Content area
Abstract
My dissertation provides theoretical and empirical contributions to investigate the roles and sources of the technological innovation and the productivity growth via three essays.
Employing the patent count and citation data over 1977–2011, the first chapter explores the determining factors of innovations of the U.S. biofuel. I confirm that the knowledge stocks existing in the industry and the crude oil price significantly affect the technological innovations of biofuel in U.S.
The second chapter investigates the productivity growth in major dairy production regions in U.S. I show that the emerging dairy regions have relatively higher productivity than the traditional regions. Dynamic decomposition results indicate that surviving farms contribute more than entering and exiting farms. Farm and regional driving forces of farm productivity are also examined.
The third chapter investigates landowners’ decisions on the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) under a model of land uses. I develop a structural model to examine the manner in which agricultural productivity, market conditions, and CRP payment affect landowner’s land use decisions. A novel identification strategy is employed to control for endogeneity of CRP payment and landowners’ self-selection into the program. The parameter estimates are used to simulate the impact of increased agricultural prices and CRP payment on the program enrollment and costs.
