: From the Lost Decade to the Commodity Boom
dc.contributor.authorNin Pratt, Alejandro
dc.contributor.authorFalconi, César
dc.contributor.authorLudeña, Carlos E.
dc.contributor.authorMartel, Pedro
dc.contributor.orgunitEnvironment, Rural Development Disaster Risk Management Division
dc.coverageUruguay
dc.coverageTrinidad and Tobago
dc.coveragePeru
dc.coverageParaguay
dc.coveragePanama
dc.coverageNicaragua
dc.coverageMexico
dc.coverageJamaica
dc.coverageHonduras
dc.coverageHaiti
dc.coverageGuatemala
dc.coverageEl Salvador
dc.coverageEcuador
dc.coverageDominican Republic
dc.coverageCosta Rica
dc.coverageColombia
dc.coverageChile
dc.coverageBrazil
dc.coverageBolivia
dc.coverageBelize
dc.coverageBarbados
dc.coverageBahamas
dc.coverageArgentina
dc.coverageVenezuela
dc.coverageLatin America and the Caribbean
dc.date.available2015-11-18T00:00:00
dc.date.issue2015-11-16T00:00:00
dc.description.abstractThis study analyzes the performance of Latin America and the Caribbean's agriculture between 1980 and 2012 looking at the contribution of inputs, and total factor productivity (TFP) to growth in output per worker. A growth accounting approach that goes along the lines of neoclassical growth accounting combined with Data Envelopment Analysis, allows us to measure TFP growth using output and input indices and also to decompose this growth into contributions of technical change and changes in technical efficiency. Our findings show that between 1980 and 2012, regional agricultural output per worker and TFP increased 82 and 45 percent, respectively, reducing the difference between TFP in LAC and in OECD countries. This improved performance of agriculture was the result of fast growth in the use of fertilizer, increases in land productivity, and growth in the use of capital that expanded cultivated area per worker. Higher productivity of the animal stock, fast growth in the use of feed and in the number of animals per worker, have increased the share of livestock in total output and also contributed significantly to the improved performance of agriculture. Observed growth patterns at the country level suggest that countries that increased input per worker have increased TFP at a higher rate than countries with limited access to capital and land. As a result of these growth patterns, the improved performance in the region has amplified differences in labor productivity between countries. Growing differences in labor productivity and the fact that the favorable shock in commodity prices that benefited LAC's agriculture in recent years has apparently ran its course, raise concerns for the future.
dc.format.extent75
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.18235/0000217
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Productivity-and-the-Performance-of-Agriculture-in-Latin-America-and-the-Caribbean-From-the-Lost-Decade-to-the-Commodity-Boom.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.mediumAdobe PDF
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectProductivity
dc.subjectAgricultural Productivity
dc.subject.jelcodeO13 - Agriculture • Natural Resources • Energy • Environment • Other Primary Products
dc.subject.jelcodeO33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences • Diffusion Processes
dc.subject.jelcodeO54 - Latin America • Caribbean
dc.subject.jelcodeQ16 - R&D • Agricultural Technology • Biofuels • Agricultural Extension Services
dc.subject.jelcodeQ18 - Agricultural Policy • Food Policy
dc.subject.keywordsLatin America;Agriculture;Caribbean;Agricultural Policy
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberWorking Papers
idb.operationRG-K1351
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