Impact of technological change on regional agricultural productivity growth convergence in the Philippines
2015
Sorbreviñas, P.B.
The study analyzed the determinants of regional agricultural productivity growth convergence in the Philippines with emphasis on the role of technological change using different variants of the Beta-convergence model. Data did not support absolute B-convergence of regional agricultural productivity growths. But when fixed effects are considered, modified absolute Beta-convergence is possible in 3 years at an estimated rate of 4% per year. Data strongly supported conditional Beta-convergence. Regional agricultural productivity growths converge due to capital deepening, conditioned by the regions' technological status, human capital, physical infrastructure and economic structure. Results also showed that region biases exist and that growth spillover are a potent factor in the convergence process. Depending on the assumptions, the estimated rate of conditional convergence ranges from 6.4% to 16% per year. At this range, the length of convergence would be from 9 to 22 years. Lastly, the results clearly showed the importance of agricultural technology status of regions in the convergence process. However, the results did not find significance for the role of technology catch-up because substantial technology gaps still exist between regions. Results also showed the weak importance of technology spillover. Hence, it is suggested that policy should address foremost putting regions in a path of technological convergence through technology- and knowledge-creating activities directed at regions with low levels of technology.
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