Skold, Melvin D.

English

University of New Mexico

Volume 20 
Issue 2 Symposium on "Whither Environmentalism?" 
Spring 1980 
Agrarian Structure and Productivity in Developing Countries, R. 
Berry and W. Cline 
Melvin D. Skold 
Recommended Citation 
Melvin D. Skold, Agrarian Structure and Productivity in Developing Countries, R. Berry and W. Cline, 20 Nat. 
Resources J. 417 (1980). 
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol20/iss2/19 
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UNM Digital Repository. It has 
been accepted for inclusion in Natural Resources Journal by an authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository. For 
more information, please contact amywinter@unm.edu, lsloane@salud.unm.edu, sarahrk@unm.edu. 
AGRARIAN STRUCTURE AND
PRODUCTIVITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
By R. ALBERT BERRY and WILLIAM R. CLINE
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1979.
The central thesis of the book is that the often conflicting objec-
tives of efficiency and equity are not necessarily in conflict in agri-
cultural economic development. Theoretical and empirical evidence
are cited to establish the case that output per unit of land tends to be
greater on small farms than on large farms. Hence, agricultural devel-
opment strategies can best contribute to the goal of increasing agri-
cultural output by emphasizing small farm development. These
development strategies also favor the improved distribution of in-
come.
The book is quite technical in its economic content; only ad-
vanced students of economics will find it easily readable. Berry and
Cline cite the results to empirical research to test hypotheses sug-
gested by economic theory. Both in-country and cross-country an-
alyses are presented. Even a sympathetic reviewer remains uncom-
fortable with the interpretation of some results, however.
1. Productivity per unit of land is the sole criteria used for eval-
uating productivity. The authors, in essence, impute all residual
returns to this resource. In many developing countries other inputs
also are limiting and must be carefully allocated.
2. The premise of the book is that only land is scarce (or most
scarce) and labor is unemployed or underemployed in the agricul-
tural sector. Demands for agricultural labor, whether in technolog-
ically advanced or primitive agricultural economies, are seasonal.
Underemployed labor (in the aggregate) coexisting with seasonal
labor shortages may characterize the agriculture of many developing
economies. Seasonal labor shortages affect the choice of enterprises
and intensity of land use; at the time of peak demands, labor is very
costly.
3. Extrapolation of the hypothesis and attempts at support across
countries is the weakest part of the book. Considerations of space-
economy are not recognized here or elsewhere. That is, are large
farms located at further distances from consumption centers? Be-
cause of location and associated infra-structure, do they tend to be
more extensively operated? Also, climate is an important deter-
minant of output per unit of land. Farm sizes are likely to have a
high negative correlation with precipitation or water availability.
Output per unit of land is highly correlated with water availability.
NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL
4. Production per unit of land is the efficiency measure applied;
the amount of agricultural products sold per unit of land is not
considered. Small farms tend to use greater proportions of their total
output for home consumption than do larger farms; they are more
subsistence and less market oriented. Further, labor intensive farms
which use animal power also tend to be livestock intensive. Land is
required to produce feed for livestock. It becomes difficult for small
labor and livestock intensive farms to perform tillage operations on a
timely basis and to produce a marketable surplus from a given land
area.
5. Assuming the empirical arguments presented by Berry and
Cline are correct, and small farms do have a higher level of efficiency
than large farms, the correct policy to be inferred needs further
consideration. Are the farming systems suggested consistent with the
intra- and intertemporal externalities associated with resource use?
Further, does an agricultural sector structured along the patterns
advocated by Berry and Cline offer the greatest potential to contrib-
ute to the country's overall development? In many cases, the export
of agricultural products may offer one of the greatest potentials for
earning foreign exchange credits. But, can agricultural economies so
structured compete with more highly capitalized agricultural econo-
mies in world markets?
Berry and Cline not only have provided an extensive amount of
empirical research but they can do an even better job of generating a
number of researchable ideas which beg analysis. It's an important
contribution for analysts of agricultural development. The book is
highly recommended to all economists working in the production
and planning aspects of agricultural development.
MELVIN D. SKOLD
Professor of Economics
Colorado State University
[Vol. 20


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