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The Output Bias of Technological Change in Postwar Japanese Agriculture
Author(s) -
Kuroda Yoshimi
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1241505
Subject(s) - livestock , agriculture , production (economics) , economics , technological change , technical change , agricultural economics , order (exchange) , induced innovation , natural resource economics , geography , economic growth , macroeconomics , productivity , archaeology , finance , forestry
In order to explain the rapid change in the output mix, this study tests the hypothesis that technological change in postwar Japanese agriculture was biased towards livestock production. A multioutput translog cost function was estimated for the 1958–84 period in which results are consistent with the hypothesis. Furthermore, changes in the composition of crop and livestock production had significant impacts on relative factor uses. Above all, expanding livestock production required relatively less labor than expanding crop production, implying a positive contribution to the rapid exodus of labor to the nonagricultural sectors.