What is the Value of Agricultural Economics Research?

The output of agricultural economics research is information, much of it aimed at designing or improving institutions. Bayesian decision theory and economic surplus analysis have been suggested as possible approaches to evaluate that information. This article takes a critical look at the strengths and weaknesses of combining those approaches for empirical evaluation of agricultural economics research. It presents three case studies, utilizing prior and posterior probabilities elicited from key decision makers. Direct application of the probabilities to a simple set of states and actions is best suited to situations involving a single policy-making center, or a consensus decision-making process.     

On the foundation of agricultural policy research in the United States

This paper identifies three scientific research programs in agricultural economics. The farm management approach (1870-1933), the farm problem approach (1933-1982) and the domestic and global welfare approach (1982-). In respect to agricultural policy research two competitive research programs developed out of the farm crisis of the 1920s. One program argued for government intervention in agriculture. The other argued for stability in the general economy. The former program degenerated during the 1970s because of countervailing empirical evidence and a change in the understanding of positive economics. The latter program stayed progressive by adding the international dimension and by applying welfare economic analysis. Two other important factors influenced the development of agricultural policy. First, the unique institutional set up of the land grant system in which agricultural economics was founded as an applied science with a bias to help farmers. Second, the convergence of agricultural economics towards general economics that shifted the approach from applied to basic.     

水产养殖经济研究文献综述

水产养殖业不仅是我国、而且是世界重要的食品供给部门,加强水产养殖的经济研究对促进其健康、持续、稳定地发展,保障全球食物供给、促进经济发展、提高从业者收入水平和消费者福利水平都有重要作用。本文在回顾国内外水产养殖经济研究文献的基础上,从研究方法、研究内容、研究品种等方面总结了其特征,指出国外以定量的实证研究、资源优化配置模型的构建等方法,在水产养殖技术经济分析、环境经济与可持续发展研究、资源的优化配置、产业发展战略与政策、水产品市场及其绩效等方面取得了较大进展,在贝类、虾类、三文鱼、罗非鱼、鲤科鱼类等主要养殖品种的经济研究成果尤为丰硕;国内水产养殖经济研究相对于国外同类研究及国内的农业经济研究存在较大差距。最后指出,水产养殖经济的学科构建、捕捞业与养殖业之间的相互关系、产业结构调整与优化、水产养殖生态经济效益、产业经济管理制度与政策研究等方面还存在众多需要突破的领域。     

A pluralistic economics methodology for analysing landrace conservation on farms: a case study of Hungarian home gardens

Crop landraces contribute to food security and agricultural research that supports productivity or enhances product quality. The few extant landraces still grown in Hungary are found in home gardens, which are subsistence-oriented, small-scale family farms managed with traditional practices. A pluralistic economics methodology was developed to analyse the prospects of including landraces and home gardens in Hungary's National Rural Development Plan. The methodology draws from three fields of economic inquiry: institutional economics, environmental economics and agricultural economics. Data were collected using qualitative and quantitative approaches from over 300 farmers across 22 communities in three regions. This paper summarizes the methodology and highlights its advantages. A synopsis of findings is also reported.     

Are returns to research quality lower in agricultural economics than in economics?

We compare effects of research quality and quantity on the salary of academics in agricultural economics and economics departments of the same universities. Agricultural economists get a significantly lower payoff to research quality, whether measured by quality‐weighted journal articles (based on nine different weighting schemes) or by citations. Instead, salary depends on the quantity of journal articles, while article counts have no independent effect on economist salaries. These differences in the reward structure for research are not due to either the extension focus of agricultural economists or to disciplinary differences in publishing with students and instead may reflect institutional factors that govern incentives within universities. One‐third of academics in the agricultural economics departments studied here have doctoral training in economics; the very different disciplinary reward structures may cause frustration for these faculty due to the muted returns to research quality that agricultural economics departments seem to offer.     

