Determinação do excesso de mão-de-obra na região de Viçosa, MG, ano agrícola 1967/68

Resumo

Economic development demands structural changes in the agricultural sector. Based on this fact countries with a high rate of population groeth and a large part of the population located in rural areas must search for better, labor efficiency in agricultural activities. Underutilized labor liberated from agriculture can be utilized in other sectors of the economy. 

The present research was conducted to show the ex- istence of excessive labor utilization by farms in eleven counties around Viçosa considering existing tecnology. Farms were stratified by size. Production functions were estimated for each strata and for the Region. It was also the goal of this study to determine the economicaly optimum labor employment for farms by stratum and for the Region.

The counties were selected to typify caracteristics of the Zona da Mata. The farms that constitute the sample were randomly selected.

The analysis was made by using a Cobb-Douglas production function. Algebricaly this function is represented by the following: 

y = ax₁ᵇ¹ x₂ᵇ² x₃ᵇ³,

where;

y = Gross valus of production in Cr$

x₁ = Land, in ha;

x₂ = Effectively employed labor, in man-days;

x₃ = Capital stock, in Cr$.

The results show that labor is being used in excess and that a reduction in its use would result in increased economic efficiency.

The optimum level of labor employment by stratum and Region was not attempted due to the limitation of the model used.