Note: Change of time and venue.
Title: Two blades of grass: Agricultural innovation, productivity, and economic growth (with Casper Worm Hansen and Asger Wingender)
Abstract: We exploit an important episode of agricultural innovation (the Green Revolution) to estimate the impact of agricultural productivity on economic performance in developing countries. Combining the release dates of high-yielding crop varieties (HYVs) with variation in the crops that countries were growing before the Green Revolution, we find that within our sample period 1960-2010, a one percent increase in aggregate yields increased GDP per capita by one percent. This effect can be fully accounted for by the direct effect of higher crop yields and structural transformation. We also find that agricultural productivity growth reduced population size, fertility, and mortality.
Two Blades of Grass: Agricultural Innovation, Productivity, and Economic Growth
Douglas Gollin, Casper Worm Hansen & Asger Wingender
Abstract
We exploit an important episode of agricultural innovation (the Green Revolution) to estimate the impact of agricultural productivity on economic performance in developing countries. Combining the release dates of high-yielding crop varieties (HYVs) with variation in the crops that countries were growing before the Green Revolution, we find that within our sample period 1960-2010, a one percent increase in aggregate yields increased GDP per capita by one percent. This effect can be fully accounted for by the direct effect of higher crop yields and structural transformation. We also find that agricultural productivity growth reduced population size, fertility, and mortality.