The AAEA Membership: Employment and Mobility Patterns

Abstract

Perceptions of one's profession are very subjective. For agricultural economists this subjectivity is increased because of the diversity of employment opportunities both within the profession and within even the academic component of that profession. Thus, data that can be used to provide more objective views are of interest, making individuals aware of more general patterns within the profession. Both Helmberger and Boddy have provided data on the market situation for agricultural economists in 1970, while Gray (1973a, b) has offered some interesting analyses of changing interest areas within the profession. This note summarizes data obtained in the 1971 survey of members of the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA). The first section summarizes this data to describe general employment patterns of agricultural economists, defined here as members of the AAEA. Then, some characteristics of the mobility of members are considered. Particular interest focuses upon academicians, and several measures examine the extent of inbreeding on faculties of agricultural economics. The AAEA membership data that were published as the HandbookDirectory of the AAEA in 1972 pose several problems for these analyses. Initially, all student members and all incomplete responses were eliminated. The remaining 2,075 members constitute this sample of the agricultural economics profession. It is a biased sample, representing mostly individuals who have obtained advanced degrees. Thus, the analyses should be extrapolated to the profession at large with a great deal of caution. The data constitute a snapshot of the profession, and that picture is now somewhat dated. Consequently, the material presented here is primarily descriptive. Interesting patterns do emerge, however, and these may stimulate others to seek further for explanations.