The Growth of Total Factor Productivity in China's Agriculture: Technology Promoted or Efficiency Driven

In this paper, agricultural industrial panel data and stochastic frontier production function model at provincial level are employed to systematically research the growth trend of the total factor productivity and industrial differences within agriculture since we introduced the reform and the open policy and especially since the 1990s. And this paper, emphatically dividing the productivity growth into technological progress and technical efficiency change, correctly recognizing different contribution sources of productivity growth in different industries, can provide more profound industry foundation for thoroughly understanding the total factor productivity growth in Chinese agriculture. The empirical study shows: the total factor productivity growth in agriculture is considerable since China implemented its reform and opening up policies; it, as a whole, shows stronger feature of technology progress's promotion and differs considerably in different industries; however, it shows less obvious in 1980s, and it just showed, between different industries, typical growth mode of different industries; extensive and widespread technology promotion and efficiency lost mainly occurred since the 1990s, and since when agricultural productivity growth was chiefly led by technology promotion; on the whole, productivity growth of different industries are principally contributed by technology promotion or efficiency drive alone, and with no "dual dive" mode. Because there are different policy implications between technology promotion and efficiency drive, specific policy measures should be adopted according to different industry characteristics.