Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation

The traditional structural transformation narrative emphasizes intersectoral labour reallocation out of agriculture, ignoring whether workers exit agrifood value chains or merely migrate within them. Here we decompose multiregional input–output table data into industry- and country-specific annual l...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Yi, Jing, Jiang, Shiyun, Tran, Dianna, Gόmez, Miguel I., Canning, Patrick, Bloem, Jeffrey R., Barrett, Christopher B.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176469
_version_ 1855543388088041472
author Yi, Jing
Jiang, Shiyun
Tran, Dianna
Gόmez, Miguel I.
Canning, Patrick
Bloem, Jeffrey R.
Barrett, Christopher B.
author_browse Barrett, Christopher B.
Bloem, Jeffrey R.
Canning, Patrick
Gόmez, Miguel I.
Jiang, Shiyun
Tran, Dianna
Yi, Jing
author_facet Yi, Jing
Jiang, Shiyun
Tran, Dianna
Gόmez, Miguel I.
Canning, Patrick
Bloem, Jeffrey R.
Barrett, Christopher B.
author_sort Yi, Jing
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The traditional structural transformation narrative emphasizes intersectoral labour reallocation out of agriculture, ignoring whether workers exit agrifood value chains or merely migrate within them. Here we decompose multiregional input–output table data into industry- and country-specific annual labour value-added estimates by final consumer market segment, matching them with industry-specific employment data to estimate average worker compensation. Using data covering most of the global economy over 1993–2021, we report ten stylized facts about labour reallocation amid structural transformation. As incomes grow, labour exits primary production while downstream agrifood value chain segments maintain a steady economy-wide employment share—offering jobs that pay better than farm work. Women disproportionately move from primary production to downstream, consumer-facing retail and food service, whereas men migrate to better-paying midstream jobs, increasing gender pay inequality within the value chain. Employment shifts are strongly associated with changes in national per capita income, but not with agricultural total factor productivity growth.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace176469
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Springer
publisherStr Springer
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1764692025-12-19T19:27:02Z Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation Yi, Jing Jiang, Shiyun Tran, Dianna Gόmez, Miguel I. Canning, Patrick Bloem, Jeffrey R. Barrett, Christopher B. agriculture agrifood systems value chains labour allocation gender income The traditional structural transformation narrative emphasizes intersectoral labour reallocation out of agriculture, ignoring whether workers exit agrifood value chains or merely migrate within them. Here we decompose multiregional input–output table data into industry- and country-specific annual labour value-added estimates by final consumer market segment, matching them with industry-specific employment data to estimate average worker compensation. Using data covering most of the global economy over 1993–2021, we report ten stylized facts about labour reallocation amid structural transformation. As incomes grow, labour exits primary production while downstream agrifood value chain segments maintain a steady economy-wide employment share—offering jobs that pay better than farm work. Women disproportionately move from primary production to downstream, consumer-facing retail and food service, whereas men migrate to better-paying midstream jobs, increasing gender pay inequality within the value chain. Employment shifts are strongly associated with changes in national per capita income, but not with agricultural total factor productivity growth. 2025-09 2025-09-11T15:16:01Z 2025-09-11T15:16:01Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176469 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168646 Open Access Springer Yi, Jing; Jiang, Shiyun; Tran, Dianna; Gόmez, Miguel I.; Canning, Patrick; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; and Barrett, Christopher B. 2025. Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation. Nature Food 6: 868–880. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01225-9
spellingShingle agriculture
agrifood systems
value chains
labour allocation
gender
income
Yi, Jing
Jiang, Shiyun
Tran, Dianna
Gόmez, Miguel I.
Canning, Patrick
Bloem, Jeffrey R.
Barrett, Christopher B.
Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation
title Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation
title_full Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation
title_fullStr Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation
title_full_unstemmed Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation
title_short Agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation
title_sort agrifood value chain employment and compensation shift with structural transformation
topic agriculture
agrifood systems
value chains
labour allocation
gender
income
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176469
work_keys_str_mv AT yijing agrifoodvaluechainemploymentandcompensationshiftwithstructuraltransformation
AT jiangshiyun agrifoodvaluechainemploymentandcompensationshiftwithstructuraltransformation
AT trandianna agrifoodvaluechainemploymentandcompensationshiftwithstructuraltransformation
AT gomezmigueli agrifoodvaluechainemploymentandcompensationshiftwithstructuraltransformation
AT canningpatrick agrifoodvaluechainemploymentandcompensationshiftwithstructuraltransformation
AT bloemjeffreyr agrifoodvaluechainemploymentandcompensationshiftwithstructuraltransformation
AT barrettchristopherb agrifoodvaluechainemploymentandcompensationshiftwithstructuraltransformation