IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/phajad/199080.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wither the Economics of Agricultural Development?

Author

Listed:
  • Roumasset, James

Abstract

In spite of a healthy demand for a renaissance in economic policy for agricultural development, the academic supply response is found wanting. The infusion of public economics into the economics of agricultural development, which thrived during the 1970s and 1980s, has stagnated due to the lack of foundations in transaction costs, dynamics, and the co-evolution of specialization and governance. Many of the policy ideas found in the World Bank’s WDR 2008, for example, reflect a post-modern tendency to seek and destroy market failures with new mandates and subsidies for farmer cooperatives, microfinance, crop insurance, and land reform. The new development microeconomics favors form over substance and overemphasizes multiple equilibria, trap theories, new market failures, and the new case for social insurance. Empirical research has likewise suffered from the quest for clever instruments and methods instead of informative results that estimate parameters of established theories, distinguish between competing theories, or challenge theory to explain empirical patterns. These latest fads and fancies have distracted economists from the quest for fundamental explanations of development patterns, especially the nature and causes of specialization as an engine of growth. The stage is set for young dynamic scholars to develop new tools of analysis to explain empirical patterns in behavior and organization in developing agriculture and to build the foundations of a public microeconomics of development.

Suggested Citation

  • Roumasset, James, 2010. "Wither the Economics of Agricultural Development?," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:phajad:199080
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.199080
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/199080/files/AJAD_2010_7_1_1Roumasset.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.199080?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1974. "Incentives and Risk Sharing in Sharecropping," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(2), pages 219-255.
    2. Juliano J. Assunção & Luis H. B. Braido, 2007. "Testing Household-Specific Explanations for the Inverse Productivity Relationship," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(4), pages 980-990.
    3. Musgrave, Richard A, 1969. "Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Theory of Public Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 797-806, September.
    4. Chetty, Raj & Looney, Adam, 2006. "Consumption smoothing and the welfare consequences of social insurance in developing economies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(12), pages 2351-2356, December.
    5. Rabin, Matthew, 2000. "Diminishing Marginal Utility of Wealth Cannot Explain Risk Aversion," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt61d7b4pg, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    6. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1990. "Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1119-1158, December.
    7. Avner Greif, 2008. "Commitment, Coercion and Markets: The Nature and Dynamics of Institutions Supporting Exchange," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, chapter 28, pages 727-786, Springer.
    8. Heath, John & Binswanger, Hans, 1996. "Natural resource degradation effects of poverty and population growth are largely policy-induced: the case of Colombia," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 65-84, February.
    9. Squire, Lyn, 1989. "Project evaluation in theory and practice," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 21, pages 1093-1137, Elsevier.
    10. Fafchamps, Marcel & Udry, Christopher & Czukas, Katherine, 1998. "Drought and saving in West Africa: are livestock a buffer stock?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 273-305, April.
    11. de Janvry, Alain & Fafchamps, M. & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 1991. "Peasant Household Behavior with Missing Markets: Some Paradoxes Explain," CUDARE Working Papers 198579, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    12. Hans P. Binswanger, 1980. "Attitudes Toward Risk: Experimental Measurement in Rural India," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 62(3), pages 395-407.
    13. Abhijit Banerjee & Pranab Bardhan & Kaushik Basu & Ravi Kanbur & Dilip Mookherjee, 2005. "New Directions in Development Economics: Theory or Empirics? A Symposium in Economic and Political Weekly," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series DP-153, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    14. Assunção, Juliano & Braido, Luis H.B., 2007. "AJAE Appendix: Testing Household-Specific Explanations for the Inverse Productivity Relationship," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(4), pages 1-8, November.
    15. James Roumasset, 1979. "Sharecropping, Production Externalities and the Theory of Contracts," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 197906, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    16. Demsetz, Harold, 1969. "Information and Efficiency: Another Viewpoint," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, April.
    17. Kaplow, Louis & Shavell, Steven, 1994. "Why the Legal System Is Less Efficient Than the Income Tax in Redistributing Income," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(2), pages 667-681, June.
    18. Williamson, Oliver E, 1979. "Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractural Relations," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 233-261, October.
    19. Otsuka, Keijiro, 2007. "Efficiency and Equity Effects of Land Markets," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 51, pages 2671-2703, Elsevier.
    20. Marcel Fafchamps & John Pender, "undated". "Precautionary Saving Credit Constraints and Investment: Theory and Evidence from Semi-Arid India," Computing in Economics and Finance 1997 37, Society for Computational Economics.
    21. James Roumasset, 2007. "Population and Agricultural Development," Working Papers 200702, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    22. Coate, Stephen & Morris, Stephen, 1995. "On the Form of Transfers in Special Interests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(6), pages 1210-1235, December.
