Sources of variation in agricultural productivity, a cross - section - time - series study of India

An analytical model is developed combining cross-section and time-series observations that permit one to decompose the measured sources of growth and regional variation in agricultural output by providing estimates of the contributions of inputs time persistent regional peculiarities and temporal factors. The sequence of the thesis is as follows: In Chapter II a brief review is made of the problems that arise in econometric analyses pooling cross-section and time-series data and the properties of the method of estimation adopted here as against other alternative methods for the specification and estimation of production functions. Chapter III presents the forms of production function used here, the theoretical model and the statistical method of estimation. Chapter IV deals with the selection of the regions, the choice of data and the construction of variables, including a discussion of the index number encountered in the measurement of aggregate output over time. Chapter V discusses the parameters estimated for the production functions, while Chapters VI and VII present the estimates of region effects and temporal effects on production, respectively. Chapter VIII summarizes the main findings and indicates their implications for policy.