Agricultural economics
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Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specifically dealt with
Origins
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Major types
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Economics has been defined as the study of resource allocation under
Another contributor, 1979 Nobel Economics Prize winner Theodore Schultz, was among the first to examine development economics as a problem related directly to agriculture.[6] Schultz was also instrumental in establishing econometrics as a tool for use in analyzing agricultural economics empirically; he noted in his landmark 1956 article that agricultural supply analysis is rooted in "shifting sand", implying that it was and is simply not being done correctly.[7]
One scholar in the field, Ford Runge, summarizes the development of agricultural economics as follows:
Agricultural economics arose in the late 19th century, combined the theory of the firm with marketing and organization theory, and developed throughout the 20th century largely as an empirical branch of general economics. The discipline was closely linked to empirical applications of mathematical statistics and made early and significant contributions to econometric methods. In the 1960s and afterwards, as agricultural sectors in the OECD countries contracted, agricultural economists were drawn to the development problems of poor countries, to the trade and macroeconomic policy implications of agriculture in rich countries, and to a variety of production, consumption, and environmental and resource problems.[8]
Agricultural economists have made many well-known contributions to the economics field with such models as the
In
In the Philippines, agricultural economics was offered first by the University of the Philippines Los Baños Department of Agricultural Economics in 1919. Today, the field of agricultural economics has transformed into a more integrative discipline which covers farm management and production economics, rural finance and institutions, agricultural marketing and prices, agricultural policy and development, food and nutrition economics, and environmental and natural resource economics.
Since the 1970s, agricultural economics has primarily focused on seven main topics, according to Ford Runge: agricultural environment and resources; risk and uncertainty; food and consumer economics; prices and incomes; market structures; trade and development; and technical change and human capital.[15]
Major topics in agricultural economics
Agricultural environment and natural resources
In the field of environmental economics, agricultural economists have contributed in three main areas: designing incentives to control environmental
Food and consumer economics
While at one time, the field of agricultural economics was focused primarily on farm-level issues, in recent years agricultural economists have studied diverse topics related to the economics of food consumption. In addition to economists' long-standing emphasis on the effects of prices and incomes, researchers in this field have studied how information and quality attributes influence consumer behavior. Agricultural economists have contributed to understanding how households make choices between purchasing food or preparing it at home, how food prices are determined, definitions of poverty thresholds, how consumers respond to price and income changes in a consistent way, and survey and experimental tools for understanding consumer preferences.[18]
Production economics and farm management
Agricultural economics research has addressed diminishing returns in agricultural production, as well as farmers' costs and supply responses. Much research has applied economic theory to farm-level decisions. Studies of risk and decision-making under uncertainty have real-world applications to crop insurance policies and to understanding how farmers in developing countries make choices about technology adoption. These topics are important for understanding prospects for producing sufficient food for a growing world population, subject to new resource and environmental challenges such as water scarcity and global climate change.[19]
Development economics
Development economics is broadly concerned with the improvement of living conditions in low-income countries, and the improvement of economic performance in low-income settings. Because agriculture is a large part of most developing economies, both in terms of employment and share of GDP, agricultural economists have been at the forefront of empirical research on development economics, contributing to our understanding of agriculture's role in economic development, economic growth and structural transformation. Many agricultural economists are interested in the food systems of developing economies, the linkages between agriculture and nutrition, and the ways in which agriculture interact with other domains, such as the natural environment.[20][21]
Professional associations
The
In the United States, the primary professional association is the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA), which holds its own annual conference and also co-sponsors the annual meetings of the Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA). The AAEA publishes the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.
Careers in agricultural economics
Graduates from agricultural and applied economics departments find jobs in many sectors of the economy:
Literature
- Evenson, Robert E. and Prabhu Pingali (eds.) (2007). Handbook of Agricultural Economics. Amsterdam, NL: Elsevier.
See also
References
- The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 1, pp. 55–62.
- ^ B. L. Gardner (2001), "Agriculture, Economics of," International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, v. 1, pp. 337-344. Abstract & outline.
- ^ C. Ford Runge (2008). "agricultural economics," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Ed., Abstract.
- ^ Daniel A. Sumner, Julian M. Alson, and Joseph W. Glauber (2010). "Evolution of the Economics of Agricultural Policy", American Journal of Agricultural Economics, v. 92, pp. 403-423.
- ^ Shaars, Marvin A. (1972). "The Story of The Department of Agricultural Economics: 1909-1972" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-02. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ Schultz, Theodore (1968). Economic Growth and Agriculture. New York: MacGraw-Hill.
- JSTOR 1234459.
- ^ Runge, Ford (June 2006). "Agricultural Economics: A Brief Intellectual History" (PDF). University of Minnesota Working Paper WP06-1. p. 1 (abstract).
- JSTOR 1881734. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- JSTOR 1230278.
- S2CID 154018839.
- ^ Farrell, M.J., "The Measurement of Productive Efficiency," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, General 125 Part 2(1957): 252-267. Farrell's frequently cited application involved an empirical application of state level agricultural data
- ^ Vernon Wesley Ruttan, "Technological Progress in the Meatpacking Industry, 1919-47," USDA Marketing Research Report No. 59, 1954.
- JSTOR 2284029.
- ^ Runge, Ford (June 2006). "Agricultural Economics: A Brief Intellectual History" (PDF). University of Minnesota Working Paper WP06-1. p. 15–16.
- ^ Catherine L. Kling, Kathleen Segerson and Jason F. Shogren (2010). "Environmental Economics: How Agricultural Economists Helped Advance the Field" American Journal of Agricultural Economics, v. 92, pp. 487-505.
- ^ Erik Lichtenberg, James Shortle, James Wilen and David Zilberman (2010). "Natural Resource Economics and Conservation: Contributions of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Economists" American Journal of Agricultural Economics, v. 92, pp. 469-486.
- ^ Laurian Unnevehr, James Eales, Helen Jensen, Jayson Lusk, Jill McCluskey and Jean Kinsey (2010). "Food and Consumer Economics" American Journal of Agricultural Economics, v. 92, pp. 506-521.
- ^ Jean-Paul Chavas, Robert G. Chambers and Rulon D. Pope (2010). "Production Economics and Farm Management" American Journal of Agricultural Economics, v. 92, pp. 356-375.
- The American Economic Review, v. 92, pp. 160-164.
- ^ C. Peter Timmer (2002). "Agriculture and economic development" Handbook of Agricultural Economics, Vol 2, Part A, pp. 1487-1546.
- ^ "Agricultural Economics". Archived from the original on 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ Education Portal (2014). "Careers in Agricultural Economics: Job Options and Requirements". Retrieved 2014-10-11.
- ^ "What's the Value of an Agricultural Economics Degree?". Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at the Ohio State University. 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
- ^ Anthony P. Carnevale; Jeff Strohl; Michelle Melton (2011). "What's It Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors". Retrieved 2014-10-11.
External links
- Independent research institutions
- Academic and professional associations
- African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE)
- Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Association
- Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA)
- Canadian Agricultural Economics Society (CAES) Archived 2015-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- European Association of Agricultural Economists Archived 2021-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
- International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) Archived 2020-10-31 at the Wayback Machine
- Government agencies
- Academic journals
- Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics records at the University of Maryland libraries