PRODUCTIVITY IN CHINESE PROVINCIAL AGRICULTURE

Technical change, technical efficiency and multifactor productivity in dices are reported for a multiple-output, multiple-input production te chnology using Chinese provincial data for the 1979-95 period. Results show significant variation in productivity change from Tear to gear a nd province to province Using panel methods, we regress the three prod uction indices on several factors important in explaining productivity changes. Decollectivisation in the early 1980s accounts for a signifi cant expansion of the frontier, while rural industrialisation decrease d agricultural productivity. Productivity is also sensitive to relativ e grain prices, to natural disasters such as flood and drought, and pr oximity of the provinces to coastal areas.