2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/407225Spatial disparity in incomes and productivity is apparent across and within countries. Most studies of the determinants of such differences focus on cross-country comparisons or location choice among firms. Less studied are the large differences in agricultural productivity within countries related to concentrations of rural poverty. For policy, understanding the determinants of this geography of agricultural productivity is important, because strategies to reduce poverty often feature components designed to boost regional agricultural incomes. Census and endowment data for Ecuador are used to estimate a model of endogenous technology choice to explain large regional differences in agricultural output and factor productivity. A composite-error estimation technique is used to separate systemic determinants from idiosyncratic differences. Simulations are employed to explore policy avenues. The findings suggest a differentiation between the types of policies that promote growth in agriculture generally and those that are more likely to assist the rural poor.application/pdftext/plainCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igoWorld BankAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSAGRICULTURAL EDUCATIONAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURECAPABILITYCONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALECROPSE-MAILECONOMETRICSECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GEOGRAPHYECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC SECTORSECONOMICSELASTICITIESELASTICITYEMAIL ADDRESSEMPIRICAL RESEARCHEMPLOYMENTENDOGENOUS VARIABLESENVIRONMENTALEXPECTED VALUEFACTOR MARKETSFAMILY LABORFARMERSFARMSFERTILIZERSGENDERGOVERNMENT SERVICESGROWTH MODELSGROWTH THEORYINCOME LEVELSINCOMESINCREASING RETURNSINCREASING RETURNS TO SCALEINEFFICIENCYINNOVATIONSINPUT FACTORINSTITUTIONINSURANCEINTEGRATIONLABOR INPUTSLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOURLAND USELIVESTOCKMANAGERIAL SKILLMANUFACTURINGMARGINAL PRODUCTIVITYMARGINAL PRODUCTSMARGINAL VALUEMARKET ACCESSMARKETINGMOTIVATIONNATIONAL INCOMENATURAL ENDOWMENTSNETWORKSNEW TECHNOLOGIESPOLICY INSTRUMENTSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPRODUCERSPRODUCTION ELASTICITIESPRODUCTION FUNCTIONPRODUCTION FUNCTIONSPRODUCTION INPUTSPRODUCTION QUANTITIESPRODUCTION TECHNOLOGYPRODUCTIVE ASSETSPRODUCTIVITY INCREASESPROPERTY RIGHTSRESULTRESULTSRETURNS TO SCALEROLE OF INSTITUTIONSSAFETYSAFETY NETSSEASONAL LABORSEASONAL WORKERSSOCIAL CAPITALTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSUSESJournal Article