|
overview
Increased productivity is the main contributor to growth in U.S.
agriculture. This data set provides estimates
of productivity growth in aggregate for the period 1948-99, and
growth and relativity levels for individual States for 1960-96.
State productivity indices will be updated to 1999 later in 2002.
Every State exhibited a positive and generally substantial average
annual rate of productivity growth over the period. However, the
wide disparity in growth rates resulted in substantial re-ordering
of States with regard to productivity.
USDA has been monitoring the agricultural industry's productivity
performance for decades. In 1960, ERS was the first agency to introduce
multifactor productivity measurement into the Federal statistical
program. ERS produces total factor productivity measures for the
aggregate farm sector from production accounts that distinguish
multiple outputs and inputs, adjust for quality change in each input
category, and recognize that some farm production (e.g., breeding
livestock) is an investment good as well as an agricultural output.
A properly constructed measure of productivity growth for the aggregate
farm sector can indicate how economic welfare is being advanced
through productivity gains, but may mask important State-specific
or regional trends. There is much more volatility across States
than can be inferred from productivity measures for the aggregate
farm sector. Productivity growth in the U.S. farm sector is wholly
a function of the productivity trends in individual States. Interstate
shifts in production activity and resource reallocations have had
little effect.
more overview...
feature
U.S.
Agriculture, 1960-96: A Multilateral Comparison of Total Factor
Productivity—This study provides estimates of the growth
and relative levels of agricultural productivity for the 48 contiguous
States for the period 1960 to 1996. For the full 1960-96 period,
every State exhibits a positive and generally substantial average
annual rate of productivity growth. There is considerable variance,
however. The wide disparity in growth rates resulted in substantial
changes in the ranking order of States by productivity. Computed
coefficients of variation in productivity levels show that the range
of productivity levels has narrowed over time, although the pattern
of convergence was not uniform. States whose productivity grew most
rapidly were those with lower initial levels of productivity. States
that were particularly far behind the productivity leaders had the
most to gain from the diffusion of technical knowledge and consequently
grew most rapidly.
related briefing rooms
data files
ZIP archive. All tables can be downloaded in a single .ZIP
archive.
ZIP archive
of .WK1 files (699 Kbytes)
ZIP archive
of .XLS files (1.38 Mbytes)
U.S. level tables, 1948-99. These tables are in LOTUS or
EXCEL spreadsheets.
Inputs, Outputs, and Productivity
.WK1 .XLS
Capital Stocks .WK1
.XLS
Capital Rental Prices .WK1
.XLS
Fertilizers and pesticides .WK1
.XLS
methods
Ball et al. (2001) estimate each State's growth and relative
levels of productivity for the period 1960-96 using an index number
approach. A productivity index is generally defined as an output
index divided by an input index. Productivity measures presented
here are formed from Fisher indexes of outputs and inputs. The indices
for the possible pairs of States yields a matrix of binary comparisons.
To accurately make these pairwise comparisons, we define the index
for one State relative to another as the unweighted geometric mean
of all the binary Fisher indexes. The binary Fisher indexes, which
are the building blocks of the multilateral indexes, are based on
prices and quantities of commodities common to both States in the
comparison. Even so, these binary indexes sometimes rely on a very
small number of commodities. In this case, more indirect methods
of comparison are used.
more methods...
updates
State productivity indices will be updated to 1999 later in 2002.
Adopting the accounting framework outlined by the United Nations
means including some series that were excluded in the past. For
example, data on purchased machine services will now include farmer-to-farmer
transactions. Updated series will not be identical to historical
data presented here.
ERS produces a range of data products available in different formats,
including online databases, spreadsheets, and web files. All data
products online are available at no charge.
|
