Title: Estimating provincial agricultural total factor productivity in Mainland China

Authors: Khee Giap Tan; Haoran Suo; Ramkishen S. Rajan

Addresses: Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore ' Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore ' Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore; George Mason University, VA, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Abstract: Despite rapid industrialisation, agriculture remains an important source of livelihood for one third of the population in China. The purpose of this paper is to analyse agricultural total factor productivity and its components for mainland China between 1990 and 2012 at a provincial level. Growth accounting and Malmquist index methodologies are used to measure the total factor productivity growth in 30 Chinese provinces over the period 1990-2012. Results suggest that technological change has generally been improving rapidly for most provinces. However, of some concern is the fact that technical efficiency change is generally stagnant across most provinces. Jiangsu stands out in its total factor productivity performance, while Tibet and Yunnan are clear laggards.

Keywords: provincial agriculture; China; technical efficiency change; TEC; technological change; total factor productivity; TFP; growth accounting; Malmquist productivity index.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.2016.079273

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2016 Vol.17 No.4, pp.394 - 412

Received: 01 Mar 2015
Accepted: 03 Aug 2015
Published online: 26 Sep 2016 *

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