A REVISIONIST VIEW OF CHINESE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY?

Abstract

Although productivity increased during the initial Chinese agricultural reforms, there is less clarity about subsequent reform efforts. Several studies find that productivity growth either slowed or stopped in the mid‐1980s, but these studies use official labor statistics that indicate an increasing farm labor force during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Using an alternative calculation of China's farm labor force showing a decrease in agricultural labor, this article reexamines the data on Chinese agricultural productivity and notes that the changes in productivity appear to correlate to changes in economic policies.