Trade, farmers' heterogeneity, and agricultural productivity: Evidence from Colombia

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gafaro, Margarita; Pellegrina, Heitor S.
• 署名单位: New York University; New York University Abu Dhabi; Banco de la Republica Colombia
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2022.103598
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: trade; Farmers' heterogeneity; Agricultural productivity

摘要

This paper studies how farmers' participation in non-local markets shapes agricultural productivity. Using farm-level data from Colombia, we document two empirical patterns about the spatial organization of agriculture. First, across municipalities, better access to urban centers increases farmers' productivity and participation in non-local markets, but reduces farm size. Second, within municipalities and crop-choices, larger farms participate more in non-local markets and have higher productivity. To rationalize these patterns, we introduce farmers with heterogeneous productivity and market participation choices into a spatial economy model. We take the model to data and find that removing the geographic barriers to farmers participation in non-local markets can increase Colombia's agricultural value added by up to 14%. changes in the productivity composition of farmers contribute substantially to this impact, particularly in remote regions with low participation of farmers in non-local markets. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.