ARGENTINE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY

ARIEL COREMBERG Y ELDON BALL

USDA-ERS

USDA-ERS

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2011 p. 1 - 38

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Argentine agriculture has gone through a remarkable productive transformation, and has significantly increased its supply. This was so both in the 90’s and today, under different macroeconomic regimes and international perspectives for its prices. Organizational changes and the widespread new technologies have made it possible for agricultural supply to give an answer to new challenges posed by an increasing international demand of agricultural commodities. Considering that the present and future evolution of agricultural productivity is key when solving macroeconomic dilemmas in terms of external and social sustainability and growth of Argentine economy, a thorough measuring of agricultural yield through rigorous methodologies and reliable date turns out to be critical. This paper presents an exhaustive estimate of sources of growth of agricultural production based on ARKLEMS and AGRIKLEMS projects, both of which may enable to quantify and compare the growth of agricultural productivity against other sectors and economies, while also including recommendations on public policies for the sector. This study presents an empirical confirmation of the intensive growth of the agricultural sector based on productivity earnings, with a bias towards capital and labor saving and intensive in the use of inputs Nevertheless, Argentine economy presents an erratic productivity, as it does not take advantage from the externalities generated by the agricultural sector. If the role of agriculture is recognized in fiscal and external sustainability while it also generates remarkable spill-overs on the whole economy, it is vital to keep and maintain sustainable productivity earnings through adequate incentives and economic policies that are non distortive for productivity. The aim is to increase the exportable supply, while allowing fiscal, external and social sustainability.