Progresso tecnológico, alocação e demanda derivada de fatores da produção na agricultura brasileira, 1970-80

Abstract

The present research analyzes various aspects of Brazilian agriculture during the 1970s, with respect to the use of traditional and modern imputs, as regards demand, allocation and partial elasticities of production, in accordance with the technological progress present in each Brazilian State and micro-region. Further, the study analyzes the type of technological progress that took place in the period 1970-80 in the Brazilian agricultural sector, with respect to its characteristic saving or utilization of scarce or abundant resources. To attain the objetives of this study, a metaproduction function of the generalized Cobb-Douglas type developed by ULVELING & FLETCHER was estimated. The data used consist of “pooled" observations combined over time and regional space having as units of observation the Brazilian states. The period analyzed covered the years 1970, 1975 and 1980. The secondary data used was obtained from the Agricultural Census and Statistical Yearbooks. The empirical results indicated the degree of inelasticity of the partial elasticity coefficients of the factors of production under study. The partial elasticities of production of the labor factor were greater that those of capital, land and fertilizers. Nevertheless, in the states of Paraná, Sao Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, the elasticities of production of capital were greater than those of labor. This is probably the result of the market rate of capital penetration in the agricultural sector in these states during the 1970s. The evidence found in the research did not permit rejection of the hypothesis that in the aggregate, Brazilian agriculture during the 1970s presented constant returns to scale. Important evidence was found in the analysis of derived demand for each factor of productión. With respect to the factors capital, land and fertilizers, the behavior of demand was in accordance with what would be expected, based on economic theory. Demand for labor showed existence of a non-competitive labor market, in aggregate terms. This was reflected in an increasing demand for labor at extremely low salary levels, up to a determined salary level, after which the demand curve exhibited normal behavior, being negatively inclined. The research also reveled that the technological advances attained in the 1970s were low users of the abundant factors in the primary sector (land and labor) and high users of scarce factors (capital and fertilizers). The results obtained from the current research suggest: (1) The establishment of long term agricultural policies that lead rural producers to make greater use of abundant resources; (2) Establishment of land redistribution policies, complemented by creation of production and marketing iíinfrastucture within the reach of small and medium farmers; (3) Supply policies oriented toward the internal market, enabling the producers of these types of goods to attain access to modern technologies, that do not save abundant factors, assuring them of sufficient rural credit.