    23. Williams,Jeffrey C. & Wright,Brian D., 2005. "Storage and Commodity Markets," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521023399.
    24. Greenwald, Bruce C & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1990. "Asymmetric Information and the New Theory of the Firm: Financial Constraints and Risk Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 160-165, May.
    25. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2005. "The Economic Effects of Constitutions," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262661926, December.
    26. James, William E. & Roumasset, James A., 1979. "Explaining Variations In Share Contracts: Land Quality, Population Pressure And Technological Change," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 23(2), pages 1-12, August.
    27. Arsenio M. Balisacan & Nobuhiko Fuwa, 2007. "Reasserting the Rural Development Agenda: Lessons Learned and Emerging Challenges in Asia," Books on Agricultural Research and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), number 2007:36.
    28. David Vanzetti & John Kennedy, 1988. "Endogenous Price Policies and International Wheat Prices: Comment," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(3), pages 743-746.
    29. Dercon, Stefan (ed.), 2004. "Insurance Against Poverty," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199276837.
    30. Robert E. Lucas, 2009. "Ideas and Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(301), pages 1-19, February.
    31. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    32. Robert G. Chambers & John Quiggin, 2007. "Dual Approaches to the Analysis of Risk Aversion," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(294), pages 189-213, May.
    33. Philip L. Paarlberg & Philip C. Abbott, 1986. "Oligopolistic Behavior by Public Agencies in International Trade: The World Wheat Market," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(3), pages 528-542.
    34. Fafchamps, Marcel & Pender, John, 1997. "Precautionary Saving, Credit Constraints, and Irreversible Investment: Theory and Evidence from Semiarid India," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 15(2), pages 180-194, April.
    35. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1974. "Alternative Theories of Wage Determination and Unemployment in LDC's: The Labor Turnover Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 88(2), pages 194-227.
    36. repec:phd:pjdevt:jpd_1986_vol._xiii_nos._1&2-g is not listed on IDEAS
    37. Roumasset, J., 1995. "The nature of the agricultural firm," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 161-177, March.
    38. Roumasset, James A., 2006. "The Economics of Agricultural Development: What Have We Learned?," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25598, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    39. Alexander H. Sarris & John Freebairn, 1983. "Endogenous Price Policies and International Wheat Prices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(2), pages 214-224.
    40. Dani Rodrik, 2007. "Introductiion to One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth," Introductory Chapters, in: One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth, Princeton University Press.
    41. James A Roumasset, 2000. "Black-Hole Security," Working Papers 200005, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    42. Matthew Rabin & Richard H. Thaler, 2013. "Anomalies: Risk aversion," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 27, pages 467-480, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    43. Sah, Raaj Kumar, 1986. "Size, Supervision and Patterns of Labor Transactions," Philippine Journal of Development JPD 1986 Vol. XIII Nos. 1, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    44. Dixit, Avinash & Olson, Mancur, 2000. "Does voluntary participation undermine the Coase Theorem?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 309-335, June.
    45. Roumasset, James & Setboonsarng, Suthad, 1988. "Second-best agricultural policy : Getting the price of Thai rice right," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 323-340, May.
    46. Deininger, Klaus, 1999. "Making negotiated land reform work : initial experience from Brazil, Colombia, and South Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2040, The World Bank.
    47. Roumasset, James, 1978. "The new institutional economics and agricultural organization," MPRA Paper 13175, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    48. Shahid Yusuf & Angus Deaton & Kemal Dervis & William Easterly & Takatoshi Ito & Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2009. "Development Economics through the Decades," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2586, December.
    49. Daron Acemoglu, 2005. "Constitutions, Politics and Economics: A Review Essay on Persson and Tabellini's "The Economic Effect of Constitutions"," NBER Working Papers 11235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    50. Ruttan, Vernon W, 1997. "Induced Innovation, Evolutionary Theory and Path Dependence:," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(444), pages 1520-1529, September.
    51. Riethmuller, Paul & Roe, Terry, 1986. "Government intervention in commodity markets: The case of Japanese rice and wheat policy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 327-349.
    52. Clarete, Ramon L. & Whalley, John, 1988. "Interactions between trade policies and domestic distortions in a small open developing country," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3-4), pages 345-358, May.
    53. Unknown, 1961. "The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development," International Journal of Agrarian Affairs, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 3(2), pages 1-1, April.
    54. Deininger, Klaus, 1999. "Making Negotiated Land Reform Work: Initial Experience from Colombia, Brazil and South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 651-672, April.
    55. Corden, W. M., 1971. "The substitution problem in the theory of effective protection," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 37-57, February.
