Agricultural Economics Profession Research Articles

Determinants of Agricultural Economics Faculty Retirement

AbstractThe retirement experiences of faculty who had retired from 1862 land grant universities are described. Health, financial, family, and professional characteristics of early retirees are contrasted to those of late retirees. Determinants of faculty retirement are identified in the context of a general retirement model. Model results indicate that years‐of‐service to retirement programs, number of children, mental health, health trends, age at initial employment, and faculty‐spouse age differences are positively related to retirement age. Salary levels, net worth, and extension appointments are inversely related to retirement age. Implications of recent changes in the agricultural economics profession on expected retirement behavior are discussed.

Professional Diversity in Agricultural Economics: Salvation or Suicide?

The theme of my address is diversity in the profession of agricultural economics. I address diversity as a response, a strategy, not as an end in itself but as a conscious approach by ag economists in land grant universities seeking a useful role in the future.I chose this theme because I am genuinely concerned about our future in the 1862 and 1890 land grants. I acknowledge up front that not all ag economists work in land grant universities but all have a stake in them as our primary reservoir of human capital. Most practicing ag economists have roots in a land grant university and depend on their products for “new blood” in business or government. My interest in diversity has been influenced by the writings of several prominent ag economists, reviewed briefly below, by recent conversations with Jim Hildreth, John Holt, and Jim Bonnen regarding the future of the land grants and by personal observations of the painful manifestations of tensions within departments in the South and elsewhere as faculty try to position themselves for an uncertain future.

An Assessment of the Agricultural Economics Profession

I' U I r. t DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL AND RESOURCE ECONOl\1ICS ~ .----. DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES lE- NIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA .?d-- 8CvlCeLtVC'J ' WORKING PAPER NO. 509 AN ASSESSMENT OF TIIE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS PROFESSION by Richard E. Just and Gordon C. Rausser California Agricultural Experiment Station Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics August, 1989

Sustainable Development: Challenges to Profession of Agricultural Economics

Fundamentally, sustainable development is a notion of discipline... disciplining our current consumption. This sense of intergenerational responsibility is a new political principle, a virtue that must now guide economic growth. The industrial world has already used so much of the planet's ecological capital that the sustainability of future life is in doubt. That can't continue. -Brundtland, page 5

Low‐Input/Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education—Challenges to the Agricultural Economics Profession

Over the past decade, a number of different terms have been used to describe agricultural technologies that seek to substitute management and scientific knowledge for synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers-terms such as organic, regenerative, alternative, sustainable, and reduced-input have become widely used in various contexts (Wagstaff; Lowrance, Hendrix, and Odum). The term is used in California and other states to describe their new research and education programs. The term low-input has become the latest entry in the vocabulary of agricultural technology because this term is used in the FY 1988 federal appropriations legislation. Low-input/sustainable agriculture encompasses a wide array of approaches to farming that reduce the farmer's dependence on certain kinds of purchased inputs in ways that increase profits, reduce environmental hazards, and ensure a more sustainable agriculture for generations to come. Low-input farming methods range from release of exotic natural enemies to rather commonplace methods such as controlling weeds by mechanical cultivation and crop rotations. Also included in this category are various integrated pest management strategies such as biological control of pests through enhancement of natural enemies, use of legume crops in place of some purchased fertilizers, and application of livestock manures and compost. A low-input/sustainable farming system is a combination and sequence of low-input farming methods or technologies integrated into a whole-farm managerial plan. While many of the concepts underlying low-input farming methods have been known for decades or even centuries, the essence of this approach is not a reversion to the technologies of previous decades or centuries but a combination of the best of modern agricultural science and technology with the practical experience of farmers who are profitably substituting management for most or all of their purchased inputs of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertiliz-

NO FIXED ADDRESS—PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

After an initial excursion into the role of Presidential Addresses, the author examines the growth and shape of the agricultural economics profession in the UK suggesting that, over nearly one hundred years, there have been four distinct phases — and that we might be on the threshold of a fifth. The one thread that has run through this entire history is farm management and some recent developments in the field — in particular the need for net margins as well as gross margins — are examined. The address closes with some personal reflections on ‘being an agricultural economist’.

Natural resource management and the use of multiple criteria decision-making techniques: A review

This paper attempts to improve the awareness in the agricultural economics profession of the potential role that multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques can play in analyzing problems involving several objectives. Important applications of the MCDM techniques to planning and management problems in fisheries, forestry, water, and land resources are reviewed, and some 150 applications are brought together to provide a unified source of reference. Copyright 1987 by Oxford University Press.

