Innovation through investment in public and private research & development (R&D) is the key driver of productivity growth in agriculture. However, in the short term, the increasing frequencies of adverse weather events under climate change have resulted in large variations in total factor productivity (TFP) that can hinder our understanding of overall technology advancement. Improved measures of TFP that account for the effects of weather can help to inform policy on the patterns of productivity growth and the results of science policy. Furthermore, it can be used to identify the linkages between TFP and climate change, environmental factors, and world trade.

This workshop is supported by the USDA Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The findings and conclusions in the presentations are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

 

Workshop Priorities and Goals

 

The workshop will address four key questions:

1. How can different methodologies result in distinct productivity estimates, and does it matter?
2. How does public R&D and patent knowledge stock affect agricultural productivity growth?
3. How does climate change influence agricultural productivity growth and what are the consequences?
4. What are the causes and consequences of agricultural productivity growth? 

The workshop also aims to convene and develop a network of researchers who study productivity related topics to support the ERS research agenda on identifying the causes and effects of agricultural productivity growth. Another goal for this network is to support the quality of ERS productivity data products.