The paper investigates the linkages between technological change and production risk, with an application to corn. The effects of technology on risk exposure are analyzed. We define technological progress to be risk-increasing (risk-decreasing) if it increases (decreases) the relative risk...

This paper examines risks and returns associated with soil conservation on hillside farms in the Philippines. Stochastic efficiency analysis is combined with a heteroskedastic regression model to assess the impacts of contour hedgerows on lowincome corn farms. Regression analysis indicates that,...

We examine the relative influence of preferences and technology on producers' ex ante willingness to pay for a reduction in production risk. A risk averse producer pays both an Arrow-Pratt risk premium to stabilize income and a 'production premium' to stabilize yield. Using soil-nitrate risks as...

Theoretical and applied literature on risk in decision making for agricultural pest control is reviewed. Risk can affect pesticide decision making either because of risk aversion or because of its influence on expected profit. It is concluded that risk does not necessarily lead to increased...

In the drier areas of Syria yields of barley, the principal crop, are low. Due to the variability in rainfall, fertilizer use is perceived as risky. Barley-fertilizer trials have been conducted on farmer's fields over a period of four years to investigate whether the large yield response to...

Agricultural production is risky. When farmers are risk-averse, they are likely to put a premium on production methods that reduce perceived risks. Irrigation is generally believed to be a riskreducing input. By using the concept of stochastic dominance, risk-efficient irrigation policies for...

This paper explores the importance of including risk when modeling subsistence-oriented agriculture in a developing nation. The specific objective is to measure the degree of risk aversion for typical farmers in the smallholder traditional agriculture of the Sudan. The procedure followed is to...

A stochastic programming model was used to evaluate the economic performance of a soybean-based farming system in upland Java. The model incorporates farmers' risk preferences, revenue fluctuations and resources restrictions. The results show that (1) changes in risk preference do affect the...

The short-run effects of fungicide application on economic risk and the effects of risk on fungicide use in Swiss wheat production are empirically explored. A quadratic production function model is developed. With the help of the moment-based approach, marginal contributions of fungicides...

A new non-parametric method to estimate a decision maker's coefficient of absolute risk aversion from observed economic behaviour is explained. The method uses the expected value-variance (E-V) framework and quadratic programming. An empirical illustration is given using Norwegian farm-level...