A Perspective on the Market for Agricultural Economists: Background, Trends, and Issues

This paper summarizes broad trends in the market for and training of agricultural economists, models of professional labor markets, and key issues facing the agricultural economics profession. The number of U.S. Ph.D. agricultural economists grew at a 7 percent rate during 1973 to 1983. An increasing share of them are being employed in business-industry. Some issues facing the profession are: potential imbalance in Ph.D.s supplied and demanded, type and quality of graduate education needed to meet diverse job roles of doctorates, demand growth potential for masters level agricultural economists.

U. S. Agriculture at a Crossroads: Implications for Agricultural Economics

United States agriculture is at a crossroads. The current financial crisis in agriculture eventually will force the farm sector to follow one of two general directions for the future. One of those courses is to retreat from reliance on export markets, the loss of which triggered the current farm financial crisis, and to return to greater reliance on domestic demand. The other course is to return to a world market orientation, regain export markets lost during the 1980s, and develop and exploit a growing world demand for agricultural commodities. Each of these alternatives implies a different future for United States agriculture and a different future for the Agricultural Economics profession.

Public Policy, the Exchange Rate, and Agricultural Exports: Discussion

During the past twelve years, the volatile behavior of exchange rates has occupied the attention of economic policy makers because exchange rates directly influence such important economic phenomena as inflation, interest rates, and international competitiveness. In today's highly integrated world economic system, exchange rates are particularly important to export-oriented sectors like U.S. agriculture. In spite of the potential significance of exchange rate changes to U.S. agricultural trade, the agricultural economics profession has begun rather slowly to investigate and empirically test some basic hypotheses relating to flexible exchange rates and agricultural trade. The three papers presented in this session discuss several aspects of the exchange rateagricultural trade relationship. The Batten and Belongia paper is an empirical study of the role real exchange rates play in affecting agricultural exports and of the factors that explain real exchange rates. Their empirical analysis consists of an estimated U.S. agricultural export equation where foreign real income, U.S. real agricultural prices, and the real trade-weighted exchange rate are the explanatory variables. Next, the authors present an equation that utilizes the real interest rate differential and the cumulative current account balance as the basic determinants of the real exchange rate of the dollar.

Prospects and Some Policy Problems of Agricultural Development in China: Discussion

What is an outsider to make of the recent changes in Chinese agriculture? By outsider I do not mean scholars--the Western academics and specialists whose profession is the study of China. I mean people like myself, who are lucky to get the order straight for fried rice in a Chinese restaurant in Boston. What stake does the broader agricultural economics profession have in the Chinese experience? My answer to these questions reflects a personal perspective and background that should be put directly on the table. I have visited China three times in ten years and have written about what I saw and learned. My main interests are food policy in Asia with a strong focus on Indonesia, and I am particularly interested in the world rice market. I look to the Chinese experience for comparative lessons on the impact of alternative policy approaches to agricultural development and the feeding of a nation's people, and to the spillover of Chinese supply and demand for basic grains into international commodity markets. China scholars have found it hard to provide insights on either of these issues because there is relatively little interaction between specialists on Chinese agriculture and the rest of the agricultural development profession. There are several plausible reasons for this. First, to the scholars who really understand the details of the Chinese experience there might not appear to be any lessons for other countries worth mentioning. From this point of view, the Chinese case is unique and should be studied for its own sake, not for any broader lessons to be learned. Second, the entry barriers to serious scholarship on China are extremely high. Not only is the language one of the world's most difficult to learn, but source materials are scattered, inconsistent, and often badly biased or even fraudulent. Anybody who can clear these research hurdles will

Shifting Foundations of Agricultural Policy Analysis When Risk Markets Are Incomplete: Discussion

American Journal of Agricultural EconomicsVolume 67, Issue 5 p. 1020-1021 Invited Papers Session Shifting Foundations of Agricultural Policy Analysis When Risk Markets Are Incomplete: Discussion Randall A. Kramer, Randall A. Kramer associate professor Department of Agricultural Economics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Randall A. Kramer, Randall A. Kramer associate professor Department of Agricultural Economics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 December 1985 https://doi.org/10.2307/1241365AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume67, Issue5December 1985Pages 1020-1021 RelatedInformation

