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Measuring and Explaining the Decline in U.S. Cotton Productivity Growth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2017

Stephen C. Cooke  and
W. Burt Sundquist
Stephen C. Cooke
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, University of Idaho
W. Burt Sundquist
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Minnesota
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Abstract

Tornquist input quantity indices were used to derive total and partial factor productivity measures for U.S. cotton across time, region, and scale. Total factor productivity for U.S. cotton increased .2 percent per year between 1974 and 1982. Partial productivity measures revealed that yield growth was about .6 percent and input use grew about .4 percent per year. Cotton enterprises in Alabama and Mississippi gained and those in the Texas High Plains lost competitive advantage relative to California. In 1982, very large (1750-5900 acres) and large (950-1749 acres) cotton enterprises were 2 percent more productive than medium-size enterprises (570-949 acres).

Keywords

cottonproductivitycompetitive advantagescale economiesindicesenterprise budgets
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , July 1991 , pp. 105 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1991

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