Agricultural Economics Department
Date of this Version
5-2014
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to determine TFP growth in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Syria considering weather as well as economic and social factors that might be affecting it. A translog production function was used to estimate TFP over the period 1980-2010. Precipitation, temperature, drought and irrigation were included in the analysis. The results show increasing agricultural productivity at the average rate of 2.66% during the period. Temperature and precipitation play a significant role in agricultural production and most frequent extreme drought episodes and irrigation affect, substantially, agricultural productivity growth in the region. The results highlight that respect for political rights and civil liberties, improvement in human capital and an open economy are associated to the heterogeneous agricultural performance across countries in the sample.
Adviser: Lilyan Fulginiti
Comments
A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science, Major: Agricultural Economics, Under the Supervision of Professor Lilyan Fulginiti. Lincoln, Nebraska: May, 2014
Copyright (c) 2014 Zahra Tayebi