Changing Factor Income Shares in Agri-food Industries

A concern in the political economy is how national income is shared between labor and capital. This study evaluates long-term changes in factor income shares in three agri-food industries, their attribution to the level of factor usage or to factor compensation rates, and relation to changes in capital intensity and factor productivity. We find long-term stability in the profit and labor shares of farm income, decline in the profit share of agricultural services industry income, and increase in the profit share of food manufacturing income due to fewer productivity improvements being passed on to wage increases.