Rural-urban migration and technological changes in the agriculture of a developing country
Kim, S.
Economic Record 49(125): 15-23
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0013-0249 DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.1973.tb02264.xDocument Number: 352777
The extent to which the transfer of agricultural labour to other sectors contributes to economic growth in developing countries depends upon the technological progress which enables agriculture to sustain its growth in output. The atudy attempts to examine at a theoretical level the interrelations between technological progress and emigration of the agricultural population. When labour is being reduced, it appears that the real cost of labour rises, and therefore, new technology takes a labour-augmenting bias. The analysis shows that it is not as simple as that. When elasticity of substitution between labour and land is high, technology will switch to a land-augmenting variety with declining labour input. In many underdeveloped countries this elasticity is very small. Labour reduction in such a situation will lead to labour-augmenting technological progress. Japan is cited as an example.