AGRICOLA AGE 85925870, Extract: The thesis of this paper is that adaptive ability is unimportant when the processes generating the variables, which farmers take as exogenous, are stationary and unaltered. However, when these processes undergo structural change, adaptive ability is expected to affect the quality of production, marketing, and investment decisions. Farmers who have superior adaptive skills are expected on average to make better decisions. Furthermore, given the highly competitive nature of U.S. agriculture, successfully adapting to structural change is selective. Farmers possessing poor adaptive skill can be expected to comprise a relatively large share of the persons forced by economic circumstances to seek alternative employment or retirement, provided governmental intervention does not neutralize this selection process.
Just, Richard E. (author), Zilberman, David (author), and Just: Professor of agricultural and resource economics, University of California, Berkeley, CA; Zilberman: Associate professor of agricultural and resource economics, University of California, Berkeley, CA
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1985-05
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 84 Document Number: C05318
AGRICOLA AGE 85925871, Extract: This paper draws on some recent rigorous results to illuminate the distributional consequences of agricultural policy. The paper begins by discussing the important characteristics of the agricultural sector that must play a role in a minimally realistic model of distributional effects. Heterogeneity gives rise to different regimes of behavior among farmers. These regimes are used to illustrate the equity effects of agricultural policy.
AGRICOLA AGE 85925869, Extract: The present paper consider both knowledge diffusion and adoption, assuming that a relevant and viable new technology is available. The focus is on the rationale for and scope of public sector involvement in these processes. Such involvement includes publicly sponsored information dissemination, intervention in output and input markets, intervention in the credit market, and investment in infrastructure. These issues are discussed below.
