Understanding productivity growth in agriculture.

• Position: Conferences

An NBER Conference, "Understanding Productivity Growth in Agriculture," took place in Cambridge on May 11-12. The conference was supported by the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Giannini Foundation at the University of California, Davis. Research Associate Wolfram Schlenker of Columbia University organized the meeting. These researchers' papers were presented and discussed:

* Jayson L. Lusk, Oklahoma State University, and Jesse B. Tack and Nathan P. Hendricks, Kansas State University, "Heterogeneous Yield Impacts from Adoption of Genetically Engineered Corn and the Importance of Controlling for Weather"

* Hsing-Hsiang Huang, Environmental Protection Agency, and Michael Moore, University of Michigan, "Farming under Weather Risk: Adaptation, Moral Hazard, and Selection on Moral Hazard"

* Cecilia Bellora, CEPII (Paris); Elodie Blanc, MIT; Jean-Marc Bourgeon, INRA (Paris); and Eric Strobl, Ecole Polytechnique (France), "Estimating the Impact of Crop Diversity on Agricultural Productivity in South Africa"

* Christine L. Carroll, California State University, Chico, and Colin A. Carter, Rachael Goodhue, and C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell, University of California, Davis, "Crop Disease and Agricultural Productivity"

* Sun Ling Wang, Eldon Ball, Richard Nehring, and Ryan Williams, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Truong Chau, Pennsylvania State University, "Impacts of Climate Change and...