The paper provides a review of the objectives of forecasts and of the techniques for generating forecasts in the context of agriculture. Forecasts provide information to facilitate decision making. The techniques are evaluated in terms of assumptions about the processes generating the forecast...

Because methods of eliminating aggregation bias are impracticable, an alternative method is suggested for reducing aggregation bias which uses regression estimates of farm resonrce availabilities as functions of farm size. The estimates are incorporated in a parametric run of the LP problem in...

This paper will take a new look at budgeting. It will be argued that with the development of linear programming, budgeting can be seen to have several disadvantages as a research tool. The development of linear programming as an aid to farm management research will then be examined. This...

The fundamental assumption of the contingent valuation method (CYM) is that responses to CY questionnaires may be interpreted as expressions of consumer preferences. The consumer preference interpretation has been challenged in recent papers arguing that willingness to pay for wildlife...

In this article attention is drawn to serious methodological weaknesses in Australian agricultural economics. It is frankly polemic in style and after a discussion of the philosophies of science of Popper and Kuhn the author argues that Australian agricultural economists ought to be more...

A plant location model with two major aspects is outlined. First, discrete stochastic programming is used to handle variability in supplies and demands. Second, the cost structure of plants is modelled in more detail and with more realism than is usual. Results from applying the model to the...

A small stratified sample was drawn from irrigated dairy farms judged to exhibit two degrees (high and low) of salting in the soil. Cobb-Douglas production functions were fitted to time series and cross sectional data for each stratum. The results support the conclusion that the data from the...

The paper presents a model of choice between alternative available jobs in which each job has an uncertain multi-period income prospect. Imperfectly informed expectations as well as job preferences and attitudes to risk determine the choice. The model is used to locate and discuss some problems...