Human behavior and the use of experiments to understand the agricultural,resource, and environmental challenges of the XXI century

The use of laboratory¹ experiments in economics, and their later deployment in the field as a tool for exploring how actual decision‐makers respond to information, incentives or institutions has brought a revolution to how we model economic systems, and design policies for them. This new century will bring challenges for the study of agriculture, natural resources and the environment, where it will be necessary to have a better understanding of human behavior, in a world where climate on the one hand, and land, labor and food markets are ever more unstable. This article reviews the intellectual history of a rich dialogue between theory and experiments with a particular focus on its relevance for agricultural, resource and environmental issues. Special attention will be given to the case of common‐pool resources where this dialogue between models, field work and laboratory experiments continues to provide a rich cross‐fertilization for the advance in the understanding of the economic systems that governs these resources. I will close by arguing that agricultural, environmental and resource economists will have to take part of this behavioral revolution by embracing experiments in their teaching, their research and their policy design.     

Going Beyond Impact Factors: A Survey‐based Journal Ranking by Agricultural Economists

A consistent and comprehensive ranking of journals relevant for agricultural economists cannot rely on impact factors for at least two major reasons: (i) the scientific database by Thomson Reuters, on which the standard impact factor is based, includes only a very limited number of relevant journals; (ii) the standard impact factor cannot be compared across research fields of different sizes. Survey‐based journal rankings may overcome these problems. We report on such a survey‐based ranking initiated by the Agricultural Economics Associations of Germany and Austria. Results of the ranking and a classification of journals, i.e. a rating, are provided for 160 selected journals. Scientific quality is assessed by an index based on the researchers’ perception of the quality standards of each journal and of the quality of its published articles. The survey‐based ranking allows a much more comprehensive and consistent ranking than the impact factor, as specific agricultural economics journals can be directly compared with neighbouring economic and interdisciplinary journals to which agricultural economists submit their work. The low impact factors of core agricultural economics journals are put into perspective. The scientific quality of the top agricultural economics journals is assessed as being rather high and above most of the relevant interdisciplinary journals from agricultural and food sciences that are typically characterised by higher impact factors. Agricultural economists’ perceptions on the scientific quality of the journals vary more across journals than perceptions of their relevance.     

基于文献计量视角的国际农业经济研究综述

本文利用VOSviewer、AE、COOC等文献计量工具,基于4374篇来自于WoS网站八种农业经济领域知名期刊2011-2020年发表的学术论文(Article),分析了近十年来国际农业经济研究的热点问题及其演变、高被引论文的主要观点、国际间的合作关系以及国家/地区、机构、个人、期刊的学术影响.中国粮食安全是国际农业...     

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.     

THE ECONOMIC STUDY OF AFRICAN SMALL FARMS; SOME KENYA EXPERIENCES

As a basis for both planning and evaluation, improved statistical information is required on the peasant section of developing economies. Developments made in Kenya since 1960 are discussed, covering the trial of various methodological approaches to the economic study of small farms, and the evolution of satisfactory procedures which can be applied in a large government research organisation in which technical accuracy and efficiency must be combined with administrative simplicity and the quick production at reasonable cost of specific information that is required for economic planning. Consideration is given to full farm business studies, enterprise studies and the collection of agricultural statistics in conditions where the complexities of mixed farming systems create unusual problems.     

我国农业对外投资研究现状及展望

目的 文章梳理了“一带一路”实施中我国农业对外投资的相关研究,总结了研究成果,找出了研究不足并明确了下一步的研究方向。方法 该文重点对“一带一路”实施中我国农业对外投资的研究现状和特征、挑战和风险、作用和效应、对策和建议等问题进行了综述。结果 （1）已有的研究大多从投资产业、区位选择和投资决策等角度对我国农业对外投资进行研究,但对“一带一路”区域整体性,特别对其北线、中线、南线、中心线等分区域农业投资的对比和分析研究较少;（2）已有的研究较多涉及对我国与东道国的GDP、农业产业结构、就业、农产品贸易、技术溢出、区域农业经济及经济发展等社会与经济指标的影响,但从微观角度对我国在外投资企业的研究较少,尤其缺乏相关的案例分析和研究;（3）已有的研究从贸易效应、技术进步效应、就业效应等角度分析了我国农业对外投资的经济效应,但相应的系统效果模型研究较少。结论 （1）该文提出应对中国与“一带一路”沿线国家农业投资进行整体性研究,并分析和比较“一带一路”北线、中线、南线、中心线的投资特点;（2）应以我国在境外设立的农业企业的一手数据为依托,通过微观角度总结我国农业对外投资的现状和特点,从机遇和挑战两个方面分析当前我国农业对外投资的形势,并在此基础上提出推进我国农业对外投资的相关建议;（3）应建立系统性的利用模型来评价我国农业对外投资的经济效应、社会效应和生态效应,总结当前农业投资的效果,归纳目前存在的问题,并从宏观上提出我国农业对外投资研究的对策建议。     

