In this paper, we assess how production costs and capital accumulation patterns in agriculture have evolved over time, by paying special attention to the influence of risk. A dynamic state-contingent cost-minimisation approach is applied to assess production decisions in US agriculture over the...

Technical information on the production of an externality can be included in a dual profit function to yield insight into the effects of a tax on the externality. The methodology is applied to a tax on nitrogen surplus in the context of future mineral policies for Dutch arable farms. In future...

We analyse farmers' choice between three discrete occupational options: (1) exit and close down the farming operation; (2) exit and transfer the farm to a new entrant; (3) continue farming and retain the option to exit later. The optimisation problem is formulated as a recursive optimal stopping...

This paper examines the regional, farm specific and sectoral effects of the new CAP regime for cereals and oilseeds (CO) with a simulation model of Dutch arable farming. The model is estimated with panel data on Dutch arable farms over the period 1970-1992. Simulation results are aggregated for...

The economic literature on pest control exclusively assumes a non-negative marginal product of pesticides based on a monotonic non-decreasing function of damage abatement, which may bias pesticide productivity estimates. This paper proposes a specification that allows for a negative marginal...

Generalised maximum entropy methods are used to estimate a dual model of production on panel data of Dutch cash crop farms over the period 1970-1992. The generalised maximum entropy approach allows a coherent system of input demand and output supply equations to be estimated for each farm in the...

This paper examines control measures for improving food safety in the dairy chain, using an integer linear programming model. The chain includes feed (compound feed production and delivery), farm (dairy farm) and dairy processing (transport and processing of raw milk, delivery of pasteurised...

This paper uses data envelopment analysis to compute overall technical and input-specific technical efficiency measures of conventional and organic farms in Finland. Moreover, productivity measures are determined, indicating differences in technology employed by organic and conventional farms....

This paper derives output technical efficiency from a dual system of input demand and output supply equations using the concept of virtual prices. The underlying production function is firm-specific through intercept terms and slope parameters. The approach is used to decompose total factor...