Accounting for growth in Swedish agriculture 1961–2019 : a study of productivity in Swedish agriculture

Abstract: This thesis analyses long-term productivity measures in Swedish agriculture between 1961¬-2019 based on data from USDA Economic Research Service (2021). The aim is to analyse the effects from agricultural policies on Swedish agriculture before and after the Swedish EU-entrance in 1995. Productivity is of great concern in relation to sustainability and future policy reforms should be designed to adapt and mitigate climate change. The study contributes to existing literature on Swedish agricultural productivity through the long-term perspective of the stated time period. It adds new perspectives and enable global comparisons by using the USDA as data provider. Time series econometric methods are used to carry out the analysis. The methods include a growth accounting model with aggregated indexed output and input factors in Swedish agriculture and polynomial trend regression models of TFP, labour productivity and land productivity. The results indicate that there has been a slowdown in productivity growth in Swedish agriculture since late 1980s. This coincides with a turbulent period of Swedish agricultural policy changes. Furthermore, this study provides evidence for a slowdown in Swedish agricultural productivity growth after Sweden became a member of the European Union in 1995.