In face of climate change and other environmental challenges, inclusion of perennial forage shrubs in Australian agricultural systems has the potential to deliver multiple benefits: increased whole-farm profitability and improved natural resource management. The profitability of shrubs was...

Based on a case study, this paper analyses China's current price and subsidy policy for grain and discusses some questions relating to the reorientation of this policy. First, the pricing system for the grain market, especially that for the state-run grain marketing agencies, is illustrated....

Systemic weather risk is a major obstacle for the formation of private (nonsubsidized) crop insurance. This paper explores the possibility of spatial diversification of insurance by estimating the joint occurrence of unfavorable weather conditions in different locations. For that purpose copula...

In this paper we specify and estimate producers’ risk preference using farm data. We allow heterogeneous risk preference across individuals and propose a specification to model the heterogeneity. We base farmers’ decision making on a utility maximization framework and incorporate both market...

This paper investigates the effects of network based individual social capital on the access of rural households to services. In the context of development economics, an innovative data collection approach is used to determine network based social capital. The approach originates from the field...

The enterprise of agriculture is subject to lot many uncertainties. Still, more people in India earn their livelihood from this sector, than from all other economic sectors put together. Agricultural associated with several risks which include adverse changes in both input and output prices,...

Though Thailand is the largest rice exporting country, its yield is relatively low. This might be a result of the under use of purchased input factors. Amongst other factors, high input prices and capital constraints could be some reasons. The latter could be removed by loans providing favorable...

This study investigates the determinants that influence a firm’s decision to use external private equity in agriculture. The use of external equity as a funding source in agriculture has increased since 1990; however, the literature addressing this phenomenon is limited. The asset specificity...

Welfare economics as the traditional, prescriptive theory framework used in agricultural economics has been criticised by institutional economists as being largely irrelevant to real-world policy issues. We therefore ask how normative statements are possible within an economic theory framework...