Role of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association in Extension

In a recent discussion by three Fellows of else, is an aid to understanding and making the American Agricultural Economics Assocomplex economic decisions. ciation (AAEA), it was observed that if the Four types of change will likely preoccupy Land-Grant University System were to be creour profession over the next two decades: ated today, there would be no extension * internationalization, component. For those involved in the dis* technology, cussion, this was not a matter of controversy. * industrialization, and It was fact. That is a sobering thought for * resource mix. one who has committed a major share of his None of these forces is new to agriculture. professional career to extension education. Yet, each presents unique, new challenges Questioning of the relevance of extension for extension educators and for researchers in today's agriculture throws a whole new attempting to serve their needs. perspective on the issue of the role of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Internationalization (SAEA) in extension. Therefore, one is comNearly a decade ago, Schuh (1976) chalpelled to analyze a set of broader issues relenged the profession to come to grips with lating to the relevance and role of extension the realities of an open world economy. At in today's agriculture before drawing any the time, driven by a weak dollar and a tight conclusions regarding the role of the SAEA supply-demand balance, exports were growin extension. These include: ing on a path from $7 billion to a peak of • a review of the major forces affecting over $40 billion in 1981. The profession was agriculture out of which research and warned that agriculture had entered a new extension problems will evolve, era with macroeconomics and international * an analysis of the resulting challenges policies having a profound impact on agrito the Land-Grant System (hereinafter culture and its institutions. A specific chalreferred to as the System) and particulenge was made to extension regarding the larly to extension, and need to educate farmers, farm leaders, and * a refinement of those challenges for the policymakers on the factors affecting trade. agricultural economics profession. The predicted profound impact, indeed, Subsequently, implications will be drawn for has become a reality. Farmers, agribusinessthe role of the SAEA in extension education. men, economists, and policymakers alike have This approach is taken at the risk of not been forced to direct their thinking to the treating any of these topics in sufficient depth forces of a weak and subsequently a strong to be meaningful. The paper might, therefore dollar, from high inflation to low inflation, be viewed more as providing a basis for furand from a low to a high real rate of interest. ther discussion than for provision of definiThe importance of understanding these ecotive answers. nomic forces was emphasized to every agriculturalist-teacher, researcher, and extension worker.

Technological Change, Government Policies, and Exhaustible Resources in Agriculture

Study and analysis of agricultural policies are some of the main research efforts of the agricultural economics profession. Over the years, a conventional wisdom regarding the unique features of the agricultural sector and agricultural policies has been evolved (Brandow). This conventional wisdom draws heavily from notions advanced in development economics, international trade, and microeconomics; it pays little attention to resource economics considerations. This is true

International Farm Prices and the Social Cost of Cheap Food Policies: Comment

Peterson's original paper (see WAERSA 21, 5621) supports the increasingly popular belief in the agricultural economics profession that government policies have reduced agricultural production in LDCs. Policy implications are that LDCs could raise production by improving domestic agricultural incentives, especially output prices. McIntire argues that this view, as quantified in Peterson's paper, can be seriously misleading (in terms of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa) because (a) it is based on a misinterpretation of the price data, (b) it obscures the market structure of many countries, (c) it groups African countries with others where agricultural supply functions are probably more price elastic; (d) it obscures the role of foreign trade. He argues also that actual prices received by farmers in LDCs are higher than those reported by FAO and used by Peterson. In reply Peterson restates his plea that countries would be better served if policy makers regarded the long run aggregate agricultural supply elasticity to be elastic rather than inelastic in making policy decisions.

Echanges commerciaux de produits agricoles : conflits et compromis

The open and rule-oriented world agricultural trading system is deteriorating due to the recession and its embodied weaknesses. The patterns of trade flows are mainly influenced by state policies and the Kennedy Round and Tokyo Round Negotiations have failed to make agricultural trade more liberal. Both GATT and OECD Secretariats are carrying studies that may clarify the issues for future negotiations. The current pressure for change comes from US discontent with its world agricultural trade and the EC policy is caught under fire. The types of measure able to alleviate the disputes and help solving some of the Agricultural trade problems are reviewed. The agricultural economics profession should feel concerned with developping analyses, theoretical and empirical, so that negotiators are better informed. National policies are most important for agricultural trade and domestic farm programs need to be scrutinized.

