Cointegration, common features, and persistence in U.S. farm output

Abstract

This paper determines the persistence of shocks to U.S. farm output at the sectoral and sub-sectoral level using a disaggregated vector autoregression framework. The persistence is measured under models that impose short-run common feature and long-run cointegration restrictions. The sub-sectoral outputs are found to have a relatively high degree of comovement in the short-run and a relatively low degree of comovement in the long-run. The common feature and cointegration restrictions are found to improve the precision of persistence and cross-persistence estimates. Subsectoral persistence shows considerable variation; persistence in Poultry & Eggs sub-sector is nearly three times the persistence in the Fruits & Nuts sub-sector. Two sub-sectors that share long-run common trends, Food Grains and Feed, Hay & Forage, also have significant cross-persistence, implying technological spillovers.