Factor Intensity of U.S. Agricultural Trade

摘要

U.S. agricultural exports in 1987 employed an estimated 884,000 workers throughout the economy and an estimated 107 million acres of harvested cropland. Factor intensity is defined as the amount of a factor (land, labor, or capital) required economywide to produce $1 million of agricultural exports. In 1987, for each $1 million, U.S. agricultural exports required approximately 31 workers and 3,500 harvested acres, compared with 39 workers and 4,300 harvested acres in 1977. These changes in factor intensity reflect changes in prices, commodity composition, and factor productivity. Compared with agricultural imports, U.S. agricultural exports are capital and land intensive.