Evolution and convergence of labor productivity in agriculture of Rio Grande do Sul, 1975-2006

Abstract

The study analyzes the convergence of labor productivity in the agriculture in Rio Grande do Sul. It also examines the variables that influenced this evolution from 1975 to 2006 using the statistical technique of factor analyses and regression. The sources of the data are the Agricultural Census of the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). The regions were classified in four classes of levels of productivity and their migration between classes, in the long run using Markov chains. There is a tendency that in the long run a great percentage of the regions migrate to the lowest class of productivity levels. The variables that influence the regional evolution of the labor productivity are of four categories: substitutions among factors of production, technology of production, types of products and inequalities in the land distribution among farms.