Recently, several studies compared the performance of conventional and organic farms. Most studies concentrated on technical efficiency. In this paper we add to this literature by also comparing the scale efficiency of conventional and organic milk farms in Austria during the period 1997-2002....

In most industrialized countries farmers as a small and well-organized group are able to influence government decisions to get rent-creating proposals enacted. Two different views are presented to explain why: the Chicagoan view ("Efficient Redistribution Hypothesis") and the Virginian view...

In this paper I improve Gardner's surplus transformation curve framework by assuming that governments are able to vary many policy instruments simultaneously instead of only one. I use my framework to find the combination of the currently used instruments which provides the most efficient income...

Since most agricultural programs employ two or more policy instruments simultaneously, it is notable that little research has attempted to find optimal instrument combinations and no research exists which evaluates the social costs (unrealized benefits) of combining instruments suboptimally. In...

Governments in developed countries aim to increase the market share of organic products as a possibility to improve the environment or animal welfare or as a reaction to food crises and changing consumer preferences. Assuming that organic farming creates a positive externality, we address the...

The study evaluates the efficiency of government intervention using a vertical structured model including imperfectly competitive agricultural input markets, the bread grain market, and the imperfectly competitive food industry. To test for policy efficiency the actually observed bread grain...

In developed countries governments aim to increase the market share of organic products. Assuming that organic farming creates a positive externality, we address the question of how this environmental benefit can be internalized best. Using the concept of heterogeneous producers and consumers we...