Productivity growth in Indian agriculture: is there evidence of convergence across states?

This paper explores the question of convergence in total factor productivity (TFP) in agriculture across fourteen major agricultural states oflndia. Using a Tornqvist-Theil index for TFP growth for the period 1973-1993, we find no evidence to support convergence to a single TFP level (a -convergence). After grouping the various states on the basis of their productivity performance, we find that the high-performing states show a gradual movement towards the trend, whereas the low-performing states generally show more volatility. Testing for long-run convergence in levels of agricultural productivity, we find evidence of conditional beta-convergence after controlling for state-specific factors and idiosyncratic year-specific volatility. The results are robust to alternative specifications of tests of unit root in panel data developed recently. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.