Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture

This article measures and compares total factor productivity growth in African agriculture under contemporaneous and sequential technology frontiers over the period 1970–2004. The sources of productivity growth are examined using a fixed-effects regression model and a polynomial distributed lag stru...

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Autor principal: Alene, A.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Wiley 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/89367
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author Alene, A.
author_browse Alene, A.
author_facet Alene, A.
author_sort Alene, A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This article measures and compares total factor productivity growth in African agriculture under contemporaneous and sequential technology frontiers over the period 1970–2004. The sources of productivity growth are examined using a fixed-effects regression model and a polynomial distributed lag structure for agricultural R&D expenditures. While conventional estimates show an average productivity growth rate of only 0.3% per year, the improved measures under sequential technology show that African agricultural productivity grew at a higher rate of 1.8% per year. Technical progress, rather than efficiency change, was the principal source of productivity growth. Agricultural R&D, weather, and trade reforms turned out to have significant effects on productivity in African agriculture. With a rate of return of 33% per year, R&D is shown to be a socially profitable investment in African agriculture. While a strong R&D expenditure growth of about 2% per year in the 1970s led to strong productivity growth after the mid 1980s, stagnation of R&D expenditure in the 1980s and early 1990s led to slower productivity growth in the 2000s. Consistent with recent economic recovery in Africa evidenced by stronger agricultural GDP growth rates, results showed that policy reforms as well as improved weather contributed to the recovery of agricultural productivity after the mid 1980s
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spelling CGSpace893672024-05-01T08:19:30Z Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture Alene, A. tfp technical change rate of return This article measures and compares total factor productivity growth in African agriculture under contemporaneous and sequential technology frontiers over the period 1970–2004. The sources of productivity growth are examined using a fixed-effects regression model and a polynomial distributed lag structure for agricultural R&D expenditures. While conventional estimates show an average productivity growth rate of only 0.3% per year, the improved measures under sequential technology show that African agricultural productivity grew at a higher rate of 1.8% per year. Technical progress, rather than efficiency change, was the principal source of productivity growth. Agricultural R&D, weather, and trade reforms turned out to have significant effects on productivity in African agriculture. With a rate of return of 33% per year, R&D is shown to be a socially profitable investment in African agriculture. While a strong R&D expenditure growth of about 2% per year in the 1970s led to strong productivity growth after the mid 1980s, stagnation of R&D expenditure in the 1980s and early 1990s led to slower productivity growth in the 2000s. Consistent with recent economic recovery in Africa evidenced by stronger agricultural GDP growth rates, results showed that policy reforms as well as improved weather contributed to the recovery of agricultural productivity after the mid 1980s 2010-05 2017-11-14T08:07:48Z 2017-11-14T08:07:48Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/89367 en Limited Access Wiley Alene, A.D. (2010). Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture. Agricultural Economics, 41(3‐4), 223-238.
spellingShingle tfp
technical change
rate of return
Alene, A.
Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture
title Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture
title_full Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture
title_fullStr Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture
title_full_unstemmed Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture
title_short Productivity growth and the effects of R&D in African agriculture
title_sort productivity growth and the effects of r d in african agriculture
topic tfp
technical change
rate of return
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/89367
work_keys_str_mv AT alenea productivitygrowthandtheeffectsofrdinafricanagriculture