Few studies have been made of how fanners make decisions. Most research and teaching has focused on the decision event, not the whole process. Current knowledge of the decision making process is reviewed and described as a set of eight functions or elements: values and goals, problem detection,...

The objective of this study is to explore the possibilities of improving production and income on small farms through better allocation of resources. It pertains to the area that represents the low potential cereal crops zone (LPCZ) of Ethiopian highlands in the Shoa region. The basic primary...

A linear programming algorithm is presented for determination of farm plans that are efficient under the mean-Gini criterion. Use of the algorithm is illustrated by applying it to a standard problem from the literature. The set of efficient plans is compared with those based on meanvariance and...

This paper investigates the factors responsible for a drastic decline in the growth rate of labor productivity of the agricultural sector for the 1956-90 period. This investigation is carried out by a newly devised procedure which decomposes the growth rate of labor productivity into (1) the...

Economists investigating consumer demand have accumulated considerable evidence showing that consumers generally have subjective preferences for characteristics of products and that their demand for products is significantly affected by their perceptions of the product's attributes. However, the...

A whole farm simulation model, Technology Impact Evaluation System (TIES), was used to assess ex-ante financial and economic impacts of immunization of dairy cattle against East Coast Fever (ECF) by the infection and treatment method (ITM) on smallholder farms from two sites in Kenya. Four...

A wide range of economic analysis of agricultural trade liberalization was performed prior to and during the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations. Views differ as to the effectiveness of this research, although most would agree that it became less relevant as the negotiations progressed. This...

A fairly comprehensive range of planting choices made by maize farmers in Kenya (including discrete endogenous variables creating self-selectivity) is modelled and estimated as one system of interrelated decisions. Two-stage and three-stage probit procedures are used to handle the simultaneity...

Preferences for monetary and non-monetary plant traits influence modem crop variety adoption decisions of farmers. To enhance adoption probability of modem crop varieties, it is necessary to identify and focus research on traits that significantly contribute to utility while de-emphasizing...

This study investigates non-parametrically the optimizing behavior of a sample of 289 Kansas farms under profit-maximization and cost-minimization hypotheses. The study uses both deterministic and stochastic non-parametric tests. The deterministic results do not support strict adherence to...