    56. Clarete, Ramon L & Roumasset, James A, 1990. "The Relative Welfare Cost of Industrial and Agricultural Policy Distortions: A Philippine Illustration," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(2), pages 462-472, April.
    57. Bardhan, Pranab & Udry, Christopher, 1999. "Development Microeconomics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198773719.
    58. Arnott, Richard J & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1985. "Labor Turnover, Wage Structures, and Moral Hazard: The Inefficiency of Competitive Markets," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(4), pages 434-462, October.
    59. Timothy Besley, 2007. "The New Political Economy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(524), pages 570-587, November.
    60. Roumasset, James & Lee, Sang-Hyop, 2007. "Labor: Decisions, Contracts and Organization," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 52, pages 2705-2740, Elsevier.
    61. Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Agricultural Economics," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 1.
    62. Gardner, Bruce L, 1987. "Causes of U.S. Farm Commodity Programs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(2), pages 290-310, April.
    63. Assuncao, Juliano J. & Ghatak, Maitreesh, 2003. "Can unobserved heterogeneity in farmer ability explain the inverse relationship between farm size and productivity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 189-194, August.
    64. Clarete, Ramon L. & Roumasset, James A., 1987. "A Shoven-Whalley model of a small open economy : An illustration with Philippine tariffs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 247-261, March.
    65. Roumasset, James, 1985. "Agricultural development in the third world : Carl Eicher and John Staatz, eds., (Johns Hopkins University Press, Maryland, USA) pp. 491," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1-2), pages 201-210.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Upali Wickramasinghe, 2016. "Fostering productivity in the rural and agricultural sector for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific Abstract:," MPDD Working Paper Series WP/16/07, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. James Roumasset, 2006. "The Economics of Agricultural Development: What Have We Learned? Processes," Working Papers 200604, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    2. Roumasset, James, 2008. "A new institutional approach to pro-poor agricultural development: Lessons from Asia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5-6), pages 378-388.
    3. Roumasset, James A., 2006. "The Economics of Agricultural Development: What Have We Learned?," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25598, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. James Roumasset, 2004. "Rural Institutions, Agricultural Development, and Pro-Poor Economic Growth," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 1(1), pages 61-82, June.
    5. Majah-Leah Ravago & James Roumasset, 2009. "Economic Policy for Sustainable Growth and Development vs. Greedy Growth and Preservationism," Working Papers 200909, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    6. Roumasset, James A., 1994. "Explaining Diversity In Agricultural Organization: An Agency Perspective," Bulletins 12982, University of Minnesota, Economic Development Center.
    7. Conning, Jonathan H. & Robinson, James A., 2007. "Property rights and the political organization of agriculture," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 416-447, March.
    8. Holden, Stein T. & Ali, Daniel & Deininger, Klaus & Hilhorst, Thea, 2016. "A Land Tenure Module for LSMS," CLTS Working Papers 1/16, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    9. Wang, Sen & Bogle, Tim & van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2012. "Forestry and the New Institutional Economics," Working Papers 130818, University of Victoria, Resource Economics and Policy.
    10. Kazianga, Harounan, 2012. "Income Risk and Household Schooling Decisions in Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1647-1662.
    11. Zimmerman, Frederick J. & Carter, Michael R., 2003. "Asset smoothing, consumption smoothing and the reproduction of inequality under risk and subsistence constraints," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 233-260, August.
    12. Kurosaki, Takashi & Fafchamps, Marcel, 2002. "Insurance market efficiency and crop choices in Pakistan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 419-453, April.
    13. Escobal, Javier A. & Cavero, Denice, 2012. "Transaction Costs, Institutional Arrangements and Inequality Outcomes: Potato Marketing by Small Producers in Rural Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 329-341.
    14. Julian Alston & Colin Carter, 1991. "Causes And Consequences Of Farm Policy," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 9(1), pages 107-121, January.
    15. D. MacLaren, 1991. "Agricultural Trade Policy Analysis And International Trade Theory: A Review Of Recent Developments," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 250-297, September.
    16. Duarte N. Leite & Sandra T. Silva & Oscar Afonso, 2014. "Institutions, Economics And The Development Quest," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 491-515, July.
    17. Briones, Roehlano M., 2000. "Property Rights Reform in Philippine Agriculture: Framework for Analysis and Review of Recent Experience," Discussion Papers DP 2000-29, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    18. Lynn R. Brown & Ugo Gentilini, 2006. "On the Edge: The Role of Food-based Safety Nets in Helping Vulnerable Households Manage Food Insecurity," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-111, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan, 1992. "A critical assessment of the political preference function approach in agricultural economics," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 7(3-4), pages 371-394, October.
    20. C.S.C Sekhar & Namrata Thapa, 2021. "Agricultural Market Imperfections And Farm Profitability In India," IEG Working Papers 440, Institute of Economic Growth.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Political Economy;

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O2 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:phajad:199080. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/searcph.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.