Abstract
This chapter applies the non-parametric data envelopment approach (DEA) to estimate Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth rate for agricultural output during the period 2000–2012 across districts of Bihar. This approach finds that the shift in the frontier as well as improved efficiency play an important role as a source of productivity growth, suggesting that technological adoption and catching up may be a vitally important source for overall productivity growth. The approach identifies the frontier districts in terms of agricultural production. Using the geographically linked resources at district level, namely, bio-physical, social, economic and health resources, this chapter also develops a Livelihoods Resilience Index (LRI) at district level to explain the association with agricultural TFP growth. The positive association identified warrants further investigation of a smaller unit, say, household level, to explain the rural development dynamics in the predominantly agricultural and rural state.
Keywords
Surya Bhushan, Associate Professor, Development Management Institute (DMI), Patna, Bihar, India; Email: surya.bhushan@gmail.com The author is grateful to Professor K. V. Raju, Director, DMI, especially for developing the livelihoods resilience index, and providing helpful comments and valuable insights and suggestions on the earlier draft. The usual disclaimer applies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Bihar has thirty-eight districts, according to the latest data available. The districts notably absent from the analysis due to the non-availability of data are Araria, Kishanganj, Lakhisarai, Nawada, Sheikhpura, Sheohar and Sitamarhi. Arwal was carved out of the Jehanabad District in 2001.
- 2.
Deokar/Shetty (2014) contend that Indian agriculture has been doing far better in the years since 2004–05 due to a series of policy initiatives. First, increased allocations for various departments concerned with the development of agriculture, animal husbandry and agriculture research and education. Second, during 2005–06, a National Horticulture Mission became operational, and it extended the programme beyond fruits and vegetables and embraced medicinal plants and spices. Third, a centrally sponsored scheme called the Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms was launched in 2005–06. Fourth, in 2005–06 a National Fund for Basic, Strategic and Frontier Application Research in Agriculture and a National Agricultural Innovation Project (in July 2006) were launched. Fifth, the terms of trade began to improve in 2004–05 after rapid increases in procurement prices followed by increases in the international prices of agricultural commodities. Sixth, the launch of the Bharat Nirman project in 2005–06 with a view to upgrading rural infrastructure comprising six components, namely, irrigation, electrification, roads, water supply, housing and telecom connectivity. Finally, a ‘farm credit’ package has continued uninterrupted thereafter and has provided a push to private investment in agriculture.
- 3.
Since productivity growth is defined as output growth divided by the input growth, the contribution of inputs to output growth can be calculated by dividing the output growth index by the Malmquist productivity index. If it is less than one (or in percentage terms negative), then total input actually declines. The output trend growth of agricultural yield growth is calculated by running log-linear regression on time.
References
Acharya, S.S., 1997: “Agricultural Price Policy and Development: Some Facts and Emerging Issues”, in: Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 52, 1: 1–27.
Acharya, S.S., 2006: “Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods”, in: Agricultural Economics Research Review, 19 (July–December): 205–217.
Alkire, S.; Foster, J., 2011: “Understandings and Misunderstandings of Multidimensional Poverty Measurement”, The Journal of Economic Inequality, 9, 2: 289–314.
Ashley, C.; Carney, D., 1999: Sustainable Livelihoods: Lessons from Early Experience (Nottingham: Russell Press Ltd.): 1–64.
Bhushan, S., 2014: “Agricultural Productivity and Environmental Impacts in India: a Parametric and Non-parametric Analysis” (PhD Dissertation, New Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University).
Bhushan, S., 2016: “TFP Growth of Wheat and Paddy in Post-Green Revolution Era in India: Parametric and Non-Parametric Analysis”, in: Agricultural Economics Research Review, 29, 1: 27–40.
Boserup, E., 1965: The Conditions of Agricultural Growth. The Economics of Agrarian Change under Population Pressure (London: George Allen & Unwin).
Brooks, K.; Guasch, J.L.; Braverman, A.; Csaki, C., 1991: “Agriculture and the Transition to the Market”, in: Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5, 4: 149–161.
CACP, 1999–2016: Comprehensive Scheme for the Study of Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in India (New Delhi: Commission For Agricultural Costs and Prices, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India).
