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Farm Work, Home Work, and International Productivity Differences

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas Gollin

    (Williams College)

  • Stephen L. Parente

    (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

  • Richard Rogerson

    (Arizona State University)

Abstract

Agriculture's share of economic activity is known to vary inversely with a country's level of development. This paper examines whether extensions of the neoclassical growth model can account for some important sectoral patterns observed in a current cross-section of countries and in the time series data for currently rich countries. We find that a straightforward agricultural extension of the neoclassical growth model fails to account for important aspects of the cross-country data. We then introduce a version of the growth model with home production, and we show that this model performs much better. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas Gollin & Stephen L. Parente & Richard Rogerson, 2004. "Farm Work, Home Work, and International Productivity Differences," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(4), pages 827-850, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:v:7:y:2004:i:4:p:827-850
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2004.05.003
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • O0 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - General

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