Total factor productivity growth in agriculture: a Malmquist index analysis of 93 countries, 1980–2000

Abstract In this paper we examine the levels and trends in agricultural output and productivity in 93 developed and developing countries that account for a major portion of the world population and agricultural output. We make use of data drawn from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and our study covers the period 1980–2000. Due to the nonavailability of reliable input price data, the study uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to derive Malmquist productivity indices. The study examines trends in agricultural productivity over the period. Issues of catch‐up and convergence, or in some cases possible divergence, in productivity in agriculture are examined within a global framework. The paper also derives the shadow prices and value shares that are implicit in the DEA‐based Malmquist productivity indices, and examines the plausibility of their levels and trends over the study period.