Institutions and Global Crop Yields /

We estimate annual discontinuities in remotely-sensed crop yields at all international land borders and link them to changes in the economic freedom index by the Fraser Institute, a country-level measure of institutional quality. Each point of the ten-point index increases the discontinuity by 2.2%...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
1. Verfasser:
Wuepper, David
Körperschaft:
National Bureau of Economic Research
Weitere Verfasser:
Wang, Haoyu, Schlenker, Wolfram, Jain, Meha, Finger, Robert
Format:
Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:
Englisch
Veröffentlicht:
Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.
Zusammenfassung:
We estimate annual discontinuities in remotely-sensed crop yields at all international land borders and link them to changes in the economic freedom index by the Fraser Institute, a country-level measure of institutional quality. Each point of the ten-point index increases the discontinuity by 2.2% over the next five years, highlighting that institutional reforms have the potential to close some of the observed crop yield gap. Three subcategories are consistently significant: credit market regulation, inflation, and the top marginal tax rate. We present suggestive evidence that higher average yields are achieved through increased use of irrigation and mechanization. Yield variability remains unchanged, and reforms lead to cropland expansion through deforestation.
Umfang:
1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
Anmerkungen:
July 2023.
Schlagworte: