Using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist index, this
chapter analyzes how the Uruguay Round’s resolution on Agreement on Agriculture
(AoA), which is a strategic decision making at the global level, has contributed to the
strategic decision making in Asian agriculture at the national level. The empirical results
reveal that the strategic decision making of trade liberalization at the national level has
significantly contributed to growth in productivity and efficiency measures in Asian
agriculture during the period of 1981 to 2012. As like the Kuznets hypothesis, an
interesting inverted U-shaped movement of technical efficiency levels with trade
liberalization is observed, while the movement of technological change on trade
openness comes as U-shaped.
Keywords: Asian agriculture, Data Envelopment Analysis, Kuznets hypothesis,
strategic decision making, Trade liberalization.
