Biography: Agricultural Finance Review

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a “biography” of sorts on Agricultural Finance Review . The paper tracks the evolution of Agricultural Finance Review from its introduction in 1938 to its current status. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a complete review of every paper and every issue. Not all papers were read by the author, but key papers of interest that in one way or another made significant contributions to the study of agricultural finance were reviewed. Findings – The paper shows the evolution of agricultural finance from the early days of reporting financial data in the 1930s and 1940s, to its emergence as a major and significant sub discipline of the general field of agricultural economics. Research limitations/implications – As indicated, not all papers were fully reviewed or read. It is possible that papers identified as “firsts” may have been preceded by other papers. Nonetheless the paper identifies the basic evolutionary path of the journal and defines key points in time when a paradigm shift emerged to change the direction of this discipline. Practical implications – As Agricultural Finance Review transitions from the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University to Emerald Group Publishing Limited, this “biography” provides readers with a general overview of the journal's and the discipline's historical development. Originality/value – This paper is simply a review of the existing literature found in Agricultural Finance Review .