The farm household structure is a complex set of inter-relationships between and among a variety of internal and external factors involving consumption, investment, and income-earning activities. In this paper we use ARMS data to explore the contribution of off-farm income to the viability of...

An existing program which has incorporated undergraduate research projects into its curriculum is evaluated. The goals of the program are to provide students with opportunities to apply their newly acquired skills to real problems and, in so doing, to gain specialized familiarity with a topic...

This paper assesses the impact of introducing role playing, case studies, and simulation games into undergraduate courses in agricultural economics. An educational impact model is used in a qualitative evaluation of the teaching aids and to generate hypotheses. Quantitative experimental results...

The single index model (SIM), developed for analysis of financial assets, is assessed as a tool for evaluating the risk-return tradeoff faced in agricultural enterprise selection. This study tests whether some of the hypotheses underlying the SIM are valid when the SIM is used in agricultural...

Risk reduction through diversification across cultivars is evaluated. A case study of peach growers in California shows that cultivar diversity reduces both yield and revenue variability. As a result, the probability of falling below minimum income requirements set using a safety-first model is...