David L. Debertin

Why Farmers Quit: A County-Level Analysis

We identify the effects of alternative explanatory variables on the propensity of U.S. farmers to cease farming, with a particular emphasis on understanding the roles of off-farm employment and federal farm program payments. Conventional ordinary least squares analysis using all counties suggests that off-farm employment has no statistical effect on the (net) number of farmers quitting between 1987 and 1997, ceteris paribus. A more refined analysis, which separates counties losing farmers from those that gained farmers, reveals subtle and less clear-cut effects of off-farm employment (and federal program payments) on farm exits. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.

Rural Population Decline in the 1980s: Impacts of Farm Structure and Federal Farm Programs

Federal farm program benefits accrue disproportionately to large-scale farm operators, and continue largely because of the political influence of their beneficiaries. Some writers argue that these payments stem the movement of labor out of agriculture, ultimately reducing the pace of rural depopulation. Here, a theoretical model linking farm program payments to population loss is presented and empirically estimated for the years 1980–90. Larger farm program payments as a share of total cash marketing receipts were associated with greater population losses from rural counties. This result holds after controlling for other economic variables affecting population migration from rural areas. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.

Choosing between Alternative Farming Systems: An Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process

When using analytical tools to make decisions, farmers frequently complement formal analysis with personal experience, judgement, and intuition as part of the decision-making process. The array of analytical decision aids available to farmers is expanding. Although some of these decision aids are more complex than others, nearly all are based on a rigorous analysis of factual information and quantitative data (Downey and Erickson). This article illustrates the application of a decision model called the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), to a problem in farm-level decision making. AHP is based on the principle that decision-maker knowledge and experience are as valuable within the decision-making process as are quantitative data and information from other sources. In AHP

Impacts of technological change on factor substitution between energy and other inputs within US agriculture, 1950–79

Abstract Past efforts to estimate elasticities of substitution between inputs both in and out of agriculture have usually made use of a single data set to provide the elasticities between the input pairs, and have led to highly conflicting results, particularly with respect to the substitution between capital or machinery and energy. This study reveals that the elasticity of substitution between a number of input pairs in agriculture can vary by substantial amounts depending on the time period used for the estimation. Energy in agriculture, which was a complement for machinery in the 1950s, was a substitute by the 1970s.

HUMAN CAPITAL, INCOME, AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: A STATE-LEVEL ANALYSIS

An empirical analysis reveals that states with more highly educated populations have better environmental conditions, after controlling for income, population density, and industrial composition. The strategy of raising human capital stocks to maintain or improve environmental quality is proposed as a complement, if not an alternative, to direct government intervention, which consists of command and control, market incentives, and moral suasion. Under this approach, general education becomes the control variable that guides economic behavior in a manner consistent with long-term environmental sustainability.

Research in agricultural economics 1919-1990: seventy-two years of change

In this article, we trace the historical development of analytical (quantitative) research techniques used in empirical agricultural economics research by examining the articles in volumes of the Journal of Farm Economics (JFE) and the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (AJAE) from its inception in 1919 to 1990, a total of 72 years. We first determine for each article whether or not empirical results were obtained and then identified the particular quantitative technique employed in order to obtain the results. Then articles are classified with respect to the type of quantitative technique employed. As we reviewed the literature, we attempt to identify studies which marked the first appearance of a particular quantitative method in a JFE or AJAE article. We analyze key trends and illustrate them with a series charts to reveal changes in quantitative techniques used by researchers in writing for the JFE and AJAE. Finally, we explore the implications of these trends for future agricultural economics research.

Regional Economic Growth And Income Distribution: County-Level Evidence From The U.S. South

Changes in income distribution are estimated for the U.S. South over the 1970 and 1980 decades using Gini coefficients for county-level, real family income. To explicitly investigate causal relationships between economic growth and inequality, a two-stage least squares model was estimated. In the 1970s, more rapid increases in inequality were associated with a reduced income growth rate, ceteris paribus, while in the 1980s, the opposite was true. Faster rates of income growth were associated with more rapid increases in inequality during the 1980s, but rates of income growth had no effect on changes in inequality during the 1970s.

SOIL EROSION, INTERTEMPORAL PROFIT, AND THE SOIL CONSERVATION DECISION

This study developed an intertemporal profit function to determine optimal conservation adoption strategies under alternative scenarios with respect to crop prices, relative yields, discount rates, and other assumptions. Special emphasis was placed on determining from the analysis when the switchover from conventional to soil-conserving practices should take place. Technological change was incorporated by allowing crop yields to vary over time. Our analysis thus provides a new, more precise measurement of the cumulative net benefit differential. The optimal period for switchover from conventional to soil-conservating practices was found to vary depending on the assumptions made about corn prices and discount rates. Empirical results were based on an erosion damage function (EDF) for Western Kentucky corn production.

Managerial form, ownership and efficiency: a case-study of Argentine agriculture

In agriculture, studies dealing with the separation of ownership from control have focused on sharecropping, paying little attention to the impact of management and ownership on efficiency. Using Argentine data, this study tests the hypothesis that efficiency is a function of type of management, concentration of ownership, and mechanisms for monitoring managers. Results show that management, ownership and monitoring have a greater impact on marketing efficiency than either on technical or cost efficiency.

Estimating Linear Probability Functions: A Comparison of Approaches

A linear probability function permits the estimation of the probability of the occurrence or non-occurrence of a discrete event. Nerlove and Press (p. 3–9) outline several statistical problems that arise if such a function is estimated via OLS. In particular, heteroskedasticity inherent in such a regression model leads to inefficient estimates of parameters (Amemiya 1973, Horn and Horn). Moreover, without restrictions on the conventional OLS model, probability estimates lying outside the unit (0–1) interval are possible (Nerlove and Press). Goldberger and Kmenta suggest two approaches for alleviating the heteroskedasticity problems inherent in the OLS regression model. Logit analysis will also alleviate heteroskedasticity problems and ensure that estimated probabilities will lie within the unit interval (Amemiya 1974, Hauck and Donner, Hill and Kau, Horn and Horn, Horn, Horn, and Duncan, Theil 1970).