The pre-reform economy heavily taxed the farm sector

Improvements in labor productivity have been strongly correlated with the outflow of labor from agriculture. In China, government restrictions on rural mobility constrained the outflow of labor from agriculture until the mid-1980s . The development of township and village enterprises created non-agricultural employment in the rural areas which was crucial for labor productivity to increase in …

Field crops are concentrated in the more recently developed areas of the region

The west side of the San Joaquin Valley was the region most affected by the 1987-93 drought and by reduced allocations from CVPIA and CALFED decisions. Consequently, this area is among the most innovative in implementing market transfer initiatives and adopting water-conserving irrigation technologies. Clearly the economic fate of this region, and the others, is closely …