Agricultural Technology and Farm–Nonfarm Growth Linkages

Agricultural growth stimulates rural nonfarm activity by boosting demand for production inputs and consumer goods. But different kinds of agricultural technology promote different patterns of nonfarm linkages. To explore how key features of agricultural technology affect growth in the rural nonfarm economy, this paper reviews an array of cross‐section and time‐series evidence bearing on the dynamics of the rural nonfarm economy. Then, using consumption and production parameters associated with different agricultural technologies, it introduces a simple model which isolates the effects of different technologies on nonfarm growth linkages.