IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iaae15/212048.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Rural Education, Technological Progress and Productivity Growth in China's Agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Zongzhang
  • Ma, Yanan

Abstract

This paper examines the impacts of rural education on agricultural productivity in China. The approach we take involves two-stage process. First, we use DEA_Malmquist method to measure total factor productivity change, technical change and efficiency change in China over the period 1985 to 2011. We find that China has experienced an increase in total factor productivity, and that productivity growth was mostly attributed to technical progress, rather than to improvement in efficiency. And then, with a panel dataset covering 30 provinces, we investigate the impact of rural education on productivity growth of China. The results indicated that the development of rural education plays positive role on China’s agricultural productivity growth. Moreover, empirical results of regression models show that rural education enhances agricultural total factor productivity through technological progress rather than by promoting technical efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Zongzhang & Ma, Yanan, 2015. "Rural Education, Technological Progress and Productivity Growth in China's Agriculture," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212048, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae15:212048
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.212048
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/212048/files/Li-Rural%20Education_%20Technological%20Progress%20and%20Productivity%20Growth-492.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.212048?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Benin, Samuel & Mogues, Tewodaj & Cudjoe, Godsway & Randriamamonjy, Josee, 2009. "Public expenditures and agricultural productivity growth in Ghana," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51634, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci, 2012. "Education or Creativity: What Matters Most for Economic Performance?," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 88(4), pages 369-401, October.
    4. Foster, Andrew D & Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1996. "Technical Change and Human-Capital Returns and Investments: Evidence from the Green Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 931-953, September.
    5. Alok Kumar & Brianne Kober, 2014. "Education and Cross-Country Productivity Differences," Department Discussion Papers 1404, Department of Economics, University of Victoria.
    6. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "Multilateral Comparisons of Output, Input, and Productivity Using Superlative Index Numbers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(365), pages 73-86, March.
    7. Pritchett, Lant, 1996. "Where has all the education gone?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1581, The World Bank.
    8. Wallace E. Huffman, 1974. "Decision Making: The Role of Education," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 56(1), pages 85-97.
    9. Yang, Dennis Tao, 1997. "Education and Off-Farm Work," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(3), pages 613-632, April.
    10. Mao, Weining & Koo, Won W., 1997. "Productivity growth, technological progress, and efficiency change in chinese agriculture after rural economic reforms: A DEA approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 157-174.
    11. Arega Alene & V. Manyong, 2007. "The effects of education on agricultural productivity under traditional and improved technology in northern Nigeria: an endogenous switching regression analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 141-159, April.
    12. Chen, Po-Chi & Yu, Ming-Miin & Chang, Ching-Cheng & Hsu, Shih-Hsun, 2008. "Total factor productivity growth in China's agricultural sector," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 580-593, December.
    13. Jolliffe, Dean, 2004. "The impact of education in rural Ghana: examining household labor allocation and returns on and off the farm," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 287-314, February.
    14. Wu, Shunxiang, et al, 2001. "Productivity Growth and Its Components in Chinese Agriculture after Reforms," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 375-391, October.
    15. Alok Kumar & Wenshu Chen, 2013. "Health, education and the dynamics of cross-country productivity differences," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(12), pages 1160-1164, August.
    16. Welch, F, 1970. "Education in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 35-59, Jan.-Feb..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jolliffe, Dean, 2004. "The impact of education in rural Ghana: examining household labor allocation and returns on and off the farm," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 287-314, February.
    2. Phanhpakit ONPHANHDALA, 2009. "Farmer Education and Agricultural Efficiency: Evidence from Lao PDR," GSICS Working Paper Series 20, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University.
    3. Marcel Fafchamps & Agnes R. Quisumbing, 1999. "Human Capital, Productivity, and Labor Allocation in Rural Pakistan," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(2), pages 369-406.
    4. Wang, Lan-Hsun & Liao, Shu-Yi & Huang, Mao-Lung, 2022. "The growth effects of knowledge-based technological change on Taiwan’s industry: A comparison of R&D and education level," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 525-545.
    5. Laszlo, Sonia, 2008. "Education, Labor Supply, and Market Development in Rural Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2421-2439, November.
    6. Sharada Weir, 1999. "The effects of education on farmer productivity in rural Ethiopia," CSAE Working Paper Series 1999-07, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    7. ERREYGERS, Guido & FEREDE, Tadele, 2009. "The end of subsistence farming: Growth dynamics and investments in human and environmental capital in rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 2009008, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    8. Gradstein, Mark & Nikitin, Denis, 2004. "Educational expansion : evidence and interpretation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3245, The World Bank.
    9. Masakazu Hojo, 2004. "Measuring Education Levels of Farmers: Evidence from Innovation Adoption in Bangladesh," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 04-06, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    10. Gurgand, Marc, 2003. "Farmer education and the weather: evidence from Taiwan (1976-1992)," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 51-70, June.
    11. Erich Gundlach, 1997. "Human capital and economic development: A macroeconomic assessment," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 32(1), pages 23-35, January.
    12. Ma, Shuzhong & Feng, Han, 2013. "Will the decline of efficiency in China's agriculture come to an end? An analysis based on opening and convergence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 179-190.
    13. Tran, Dai Binh & Tran, Hanh Thi My & Pham, Thao Dinh Ngoc & Nguyen, Thuy Thanh, 2023. "Education and agricultural household income: Comparative evidence from Vietnam and Thailand," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    14. Gong, Binlei, 2020. "Agricultural productivity convergence in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Jaretzky, Huong & Liebenehm, Sabine & Waibel, Hermann, 2022. "Farmers' Knowledge and Farm Productivity in Rural Thailand and Vietnam," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-702, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    16. Sylviane GUILLAUMONT JEANNENEY & PING HUA & ZHICHENG LIANG, 2006. "Financial Development, Economic Efficiency, And Productivity Growth: Evidence From China," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 44(1), pages 27-52, March.
    17. Jones, Patricia, 2001. "Are educated workers really more productive?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 57-79, February.
    18. repec:zbw:rwidps:0030 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Tao Yang, Dennis, 2004. "Education and allocative efficiency: household income growth during rural reforms in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 137-162, June.
    20. Maja Micevska & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2008. "Rural Nonfarm Employment and Incomes in the Himalayas," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(1), pages 163-193, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:iaae15:212048. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.