Working Paper: NBER ID: w17879
Authors: Richard H. Steckel; William J. White
Abstract: The role of twentieth-century agricultural mechanization in changing the productivity, employment opportunities, and appearance of rural America has long been appreciated. Less attention has been paid to the impact made by farm tractors, combines, and associated equipment on the standard of living of the U.S. population as a whole. This paper demonstrates, through use of a detailed counterfactual analysis, that mechanization in the production of farm products increased GDP by more than 8.0 percent, using 1954 as a base year. This result suggests that studying individual innovations can significantly increase our understanding of the nature of economic growth.
Keywords: agricultural mechanization; economic growth; counterfactual analysis; farm tractors; U.S. economy
JEL Codes: N52; O30; Q16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Mechanization (L64) | Increase in GDP (E20) |
| Mechanization (L64) | Reduction of about 8 million workers from agriculture (J43) |
| Reduction of about 8 million workers from agriculture (J43) | Growth in manufacturing and services (O14) |