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Agricultural Trade Reform, Reallocation and Technical Change: Evidence from the Canadian Prairies

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  • Brown, Mark
  • Ferguson, Shon M.
  • Viju, Crina

Abstract

We decompose the impact of trade reform on technology adoption and land use to study how aggregate changes were driven by reallocation versus within-farm adaptation. Using detailed census data covering over 30,000 farms in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada we find a range of new results. We find that the reform-induced shift from producing low-value to high-value crops for export, the adoption of new seeding technologies and reduction in summerfallow observed at the aggregate level between 1991 and 2001 were driven mainly by the within-farm effect. In the longer run, however, reallocation of land from shrinking and exiting farms to growing and new farms explains more than half of the aggregate changes in technology adoption and land use between 1991 and 2011.

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  • Brown, Mark & Ferguson, Shon M. & Viju, Crina, 2017. "Agricultural Trade Reform, Reallocation and Technical Change: Evidence from the Canadian Prairies," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 263492, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:eaae17:263492
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.263492
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    Cited by:

    1. W. Mark Brown & Shon M. Ferguson & Crina Viju‐Miljusevic, 2020. "Farm Size, Technology Adoption and Agricultural Trade Reform: Evidence from Canada," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 676-697, September.
    2. Wolfram Schlenker, 2018. "Introduction to "Agricultural Productivity and Producer Behavior"," NBER Chapters, in: Agricultural Productivity and Producer Behavior, pages 1-9, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; International Relations/Trade;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q16 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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