The paper investigates the linkages between technological change and production risk, with an application to corn. The effects of technology on risk exposure are analyzed. We define technological progress to be risk-increasing (risk-decreasing) if it increases (decreases) the relative risk...

This paper develops a theory of the family farm in conditions of uncertainty where attention is focussed on the labour-input decisions. Specifically, the farm family is faced with two labour decisions, namely with respect to hired labour and to family labour. The framework for analysis is...

We examine the relative influence of preferences and technology on producers' ex ante willingness to pay for a reduction in production risk. A risk averse producer pays both an Arrow-Pratt risk premium to stabilize income and a 'production premium' to stabilize yield. Using soil-nitrate risks as...

Agricultural production is risky. When farmers are risk-averse, they are likely to put a premium on production methods that reduce perceived risks. Irrigation is generally believed to be a riskreducing input. By using the concept of stochastic dominance, risk-efficient irrigation policies for...

A stochastic programming model was used to evaluate the economic performance of a soybean-based farming system in upland Java. The model incorporates farmers' risk preferences, revenue fluctuations and resources restrictions. The results show that (1) changes in risk preference do affect the...

The short-run effects of fungicide application on economic risk and the effects of risk on fungicide use in Swiss wheat production are empirically explored. A quadratic production function model is developed. With the help of the moment-based approach, marginal contributions of fungicides...

Risk and uncertainty have been extensively studied by agricultural economists. In this paper we question (a) the predominant use of static frameworks to formally analyse risk; (b) the predominant focus on risk aversion as the motivation for considering risk and (c) the notion that explicitly...

The objectives of this paper are to develop a measure of risk aversion based on the safety-first principle. The risk coefficient for a large number of farmers was positive indicating the tendency towards gambling in Bangladesh agriculture. Farmers who were near subsistence income (disaster level...

Attention is given to the major methods of assessing risk in order to make choices. The literature frequently reports studies on mean-variance ( E-V) analysis and stochastic dominance rules. Both of these methods are compared, in an agricultural application, with the approach outlined by Hanoch...

A theoretical framework is developed to study the effects of socioeconomic factors on farmers' risk attitudes and production decisions. No maintained assumptions about the individual's utility are required. A key element in this framework is the categorization of socioeconomic factors by their...