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The Sources of Measured US Agricultural Productivity Growth: Weather, Technological Change, and Adaptation

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  • Robert G. Chambers
  • Simone Pieralli

Abstract

The interaction between US state‐level TFP growth and weather is investigated using growth‐accounting techniques. The focus is on examining how that interaction changed between the 1960s and the end of the twentieth century. An empirical approximation to the production frontier constructed using state‐level data and mathematical programming techniques is used to decompose observed state‐level agricultural TFP growth into four components: technical change, weather‐related shifts in the frontier, input/scale effects, and adaptation to the frontier. Technical change and adaptation to the frontier play a significant role in determining average state total factor productivity. Weather‐related effects differ across Climate‐Hub Regions but are of particular importance in the Midwest.

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  • Robert G. Chambers & Simone Pieralli, 2020. "The Sources of Measured US Agricultural Productivity Growth: Weather, Technological Change, and Adaptation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(4), pages 1198-1226, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:102:y:2020:i:4:p:1198-1226
    DOI: 10.1002/ajae.12090
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    Cited by:

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    2. Oranuch Wongpiyabovorn & Alejandro Plastina & John M. Crespi, 2021. "US Agriculture as a Carbon Sink: From International Agreements to Farm Incentives," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 21-wp627, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    3. Alejandro Plastina & Sergio H. Lence & Ariel Ortiz‐Bobea, 2021. "How weather affects the decomposition of total factor productivity in U.S. agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(2), pages 215-234, March.
    4. Chancellor, Will & Hughes, Neal & Zhao, Shiji & Soh, Wei Ying & Valle, Haydn & Boult, Christopher, 2021. "Controlling for the effects of climate on total factor productivity: A case study of Australian farms," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. S. C. West & A. W. Mugera & R. S. Kingwell, 2022. "The choice of efficiency benchmarking metric in evaluating firm productivity and viability," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 193-211, April.
    6. Katherine Lacy & Peter F. Orazem & Skyler Schneekloth, 2023. "Measuring the American farm size distribution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 219-242, January.
    7. Zhihao Zheng & Shen Cheng & Shida R. Henneberry, 2023. "Total factor productivity change in China's grain production sector: 1980–2018," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(1), pages 38-55, January.
    8. Tao Xiang & Tariq H. Malik & Jack W. Hou & Jiliang Ma, 2022. "The Impact of Climate Change on Agricultural Total Factor Productivity: A Cross-Country Panel Data Analysis, 1961–2013," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Wang, Sun Ling & Olver, Ryan & Bonin, Daniel & Dodson, Laura L. & Williams, Ryan C., 2022. "Climate change, technology adoption, and field crop farm productivity in the United States: Short-term vs. long-term," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322595, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Sheng, Yu & Zhao, Shiji & Yang, Sansi, 2021. "Weather shocks, adaptation and agricultural TFP: A cross-region comparison of Australian Broadacre farms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. Yang Shen & Xiaoyang Guo & Xiuwu Zhang, 2023. "Digital Financial Inclusion, Land Transfer, and Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-25, April.
    12. Uehleke, Reinhard & Petrick, Martin & Hüttel, Silke, 2022. "Evaluations of agri-environmental schemes based on observational farm data: The importance of covariate selection," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    13. Rodrigo Garcia‐Verdu & Alexis Meyer‐Cirkel & Akira Sasahara & Hans Weisfeld, 2022. "Importing inputs for climate change mitigation: The case of agricultural productivity," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 34-56, February.
    14. Stetter, Christian & Sauer, Johannes, 2022. "Agroforestry Adoption in the Face of Regional Weather Extremes," 96th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2022, K U Leuven, Belgium 321173, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    15. Michée A. Lachaud & Boris E. Bravo‐Ureta & Carlos E. Ludena, 2022. "Economic effects of climate change on agricultural production and productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 321-332, March.
    16. Hertel, Thomas W. & de Lima, Cicero Z., 2020. "Viewpoint: Climate impacts on agriculture: Searching for keys under the streetlight," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    17. Sun, Yunpeng & Razzaq, Asif & Kizys, Renatas & Bao, Qun, 2022. "High-speed rail and urban green productivity: The mediating role of climatic conditions in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    18. Robert G. Chambers & Simone Pieralli & Yu Sheng, 2020. "The Millennium Droughts and Australian Agricultural Productivity Performance: A Nonparametric Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1383-1403, October.

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