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Sources of Growth in French Agriculture
Author(s) -
Bouchet Frédéric,
Orden David,
Norton George W.
Publication year - 1989
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 - 10.2307/1241585
Subject(s) - agriculture , profit (economics) , economics , production (economics) , agricultural economics , capital (architecture) , milk production , technical change , microeconomics , macroeconomics , geography , zoology , archaeology , productivity , biology
Growth of French agriculture is addressed with production disaggregated among cereals, noncereal crops, milk, and animal products. Short‐run and long‐run supply functions are derived from a restricted profit function model in which capital and family labor are assumed quasi‐fixed and measures of French public agricultural research expenditures and international technology availability are included. Production is found to be price responsive, but the estimated supply functions are inelastic even when the quasi‐fixed factors adjust optimally. Technical change as a source of output growth is also supported. Domestic research is estimated to be the primary cause of increased cereals output over the 1960–84 period, while international technology transfers and domestic research seem to be important for milk production.