Productivity and economic growth in U.S. agriculture: A new look

Abstract

It is widely reported that productivity growth is the main contributor to economic growth in U.S. agriculture. This article provides estimates of economic growth since World War II and decomposes that growth into the contributions of input growth and productivity growth. The analysis is based on recently revised production accounts, now spanning the 1948-2013 period. Our findings are fully consistent with those reported in the literature; productivity growth dominates input growth as a source of economic growth in the agricultural sector.