Shenggen Fan

This open access book is the result of an expert panel convened by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Nature Sustainability. The panel tackled the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 head-on, with respect to the global systems that produce and distribute food. The panel’s rigorous synthesis and analysis of existing research leads compellingly to multiple actionable recommendations that, if adopted, would simultaneously lead to healthy and nutritious diets, equitable and inclusive value chains, resilience to shocks and stressors, and climate and environmental sustainability.

This open access book is the result of an expert panel convened by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Nature Sustainability. The panel tackled the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 head-on, with respect to the global systems that produce and distribute food. The panel’s rigorous synthesis and analysis of existing research leads compellingly to multiple actionable recommendations that, if adopted, would simultaneously lead to healthy and nutritious diets, equitable and inclusive value chains, resilience to shocks and stressors, and climate and environmental sustainability.

This study by Shenggen Fan makes three important and original contributions. It is the first study to report regional patterns of productivity growth in Chinese agriculture. There have been dramatic differences in output and productivity growth among Chinese regions. The second contribution is to measure the separate effects of technical change and institutional reform on productivity growth. Much of the rapid growth in agricultural production and in productivity since the late 1970s has been a consequence of an important series of institutional reforms. The third contribution is the first test of the induced innovation hypothesis against experience in a centrally planned economy. Regional patterns of productivity growth are consistent with the hypothesis that the path of technical change has been responsive to regional differences in resource endowments.

This study by Shenggen Fan makes three important and original contributions. It is the first study to report regional patterns of productivity growth in Chinese agriculture. There have been dramatic differences in output and productivity growth among Chinese regions. The second contribution is to measure the separate effects of technical change and institutional reform on productivity growth. Much of the rapid growth in agricultural production and in productivity since the late 1970s has been a consequence of an important series of institutional reforms. The third contribution is the first test of the induced innovation hypothesis against experience in a centrally planned economy. Regional patterns of productivity growth are consistent with the hypothesis that the path of technical change has been responsive to regional differences in resource endowments.