A study was undertaken to investigate the macro production relationships in Canadian primary agriculture during the 1935-65 period. Specifically, the problem was to measure simultaneously the rate of disembodied technological change and technological change embodied in machinery and implements, and material inputs. To estimate technological change, regression estimates were obtained for a linear homogeneous Cobb-Douglas production function, where real gross agricultural output per person employed was the dependent variable, and a time index, weather index, and the annual flow of real capital services (including material inputs) per person employed were the independent variables. The data, which consisted of time series of thirty-one annual observations, was derived mainly from publications of the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. The rate of disembodied technological change was estimated directly by specifying a term which allowed for shifts in the production function over time. To measure the rate of embodied technological change, which was assumed to be capital-augmenting in the vintage sense, several alternative values for the improvement in the productive quality of machinery and implements, and material inputs were imposed on the original data series. Based on these alternatives, a matrix of regression results was obtained, and the true value of the rate of embodied technological change was inferred by choosing the "best" regression. In addition, several alternative models were investigated. When disembodied and embodied technological change were specified simultaneously, the "best" estimate of the annual rate of disembodied technological change was 1.76 per cent, while embodied technological change in material inputs was estimated at 3.5 to 4.0 per cent annually. There was no evidence of a positive rate of embodied technological change in machinery and implements in any of the regressions. However, it was concluded that this a priori unexpected result should be considered substantially biased. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

This thesis provides a comprehensive treatment of agriculture in Canada as examined from the viewpoint of modern production theory. This theory has it's origins in Hicks (1946) who developed the implications of profit-maximizing behavior in the context of a multiple input, multiple output technology. The main body of the thesis is divided into three major papers. In the first paper we provide a comprehensive overview of the concepts and methodology which have been employed in making observations of agricultural production during the period 1926-1970. In the second and third papers of the thesis we apply the previously analysed data base to the problem of measuring the rate of increase in total factor productivity during the post-war period and to estimating the internal structure of agricultural production during the post-war period. The second paper is devoted to measuring the growth in total factor productivity during the post-war period. Two problems are explicitly examined: i) the calculation of rental prices or user costs for durable inputs (see Jorgenson and Griliches (1967) (1972), Diewert (1972) Section VI "Producer Behavior when Depreciation Rates are Variable", and King (1974)) and (ii) the aggregation of the numerous inputs and outputs (see Jorgenson and Griliches (1972) and Diewert (1974a)). In the third paper, the data base is applied to the problem of modeling and estimating empirically a multiple-output production function for the Canadian Agricultural Sector. This study not only provides insight into the internal structure of production within the agricultural sector, but also allows many of the assumptions and implications of the neoclassical theory of production to be tested empirically. In each of the applications the results achieved are directly related to the accounting framework by which the various inputs and outputs are measured and to the way in which the data has been handled. Thus a major concern in the applications sections is with possible ways by which the data and the studies may be improved. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

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Average Canadian farm incomes tend to be consistently lower than non-farm incomes. Many reasons, including aggregate overproduction are advanced as possible explanations of the above problem. This thesis attempts to determine whether overproduction has been one of the causes of the farm income problem. The bulk of information used in this study was time series data as prepared by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics for the years 1935 to 1965. A model was constructed to test two related hypotheses regarding the presence of excess capital formation and its effect on income and overproduction. The basic findings of the study were that capital formation was not greater than required to produce an aggregate supply of agricultural products equal to aggregate demand. The growth in aggregate supply and aggregate demand were found to be very similar for the period 1935 to 1965, thus indicating that the farm income problem was not aggravated during this era by overproduction. In subsequent analysis, a broader view of the problem was undertaken. To begin, it was established that per capita farm incomes have been growing at a rate similar to that of non-farm incomes. In addition the so called "cost-price squeeze" was not found when the entire 1935 to 1965 period was observed but rather was only found in subperiods. Factor share analysis was used to show that agricultural capital offered returns at least equal to the opportunity costs of capital. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