Estimating overall returns to international agricultural research in Africa through benefit-cost analysis: a "best-evidence" approach

This study offers a "best evidence" approach to summarizing recent benefit-cost analyses of international agricultural research in Africa. First, from an extensive literature review and the resulting global inventory of impact studies, 23 studies are identified that calculate aggregate rates of return for Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and partner investments in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These studies are then appraised against a review framework consisting of principles, criteria, and indicators for study rigor. Subsequently, the economic benefits reported by studies grouped on the basis of its analytical rigor are aggregated and set against total investment by the CGIAR and national agricultural research systems to determine if the total investment to date can be justified by documented benefits under a range of assumptions. As a result, the study finds that aggregate investment is justified under a fairly wide range of suppositions. Under all scenarios, the vast majority of documented benefits stem from a relatively limited array of activities with a majority of benefits stemming from biological control (80%). Close to 20% of total benefits result from crop genetic improvement, and less than 1% result from all other activities. The implications of these results for research investment strategies in SSA and impact assessment are discussed.     

农业水价效应研究进展

[目的]中国是农业大国,也是灌溉大国,农业水价的变化对农业影响较大。文章阐述了国内外农业水价效应的研究进展。[方法]农业水价效用是指农民在消费水资源时对农业水价的满足程度,由于农业用水是准公共物品,具有明显的外部性,农业水价效用体现在水价变化对农户用水行为的引导以及由此导致的节水技术采用,种植结构调整等生产方式方面的改变、以及对农民收入影响及思想观念方面的作用等。[结果]国内主要通过需求弹性等方法分析了农业水价变化对农业节水、农业生产、农民收入、粮食安全等方面的影响,国外专家通过建立数学模型分析农业水价对农户行为、经济价值及管理体制的变化。[结论]该文探讨了农业水价效应研究存在的问题,即农业水价效应宏观性不足、研究缺乏完善指标体系、水价效应滞后性关注不足。提出了农业水价效应研究发展趋势:(1)拓展视角,从宏观角度观察;(2)建立完善的农业水价效应评价指标体系;(3)结合改革,关注农业水价长期效应。     

An Organisational Discussion of Incomplete Contracting and Transaction Costs in Conservation Contracts

Conservation in the agricultural sector is difficult to achieve. A primary complicating factor in achieving conservation is the large number of public good environmental services provided by large numbers of individuals acting under diverse economic and ecological conditions. The complexity of the problem implies that additional consideration must be given to transaction cost economics and the theory of incomplete contracting. Drawing on insights from organisational economics, this paper argues that conservation policy and research could be improved with explicit consideration of the effects of ‘holdup problems’, transaction costs and trust on the provision of conservation services. ‘Bottom‐up’ approaches are promising as they directly incorporate these organisational issues, and the paper concludes with an example of a ‘bottom‐up’ conservation programme, the Ontario Environmental Farm Planning programme.     

