Structural adjustment and agricultural growth in the 1980s: additional notes

Vol. 18 No. 4 (1998)

Oct-Dec / 1998
Published October 1, 1998
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))

How to Cite

Filho, Joaquim Bento de Souza Ferreira. 1998. “Structural Adjustment and Agricultural Growth in the 1980s: Additional Notes”. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 18 (4):581-94. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-31571998-1272.

Structural adjustment and agricultural growth in the 1980s: additional notes

Joaquim Bento de Souza Ferreira Filho
Professor Doutor do Departamento de Economia e Sociologia Rural da Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiróz – ESALQ-USP, Piracicaba/SP, Brasil.
Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 18 No. 4 (1998), Oct-Dec / 1998, Pages 581-594

Abstract

This paper deals with some aspects of the Brazilian agriculture development in
the near past. The growth rate differential between agriculture and industry in the 80’s was
first analysed. The conclusion is that the kind of structural adjustment the Brazilian economy
has faced at that time has favored agriculture to grow faster than the industrial sector. The
fall in the national income caused by the external savings interruption has mainly affected
investment, made out integrally of industrial products. In this way, industrial growth was
much more severally affected than agriculture. But this would not suffice to explain the real
agriculture growth then. So, it was found that there was also an important supply side stimulus
to agriculture, due to a huge reduction in the agricultural production costs. This has
certainly been an important factor related to agriculture growth in the 80’s.

JEL Classification: Q11; O47.


Keywords: Economic growth agriculture