Realizing the potential for economics research depends on the successful completion of several interdependent tasks: • A problem is identified, • Data related to the problem are collected, • Description transforms data into useful information, • Theory is brought to bear...

Competition is usually assumed as the general case in applications of classical and neoclassical economic theory Monopoly is treated as a special case Several leading economists during the thirties sought to develop a general theory of monopoly within which competition might be treated as a...

In this solicited article, Willard Cochrane, the U S Department of Agriculture's first Director of Agricultural Economics, assesses the mission, performance, and organization of-the Economic Research Service (ERS) 22 years after Its establishment m 1961 The current organization IS satisfactory,...

The spectacular nature of many of the breakthroughs In biotechnology has generated considerable publicity and has made demands on agricultural economists for ex ante assessment of potential impacts This article suggests a research agenda for evaluating the impacts of biotechnology on...

Research on the market for irrigation water has been initiated to examine the institutional arrangements that have developed in certain areas to make irrigation water more readily transferable between farmers who have varying seasonal needs for water. This article outlines the manner and extent...

Four strategies for farm growth are analyzed and compared on the basis of ownership, equity, and productive capacity achieved, and on the basis of resistance to adversity. The primary tool of analysis was a model utilizing a stochastic simulator interfaced with both ex ante and ex post linear...

A program of estimates covering eight classes of nursery products and four selected out flowers grown in 5 States was undertaken in late 1956 by the Fruit and Vegetable Statistics Branch of the Agricultural Estimates Division, AMS. The initial survey was an almost complete enumeration with...

The extent to which the tenure status of farm operators affects agricultural e ffciency has interested economists for decades. Different theories dealing with the subject have evolved; but only a few empirical studies have been made to test their validity. This deficiency in agricultural economics...

Empirical studies of plant costs and efficiency always have stressed the importance of both size of plant and length of operating season on the level and shape of the economies of scale curve as well as the technical organization of production implied in it. Because most processing firms are...

Technology creates changes in agriculture that all segments of the agricultural community need to consider to anticipate the resulting impacts. Objectives of the research were to project the size and number of farming operations in eastern Washington and to examine the implications for farm size...