Cassidy, L.; Barnes, G., 2012: “Understanding Household Connectivity and Resilience in Marginal Rural Communities through Social Network Analysis in the Village of Habu, Botswana”, in: Ecology and Society, 17: 4–11.
Caves, D.W.; Christensen, L.R.; Diewart, W.E., 1982: “The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity”, in: Econometrica, 50, 6: 1,393–1,414.
Census, 2011: Ministry of Home Affairs (New Delhi: Government of India).
Cervantes-Godoy, D.; Dewbre, J., 2010: Economic Importance of Agriculture for Poverty Reduction, OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Working Chapters, No 23.
Chambers, R.; Conway, G.R., 1992: Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Practical Concepts for the 21st Century. Discussion Chapter 296 (Brighton: Institute of Development Studies).
Chand, R.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, S., 2011: “Total Factor Productivity and Contribution of Research Investment to Agricultural Growth in India”, Policy Paper No 25 (New Delhi: National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research).
Charnes, A.; Cooper, W.W.; Rhodes, E., 1978: “Measuring the Efficiency of Decision Making Units”, in: European Journal of Operational Research, 2: 429–444.
Coelli, T.J.; Rao, D.S.P.; O’Donnell, C.J.; Battese, G.E., 2005: An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis (Heidelberg: Springer).
Datt, G.; Ravallion, M., 1998: “Farm Productivity and Rural Poverty in India”, in: Journal of Development Studies, 34, 4: 62–85.
Deokar, B.K.; Shetty, S.L., 2014: “Growth in Indian Agriculture Responding to Policy Initiatives since 2004–05”, Economic and Political Weekly, Supplement: Review of Rural Affairs, XLIX, 26, 27 (28 June): 101–104.
Desai, B.M.; Namboodiri, N.V., 1997: “Determinants of Total Factor Productivity in Indian Agriculture”, in: Economic and Political Weekly (27 December): A165–A171.
DFID, 2000: Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets (London: Department for International Development); at: http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0901/section2.pdf (10 September 2016).
Donohue, Caroline; Biggs, E., 2015: “Monitoring Socio-Environmental Change for Sustainable Development: Developing a Multidimensional Livelihoods Index (MLI)”, in: Applied Geography, 62: 391–403
Ellis, F., 2000: Rural Livelihoods Diversity in Developing Countries (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Färe, R.; Grosskopf, S.; Norris, M.; Zhang, Z., 1994: “Productivity Growth, Technical Progress, and Efficiency Change in Industrial Countries”, in: American Economic Review, 84, 1: 66–89.
Farrell, M., 1957: “The Measurement of Productive Efficiency”, in: Journal of Royal Statistical Society, Series A, CXX, 3: 253–290.
Foster, A.D.; Rosenzweig, M.R., 1996: “Technical Change and Human Capital Returns and Investments: Evidence from the Green Revolution”, in: American Economic Review, 86, 4: 931–953.
Himanshu, L.P.; Mukhopadhyay, A.; Murgai, R., 2011: Non-farm Diversification and Rural Poverty Decline: A Perspective from Indian Sample Survey and Village Study. Working Chapter 44 (London: Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science).
Hulten, C.R., 2001: “Total Factor Productivity: A Short Biography”, in: Hulten, Charles R.; Dean, E.R.; Harper, M.J. (Eds.), New Developments in Productivity Analysis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
Jannuzi, F.T., 1974: Agrarian Crisis in India: The Case of Bihar (New Delhi: Sangam Books).
Joshi, P.K.; Gautam, M.; Tripathi, G., 2011: Constraints and Opportunities for Sustainable Agricultural Production in Bihar. Workshop on Policy Options and Investment Priorities for Accelerating Agricultural Productivity and Development in India, 10–11 November 2011 (New Delhi: India International Centre).
Kalirajan, K.P.; Shand, R.T., 1997: “Sources of Output Growth in Indian Agriculture”, in: Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 52, 4: 693–706.
Kishore, A., 2004: Understanding Agrarian Impasse in Bihar”, in: Economic and Political Weekly, XXXIX, 31 (31 July): 3,484–3,491.
