Productivity and International Competitiveness of Agriculture in the European Union and the United States Articles uri icon

publication date

  • November 2010

start page

  • 611

end page

  • 627

issue

  • 6

volume

  • 41

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0169-5150

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1574-0862

abstract

  • This study looks at international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States. The most intuitive concept is that of price competitiveness. We calculate relative prices for 11 member
    states of the European Union and the United States for the period
    1973&-2002. We assume that markets are perfectly competitive and in
    long-run equilibrium, so that the observed price always equals average
    total cost, as measured by the cost dual to the production function.
    This assumption is used in our calculation of relative competitiveness
    and productivity gaps between the European Union and the United States
    and in our decomposition of relative price movements between changes in
    relative input prices and changes in relative productivity levels.