This dissertation proposes a model oriented towards integrating farm households' production and consumption decisions into a unified theoretical and econometric framework. It is argued that some commodities such as household's labour and, in some circumstances, outputs produced by the farm are traded within the household-farm unit. The implication of this is that, in contrast with other forms of economic organization, farm households' utility and profit maximization decisions are not likely to be independent. Thus, the general objectives of the thesis are to develop a model appropriate to estimate farm households' supply and demand responses which explicitly considers the interdependence of utility and profit maximization decisions as well as to formally test the hypothesis of independence using Canadian farm census data. A model which considers two labour supply equations, i.e., on-farm and off-farm labour supply, and five net output supply equations including one aggregated output and four inputs (land and structures, hired labour, animal inputs, and farm capital) has been jointly estimated using Canadian farm data. The main hypotheses tested are independence of utility and profit maximizing decisions and homotheticity of households' preferences. This investigation suggests that utility and profit maximizing decisions are not independent and, moreover, that there are significant gains in explanatory power and efficiency by estimating the consumption (i.e., the labour supply equations) and the production equations jointly. Another finding of the study is that farm households' preferences are not homothetic. Estimates regarding the quantitative effects of changes in cost of living index, output price, wage rates, and other farm input prices on households' on-farm labour supply, off-farm labour supply, and net output supply are provided. Additionally, the effects of farm operators' educational level on their labour supply, output supply, and input demand decisions are also measured. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

The objective of the research was to demonstrate the need, feasibility and relevance of disaggregating by income group the endogenized household sector in the Canadian Input-Output (I-O) model. Personal expenditures and revenue sources were endogenized into Agriculture Canada's I-O open model. Two models were developed, Model 1 and Model 2. Model 1 was a closed model that assumed homogeneity among households. Model 2 relaxed the homogeneity assumption. / The superiority of Model 2 was empirically demonstrated by comparing the economic indicators generated by the models. The indicators of interest were industrial output, GDP at factor cost and the number of paid jobs. A sensitivity analysis investigated the impact of changes in wages and salaries and final demand on the models. Larger differences were found between the models when wages and salaries were stimulated. As hypothesized, Model 1 underestimated the contribution of the lowest wages and salaries group by 19.9 percent and overestimated the impact of the higher wages and salaries group by 19 percent. A $1 million increase in the final demand for agricultural, agri-food and petrochemical products was also simulated. The largest impacts on industrial output occurred when agricultural production was shocked ( $3.8 million). This was followed by agri-food products ($3.2 million) and petrochemical products ( $2.7 million). While differences in the models' estimates were minimal when changes in final demand were simulated, Model 2 generated additional information on the distribution of income. / In conclusion, the results generated by the I-O model with the disaggregated household sector, Model 2, were consistent with budget data and economic theory.

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The current environmental movement calls for a re-evaluation of many economic-ecologic relationships. The objective of this study is to identify industrial sectors and final demands most responsible for particular types of residual discharge and resource use. An economic-ecologic model was constructed for the Canadian economy from the Statistics Canada I-O as modified by Thomassin et al. (1992). This modified version with its 12 agricultural sectors and 16 food processing sectors is best suited for agricultural policy analysis. The model estimates national erosion, pesticide and fertilizer use as well as air and water pollutants, solid waste, and water use associated with specified economic activities. / Two different scenarios were analyzed. In the first, the impact on both the economy and the environment from changes in the final demand for agricultural and food commodities was simulated. Each commodity's final demand was increased by $1 million and its impact compared to the other simulated results. The ten commodities studied yielded similar economic impacts, while their environmental impacts differed considerably. Changes in the demand for wheat and oilseeds had the largest environmental impacts. / In the second scenario, the effects of a $1 million increase in each final demand category were compared. This scenario focussed on markets rather than products. The construction, exports and personal expenditures categories were the greatest generator of wastes and the largest user of free resources. The exports category yielded twice as much erosion than personal expenditures and twenty times more than the next highest value (construction).

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No description available.