Trade, Farmers' Heterogeneity, and Agricultural Productivity: Evidence from Colombia

This paper studies how farmers' participation in non-local markets shapes agricultural productivity. Using farm-level data from Colombia, we document two empirical patterns about the spatial structure of agricultural production. First, across municipalities, better access to urban centers increases farmers' productivity and participation in non-local markets, but reduces farm size. Second, within municipalities and crop-choices, larger farms participate more in non-local markets and have higher productivity. To rationalize these patterns, we introduce farmers with heterogeneous productivity and market participation choices into a spatial economy model. We take the model to data and find that removing the geographic barriers to farmers' participation in non-local markets can increase Colombia's agricultural value added by up to 14%. Changes in the productivity composition of farmers contribute substantially to this impact, particularly in remote regions with low participation of farmers in non-local markets.