Production and cost functions have long been recognized as vital components of economic analyses relating to the individual firm. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, beginning with the pioneering work of T V. J. Spillman, has been a continuing participant in their empiric and theoretical...

A modified Sims' test which bypasses the traditional Aristotelian causality can be used to determine the appropriate causal ordering among Important economic variables This test can provide valuable insight into many economic relationships, thereby providing additional information for policy...

In many analyses of profit maximization, attention is directed to large herds and specialization in milk production. Why then do some farmers persist in keeping small dairy herds even when prices for Grade B milk become quite low? This article shows that even with relatively low prices for milk...

This article investigates the possibilities of including policy choices directly into a sector model that simulates an economic equilibrium It uses a mathematical programming framework because these models have wide applicability in agricultural sector analysis The objective function is...

Changes over time in consumer demand, influenced by advertising, may not be accounted for in traditional, fixed parameter explanatory and forecasting models. A distributed lagged advertising model was developed and tested with coefficients that had random and systematic adjustments. A variable...

Variations in individual fann characteristics and behavior of farm operators are taken into account in a procedure for estimating production potentials of agricultural areas. The procedure combines sampling and programming techniques. It differs from the purely synthetic approach, or the...

Four computerized data systems used in USDA are described, each in one part of a four-part article. The four systems are (1) an official estimates data base for agricultural statistics, (2) a remote access system for firm enterprise data, (3) the Land and Water Resources and Economic Modeling...

As part of an expanded research program begun about 2 years ago by the Agricultural Estimates Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, pilot interview farm surveys were conducted in 10 Southern States during June 1954 and June 1955, and will be continued, in an effort to develop an improved...

Collection of data for economics studies frequently is a time-consuming and expensive process. This is particularly true of studies of plants that process and distribute agricultural products. During the last 2 years the Agricultural Marketing Service has been experimenting with a low-cost...

In this workshop the participants identified five priority areas of concern relative to sustainable management of groundwater irrigation by farmers:1) aquifer drawdown; 2) FMIS groundwaterwater support services, 3) management problems under water-surplus conditions; 4) management problems under...