Comptes économiques régionaux et disparités dans l'agriculture française

Regional economic accounts and disparities in French agriculture - The input-output analysis, on the regional level, sheds light on the mechanisms determining the appearance of interregional disparities, especially as far as income is concerned. This type (of analysis poses problems connected With the absence, at present, of satisfactory accounts. The input not paid for are estimated according to the prices paid for those that are bought. The basic estimations are approximate because of the lack of knowledge concerning interregional flows. The estimations tore made in national average constant prices for 1953-1955 and 1962-1964. The differences in input structure in the productivity of labour and in the productivity of factors have been taken into account. The percentage of labour in the total input (input of the factors + non agricultural input) decreases from 75 % (1953-1955) to 62 % (1962-1964), the percentage of capital increases from 18 % to 31 %. The land factor varies very little. In 1962-1964, the Paris area, Picardie and Champagne were clearly differentiated from the other regions by the importance of the input in capital. A second class includes Haute-Normandie, the 'Centre, the Nord and Lorraine. They make relatively greater use of labour. Finally, it is in Limousin, Aquitaine, Auvergne and Alsace that the percentage of labour is highest and that of capital lowest. For 'labour productivity in 1962-1964, the better-off regions are the Paris area, which is clearly ahead, then Picardie, the Nord, Champagne, and Upper-Normandy. The regions lagging behind are the MidiPyrenes, Limousin, Auvergne and Aquitaine. As to the changes in labour and factor productivity between the two periods, the uncertainty of the data inclines us to be particularly cautious. These changes do not seem to be connected with the relative situation of the regions in 1953-55. Some regions with a low productivity level during the first period, have caught up to a certain extent on the national average. Some of the regions which were already ahead in 1953-55 have strengthened their relative position.