Access to Markets and Technology Adoption in the Agricultural Sector: Evidence from Brazil

Preprint

This paper studies how better market access through infrastructure improvements leads to the adoption of new agricultural technologies. In particular, I study the case of Brazil, and how the construction of the federal highway network from 1950 to 2000 affected the modernization of the agricultural sector. To address endogeneity concerns, I use the creation of Brasilia, and the project to connect it to the state capitals, as a natural experiment. I build a predicted network of highways by computing the cheapest way to connect the state capitals with Brasilia and use it to instrument market access. I find that municipalities where market access increased adopted new agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, improving agricultural productivity as a result. Market access also increased the machinery and equipment used for production, but only when Brazil deregulated its agricultural markets and opened to international trade, after 1990.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products ; Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure ; Empirical Studies of Trade
• Subject: agricultural productivity ; infrastructure ; market access ; mechanization

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Astorga-Rojas, Diego
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
• (where): Kiel, Hamburg
• (when): 2024

Further information

• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET