Evaluation of land productivity convergence in brazilian agriculture – time period from 1960 to 2001. / Avaliação do processo de convergência da produtividade da terra na agricultura brasileira no período de 1960 a 2001.

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2005

RESUMO

This work analyzed the behavior of land productivity in the Brazilian agriculture, evaluating if there is or not convergence in the evolution of this variable. The analysis is taken in the time period from 1960 to 2001 and also in some sub-periods of these 42 years, more precisely, the sub-periods of 1970-2001, 1975-2001 and 1980- 2001. The convergence is a process in which the same variable (for example, per capita income, land productivity) presents different values among countries, regions and states, but this difference is reduced during the time, indicating that the inequality decreases. There are several reasons to appear a convergence process, especially the structural changes in the production process, technological diffusion, removal of obstacles in the production growth, among others. The occurrence of the productivity convergence becomes more homogenous the country’s agriculture, from the modernity point of view. To reach the objective proposed in the thesis, a theoretical model about convergence in the land productivity was developed, based on Barro and Sala-i-Martin model (1990). Four convergence indicators were used, which are: β- convergence, σ-convergence, groups of convergence and β-conditional convergence. The data used refer to the productivity of herbaceous cotton, rice, potato, sugar cane, beans, tobacco, orange, manioc, corn and soybeans crops, collected from Brazilian Annual Statistical Yearbook. Initially, the presence of β-convergence was tested for the eleven crops commented above. Only six crops presented this convergence (coffee, sugar cane, tobacco, orange, manioc and soybeans). For the same eleven crops, the presence of σ-convergence was tested and only soybeans presented it for all the subperiods analyzed and the orange and manioc crops for the period of 1960-2001. This does not invalidate the β-convergence result, because the literature shows that if there is σ-convergence, the β-convergence will necessarily happen, but not vice-versa. For cotton, rice, potato, beans and corn crops the presence of convergence groups was tested, and it was diagnosed for cotton, potato and beans crops that β-convergence appear among the states with highest productivities. Finally, for the five crops which did not present β-convergence, the presence of β-conditional convergence was tested, using initial value of land productivity, hydric deficiency and human capital as explicative variables. Good econometric results were obtained for the cotton, potato and for beans. However, for corn and rice crops not satisfying results were obtained. From these results, the work suggests some policies that are able to improve land productivity convergence in the Brazilian agriculture, especially for rice and corn crops. This would allow a more homogenous modernity in the domestic agriculture.

ASSUNTO(S)

human capital agricultural production produtividade da terra produção agrícola desenvolvimento econômico agricultura – aspectos econômicos land productivity renda per capita capital humano convergência agricultural modernization modernização da agricultura agricultural convergence economic development inovação tecnológica techinical innovation economic issue per capita income

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