Krantz, L., 2001: The Sustainable Livelihood Approach to Poverty Reduction: An Introduction, Stockholm: Sida. Division for Policy and Socio-Economic Analysis.
Kumar, P.; Kumar, A.; Mittal, S., 2004: “Total Factor Productivity of Crop Sector in the Indo-Gangetic Plain of India: Sustainability Issues Revisited”, in: Indian Economic Review, 39, 1: 169–201.
Kumar, P.; Singh, N.P.; Mathur, V.C., 2006: “Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods: A Synthesis”, in: Agricultural Economics Research Review, 19: 1–22.
Lewis, W.A., 1954: “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour”, in: The Manchester School, 22, 2: 139–191.
Mukherji, A.; Mukherji, A., 2015: “Bihar”, in: Panagariya, Arvind; Rao, Govinda M. (Eds.), The Making of Miracles in Indian States: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat (Oxford: Oxford University Press): 123–224.
Munshi, K., 2004: “Social Learning in a Heterogenous Population: Technology Diffusion in Indian Green Revolution”, in: Journal of Development Economics, 73, 1: 185–213.
NFHS-4, 2016: “National Family Health Survey 4, 2015–16” (New Delhi: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India); at: http://rchiips.org/nfhs/factsheet_NFHS-4.shtml (13 April 2016).
Nishimizu, M.; Page, J.M., 1982: “Total Factor Productivity Growth, Technical Progress and Technical Efficiency Change: Dimensions of Productivity Change in Yugoslavia, 1965–78”, in: Economic Journal, 92 (December): 920–936.
Prasad, P.H., 1975: “Agrarian Unrest and Economic Change in Rural Bihar. The Three Case Studies”, in: Economic and Political Weekly, 10, 24 (14 June): 933–937.
Rada, N., 2013: “Agricultural Growth in India: Examining the Post-Green Revolution Transition”, in: 2013 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association and Canadian Agricultural Economics Society Joint Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 4–6 August.
Ranis, G.; Fei, J.C.H., 1961: “A Theory of Economic Development”, in: American Economic Review, 51, 4: 533–565.
Rostow, W.W., 1956: “The Take-off into Self-Sustaining Growth”, in: Economic Journal, 66: 25–48.
Scoones, I., 2009: “Livelihoods Perspectives and Rural Development”, in: Journal of Peasant Studies, 36, 1: 171–196.
Shah, M., 2016: “Eliminating Poverty in Bihar: Paradoxes, Bottlenecks and Solutions”, in: Economic and Political Weekly, LI, 6 (6 February): 56–65.
Shephard, R.W., 1970: Theory of Cost and Production Functions (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Sullivan, C.; Meigh, J.R.; Fediw, T.S., 2002: Derivation and Testing of the Water Poverty Index Phase 1. Final Report (London: Department for International Development).
Thirtle, C.; Lin, L.; Piesse, J., 2003: “The Impact of Research-Led Agricultural Productivity Growth on Poverty Reduction in Africa, Asia and Latin America”, in: World Development, 31, 12: 1,959–1,975.
Timmer, C.P., 1988: The Agricultural Transformation, in: Chenery, H.; Srinivasan, T.N. (Eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. 1. (Amsterdam: North-Holland): 275–331.
Timmer, C.P., 2007: “Agricultural Growth”, in: Clark, D.A. (Ed.), The Elgar Companion to Development Studies (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar).
UNDP, 2007: Human Development Report (New York: UNDP).
Wetland Atlas, 2010: National Wetland Atlas (cty, Bihar: Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India; Ahmedabad: Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation); at: http://envfor.nic.in/downloads/public-information/NWIA_Bihar_Atlas.pdf (15 January 2016).
World Bank, 2006: Bihar Agriculture: Building on Emerging Models of “Success” (Washington, D.C.: Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Unit, South Asia Region Discussion Chapter Series Report No. 4).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bhushan, S. (2019). Sources of Productivity Growth and Livelihoods Resilience in Bihar in the Recent Decade: A District-Level Non-parametric Analysis. In: Nayak, A. (eds) Transition Strategies for Sustainable Community Systems. The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science, vol 26. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00356-2_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00356-2_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00355-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00356-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)