The implications of alternative disturbance specifications in supply functions have been considered in recent theoretical work but little, if any, empirical evidence has been provided on such specifications. Any empirical investigation of the nature of a supply function disturbance is hampered...

Analysis of actual observations of response processes is a routine procedure in applied econometrics but methods of dealing with purely subjective probability distributions as response 'data' have seemingly not hitherto been worked out. The models and methods developed here go some way to...

Few attempts have been made to estimate production functions for the Australian grazing industries. The question of the nature of the effect of input levels on production risk has been broached even more rarely. Previous investigators had to employ models and methods of estimation which embody...

While the role of technical change in agriculture is seen differently by protagonists of different theories of development, the processes of technology generation and uptake are widely seen as progressive. In this vein, agricultural technology assessment is seen as contributing to research...

Interdependence has always been central to economics but assumes pressing importance for agricultural economists as they deal with industrialising agricultures. Continued unresolvable uncertainties, when properly recognised, also add to the challenge of relevant work in agricultural economics....

Attitudes toward risk are explored for a sample of rice growers on small farms in Nepal, in the context of the subjective expected utility maximisation model. Farmers are found to be generally averse to risk, with diverse levels of absolute risk aversion that tend to diminish as wealth...

Variable performance over time is an important feature of wool growing in the eastern pastoral zone of Australia. An analysis of time series data from the Australian Sheep Industry Survey indicates that standard deviation of net farm income is related more or less linearly to size of firm and...

Risk is often perceived by farmers as being more formidable in new technologies emanating from agricultural research than in more traditional practices. Consequently risk may tend to act as an impediment to adoption of improved practices as well as a general friction on efficient use of...

Decision analysis, the practice of Bernoullian decision theory and Bayesian statistics, is reviewed in relation to its application in management. Aspects of the scaling of beliefs (probabilities) and preferences (utilities) are discussed, focussing on practical problems. It is concluded that the...