Chapter 66 Production, Productivity, and Public Investment in East Asian Agriculture

Since the 1950s, agricultural growth in East Asia (China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan) has reduced rural poverty and created a strong base for economic development. To gain a better understanding of the nature of this growth, we examine the sources of change in agricultural production and total factor productivity (TFP) and decompose the measurements into reform-based time periods. We also review studies that link public investments to agricultural growth and poverty reduction. We find that formulating growth-inducing and poverty-reducing strategies requires policymakers to understand the relative returns of different types of investments. JEL classifications: Q12, Q14, Q18, O13, O47