中国海洋经济计量研究的最新进展

近年来,我国学者对海洋经济的研究进入了新的发展时期,有关海洋经济的数量化研究也日趋复杂和成熟。文章借鉴经济计量学的理论方法,界定了海洋经济计量学的概念,阐述了海洋经济计量学的理论体系和方法体系,在此基础上,针对我国海洋经济计量研究的新特点,对我国海洋经济计量研究进行了阶段划分,并系统总结海洋经济计量研究的最新进展。研究发现:海洋经济计量研究已经初步形成,科研力量持续加强,学术成果不断涌现,目前我国海洋经济计量研究的发展可分为萌芽、起步、形成三个阶段,未来将呈现出研究范畴的宏观化与微观化、研究方法的多元化与交叉化的发展趋势。     

乡村振兴背景下中部地区农业经济—社会—生态现代化时空耦合协调关系研究

[目的]基于可持续发展视角,从经济、社会和生态3个维度构建了农业现代化协调发展评价指标体系,对中部地区农业现代化的发展水平和协调程度进行了系统研究,以期为乡村振兴背景下中部地区农业的优质高效发展提供一定参考。[方法]文章采用综合评价法、熵值赋权法和耦合协调度模型对中部地区农业现代化的综合水平及经济、社会、生态3个系统的耦合协调度进行了定量测度和对比分析。[结果]2007—2017年中部地区农业现代化水平呈逐年提升的态势,经济、社会、生态方面均有不同程度的增长,发展增幅表现为社会经济生态的总体态势;研究期间3个系统的发展始终保持在[0.800,1.000]的高度耦合状态,耦合协调度在0.554～0.779波动,由勉强协调发展为中级协调,协调质量总体由低水平向高水平方向迈进;各地区3个系统发展的进程并不同步,短板类型总体沿着"社会滞后—经济滞后—生态滞后"的轨迹演变。[结论]中部地区农业现代化发展的耦合协调关系总体趋于不断优化,生态环境的恶化逐渐成为多数省份农业现代化高质量协调发展的主要障碍因素。     

农业经济学与数学

从学科科学化进展的角度,讨论了农业经济学日益数学语言化的必然趋势。一方面论述了农业经济学依赖数学成为常规科学的历程,另一方面展望了这个学科继续运用数学发展自己的前景。讨论的基本出发点是现代农业经济学与数学的本质联系;焦点是农业经济学基础理论的科学化;主要结论是:以基础理论形式化为标志的农业经济学的科学化,必将更加依赖数学,更加有效地运用数学,才能更加有效地揭示规律,发展本学科的深层智慧。     

Macroeconomics and Undergraduate Agricultural Economics

This paper focuses on macroeconomics in undergraduate agricultural economics curricula. We briefly review some of what leaders in the agricultural economics and economics professions, macroeconomics teachers, and textbook authors say about what is important, what should be taught and learned in modern undergraduate macroeconomics courses. We also report on a survey of faculty of agricultural economics departments who have responsibility for undergraduate instruction in 50 U.S. agricultural economics undergraduate programs. The surveys provide information on the current status of economics courses in their programs and the relative importance of different macroeconomic subjects to students in undergraduate agricultural economics.     

研究海洋经济 发展海洋产业

海洋经济是以海洋资源为基础、海洋产业为关键、沿海区域的社会经济的全面发展为目的一项系统工程。为确保海洋经济的全面、持续、协调、稳定地发展,必须对海洋资源、海洋产业、海洋经济及其关联性进行科学地再认识;并设计科学的、规范的指标体系,对海洋经济活动的行为及效果进行科学地评价     

2013年土地科学研究进展评述及2014年展望 ——农用地保护分报告

研究目的：归纳分析2013年国内外农用地保护方面的研究进展,展望未来研究趋势。研究方法：文献统计法。研究结果：2013年国内农用地保护研究比较侧重于耕地保护、农用地多功能价值分析与测算、耕地集约利用、耕地质量管控等方面,国外则侧重于生物多样性保护等方面的研究。研究结论：国内外由于制度和发展阶段的不同,农用地保护研究的内容和重点也有所差异,未来国外将会注重情景分析、农用地生物多样性、农民意愿等方面的研究,国内则将会注重耕地集约利用新技术和新机制、耕地保护产权经济机制、农用地生态功能保护制度建设、农用地质量建设途径等方面的研究。