Agricultural Management Economics: Activity Analysis and Decision MakingThis book on agricultural management and decision making differs from other texts which tend to describe production economics followed by the presentation of analytical approaches. Instead, the processes of agricultural production and their management are couched in terms of activity analysis, since this permits greater integration of theory with practical evaluations. Analytical tools developed in the book involve the construction of spreadsheet models, and readers are able to construct their own PC spreadsheets from the book's examples and case studies. Economic principles are presented that will assist in improving the design of agricultural processes and technologies, in guiding their appropriate combination in a business setting, and with the making of decisions through time and in recognition of noncertainty. Activity analysis models that allow the design and combination of agricultural activities to be optimized are also discussed. These include single versus multiple objective models, investment models, and approaches that allow decisions to be optimized under conditions of noncertainty |
Contents
ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES FOR ACTIVITY DESIGN | 30 |
EVALUATION OF ACTIVITY COMBINATIONS | 59 |
Physical production possibilities | 65 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
A₁ A₂ activity analysis activity combination agricultural alternative bean borrowing BUDGET spreadsheet cabbage calculated cash balances Cauliflower cell Chapter coefficients COEFFS spreadsheet column computed constraints consumption expenditures crates crop cumulative probability decision maker decision problem E₁ E₂ economic efficient set equal equation estimated evaluated event ex-store example expected expected monetary values farm fertiliser Figure flow inputs forecast fund inputs goal handweeding harvester hectare increase indicates indifference curve intertemporal isoquant Labour hours land lettuce activity linear programming manager manager's marginal product maximisation non-certainty objective function opportunity cost optimum solution outcomes payoff present value probability distributions production activities production period production programme profitable pumpkin quarter random variable RESOURCES spreadsheet revenue risk aversion rotation specified spreadsheet model stochastic dominance stochastic programming supply Table tomato A activity tonnes tonnes per hectare total gross margin tractor services unit utility function W₁ W₂ yield zero