Huffman, Wallace E. (author / Assistant Professor of Economics, Oklahoma State University) and Assistant Professor of Economics, Oklahoma State University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1974
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 49 Document Number: C00078
INTERPAKS, Study examines the contribution of education to production both as an "allocative effect" and as a "worker effect". An allocative effect is based on the decision making process and refers to an individual's ability to acquire, decode, and sort market and technical information efficiently. Worker effect reflects education's effect on technical efficiency, or the ability of the more educated worker to produce more from a given set of inputs. The study focuses on a single aspect of allocative ability - adjustment of Midwestern U.S. farmers to the changing optimum quantity of nitrogen fertilizer in corn production. The hypothesis is that rate of adjustment can be explained by economic variables: the rate is positively related to education of farmers, availability of information (extensio), and scale incentive to be informed (acres of corn) is supported by the results. It is also noted that education and extension serve as substitute sources of allocative efficiency.
