Une approche pour l'étude de la production agricole

The main purpose of this paper is to show how a knowledge of structure may be used to construct a, model that simulates aggregate producers actions. The .resulting model , is useful in explaining past production patterns, predicting future changes, assessing effects of alternative policies, and providing a theoretical understanding of the many forces that determine production through time. The author develops certain hypotheses of long standing in economic theory in an explicitly empirical and institutional context and notes: — the neoclassical concept. that firms maximise something when they determine output; — the Marshallian relation of investment to past profits, and quasirents; — the Schumpeterian relation between investments and i technological change. To these he adds the use of behavioral constraints that arise from uncertainty and lack' of knowledge.