A REVISIONIST VIEW OF CHINESE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY

Although productivity increased during the initial Chinese agricultural reforms, there is less clarity about subsequent reform efforts. Several studies find that productivity growth either slowed or stopped in the mid-1980s, but these studies use official labor statistics that indicate an increasing farm labor force during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Using an alternative calculation of China's farm labor force showing a decrease in agricultural labor, this article reexamines the data on Chinese agricultural productivity and notes that the changes in productivity appear to correlate to changes in economic policies. Copyright 2003 Western Economic Association International.

[1]  R. W. Mead.  China's agricultural reforms: The importance of private plots , 2000 .

[2]  A. Bhattacharyya,et al.  Labor productivity and migration in Chinese agriculture A stochastic frontier approach , 1999 .

[3]  C. Carter,et al.  The Weather Factor and Variability in China's Grain Supply , 1998 .

[4]  D. Lambert,et al.  Productivity in Chinese Provincial Agriculture , 1998 .

[5]  Thomas G. Rawski,et al.  On the trail of China's phantom farmers , 1998 .

[6]  Won W. Koo,et al.  Productivity growth, technological progress, and efficiency change in chinese agriculture after rural economic reforms: A DEA approach , 1997 .

[7]  S. Fan.  Production and productivity growth in Chinese agriculture: new measurement and evidence , 1997 .

[8]  K. Kalirajan,et al.  A Decomposition of Total Factor Productivity Growth: The Case of Chinese Agricultural Growth Before and after Reforms , 1996 .

[9]  T. Sicular.  Redefining State, Plan and Market: China's Reforms in Agricultural Commerce , 1995, The China Quarterly.

[10]  G. Wen.  Total Factor Productivity Change in China's Farming Sector: 1952-1989 , 1993, Economic Development and Cultural Change.

[11]  Myron L. Cohen.  Family Management and Family Division in Contemporary Rural China , 1992, The China Quarterly.

[12]  T. Sicular.  What's wrong with China's agricultural price policies? , 1992 .

[13]  S. Fan.  Effects Of Technological Change And Institutional Reform On Production Growth In Chinese Agriculture , 1991 .

[14]  J. Mcmillan,et al.  The Impact of China's Economic Reforms on Agricultural Productivity Growth , 1989, Journal of Political Economy.

[15]  T. Sicular.  Plan and Market in China's Agricultural Commerce , 1988, Journal of Political Economy.

[16]  K. Walker.  Chinese Agriculture During the Period of the Readjustment, 1978–83 , 1984, The China Quarterly.

[17]  Jikun Huang,et al.  LIVESTOCK PRODUCTIVITY IN CHINA: DATA REVISION AND TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY DECOMPOSITION , 2004 .

[18]  L. Putterman,et al.  Elasticities and factor weights for agricultural growth accounting: A look at the data for China , 1994 .

[19]  J. Lin.  Rural Reforms and Agricultural Growth in China. , 1992 .