Agricultural Economics Beyond the Farm Gate

The industrialization of American agriculture during the past three decades has diminished farm numbers and the farm population. While total agricultural production has increased, the input, finance, service, processing, transportation, and distribution industries surrounding production agriculture have now become the dominant economic components of the food and agriculture system. The transformation of production agriculture from a major economic sector of the U.S. economy to minor status has been in progress since the founding days of the Republic, but has received impetus in the post-World War II era via the technological revolution involving mechanical, chemical, biological, and managerial innovations on the farm. What has emerged from this process is a highly interdependent subsystem of the U.S. economy for providing food and fiber for consumers at home and abroad. Agricultural scientists, including agricultural economists, have tended to place undue emphasis upon the technological, economic, and social aspects of production agriculture as the food and fiber system changed over time. While public investments in research and education for the production side of agriculture are admittedly inadequate, the lack of attention to the technological and economic problems of the balance of the food and fiber system is deplorable. In terms of value added, employment, or other measures of economic importance, the food and fiber system beyond the farm gate is roughly twice that of production agriculture. More significantly, productivity and inflation problems beyond the farm gate have affected national economic performance more persistently than gyrations in the farm economy per se. The overall purpose of this paper is to challenge agricultural economists and policy makers to think about some important issues facing our contemporary economic system. This emphasis does not mean that farm production economics is unimportant or unnecessary. It is argued, however, that changes are needed within the agricultural economics profession to deal with a large number of significant economic problems and concerns beyond the farm gate.

The Changing Professional Role of the Extension Economist: Discussion

Wallace has given an administrative view of the changing professional role of the extension economist. Rather than critique that administrative viewpoint specifically, this comment deals with the same subject from the viewpoint of an agricultural economist in a state extension specialist role. The two views combined give a better overall picture of potential changes than could either alone. It is tempting to begin this comment with an enumeration of the many technological changes currently in progress that will have far-reaching implications for extension programming. But, implications of telecommunications advances alone would quickly exhaust the available space. Instead, it may be more useful to deal in general terms with a broad range of factors that will create both constraints and opportunities for extension economists in the future. The changing role of the extension professional will be defined by the ways in which the profession deals with those future constraints and opportunities. First, it may be useful to define the professional role of extension economists. There may be legitimate disagreement on the adequacy of any single definition. But, it would seem that any definition of role should begin with a definition of the profession within which that role is performed. Agricultural economics is a profession which combines the discipline of economics with the field of agriculture. In more recent years, the field of application has been expanded to include rural resource development as well as agriculture. In general, professions apply principles and concepts from the physical and social sciences to solve problems and exploit opportunities. Agricultural economists bring the full set of economic principles and concepts to bear in their specific field of application. Thus, agricultural economics is a profession rather than a subdiscipline of economics. The term extension identifies a set of processes used by a subsector of the agricultural economics profession. Extension agricultural economics is not a separate profession. The Smith-Lever Act of 1962 is the current author-

IS THERE A FRENCH SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS?

The particular history of French agriculture and the general intellectual environment in France have given the agricultural economics profession in that country a specific character which, in spite of many internal controversies, is illustrated by common beliefs about agriculture and common attitudes regarding research approaches contrasting with that of the profession in many other countries, including Britain.After the second world war, the development of agricultural economics was marked by the demise of ‘ruralism’, an ideology of agrarian fundamentalism, and its replacement by ‘productivism’, an ideology emphasizing economic growth and based on a simplified neo‐classical paradigm. The surge of Marxism and dissatisfaction with the results of the policies advocated by the productivists led to a questioning of that paradigm. As a result, major hypotheses, theoretical issues, and concepts too often taken for granted in France and elsewhere should be re‐examined.

A Comparison of the Rank and Salary of Male and Female Agricultural Economists

The Committee on Opportunities for and Status of Women in Agricultural Economics was established by the Executive Board of the American Agricultural Economics Association in July 1980. The charge the committee was to ascertain the opportunities, role, and status of women in agricultural economics.1 Two important determinants of status within the profession are rank and salary. The objectives of this paper are, first, develop a profile of women within the agricultural economics profession. The distribution of female agricultural economists by type ofjob, level of education, and among academics, tenure status, is analyzed along with data on salaries, experience, and research productivity. Second, the relative rank of women within the profession is explored by comparing profile data of male and female AAEA members. Finally, a model is developed determine if significant salary differentials exist between men and women of comparable rank. Conclusions about the current status of women in agricultural economics are presented.