TY - JOUR
T1 - Agricultural productivity, structural change, and economic growth in post-reform China
AU - Cao, Kang Hua
AU - Birchenall, Javier A.
PY - 2013/9
Y1 - 2013/9
N2 - We examine the role of agricultural productivity as a determinant of China's post-reform economic growth and sectoral reallocation. Using microeconomic farm-level data, and treating labor as a highly differentiated input, we find that the labor input in agriculture decreased by 5% annually and agricultural TFP grew by 6.5%. Using a calibrated two-sector general equilibrium model, we find that agricultural TFP growth: (i) accounts for the majority of output and employment reallocation toward non-agriculture; (ii) contributes (at least) as much to aggregate and sectoral economic growth as non-agricultural TFP growth; and (iii) influences economic growth primarily by reallocating workers to the non-agricultural sector, where rapid physical and human capital accumulation are currently taking place.
AB - We examine the role of agricultural productivity as a determinant of China's post-reform economic growth and sectoral reallocation. Using microeconomic farm-level data, and treating labor as a highly differentiated input, we find that the labor input in agriculture decreased by 5% annually and agricultural TFP grew by 6.5%. Using a calibrated two-sector general equilibrium model, we find that agricultural TFP growth: (i) accounts for the majority of output and employment reallocation toward non-agriculture; (ii) contributes (at least) as much to aggregate and sectoral economic growth as non-agricultural TFP growth; and (iii) influences economic growth primarily by reallocating workers to the non-agricultural sector, where rapid physical and human capital accumulation are currently taking place.
KW - China
KW - Agricultural productivity
KW - Structural change
KW - Economic growth
UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84881279038&origin=resultslist&sort=plf-f&src=s&sid=cb55624a0fec2b029f8e074265622cd3&sot=b&sdt=b&s=DOI%2810.1016%2Fj.jdeveco.2013.06.001%29&sl=34&sessionSearchId=cb55624a0fec2b029f8e074265622cd3
U2 - 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.06.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.06.001
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0304-3878
VL - 104
SP - 165
EP - 180
JO - Journal of Development Economics
JF - Journal of Development Economics
ER -