The paper questionsthe use of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) measures as a proxyfor the technological level in Italian agriculture. TFP growthreveals a cyclical behaviour and a short-run component due toshocks on both the demand and supply sides. In order to identifyreal long-run technological...

TFP comparisons across nations, sectors and time have been frequently used to represent the relative technological levels of the production systems. In this paper the use of the TFP as a proxy of the technological level in Italian agriculture is questioned. The cyclical behaviour seems to be the...