IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/remaae/12552.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Consumption Behaviour of Farmers: a review of the evidence

Author

Listed:
  • O'Mara, L. Paul
  • Mullen, John D.
  • Powell, Roy A.
  • Reece, B.F.

Abstract

Over recent years there has been marked instability in incomes earned from farming. The instability, which affects the economy generally, is transmitted partly through the consumption spending of farmers. A conventional view of the short-run marginal propensity to consume of farmers, supported by some analyses of aggregate data, is that it is zero. It is argued that this view is implausible on theoretical grounds, that the analysis giving rise to this view used aggregate data which contained serious flaws, and that evidence from micro-studies and other macro level analyses present a more realistic assessment that the short-run mpc of farmers is not zero but likely to be lower than that of non-farmers. A non-zero mpc has implications for how the farm sector interacts with the rest of the economy and is incorporated in models of the economy.

Suggested Citation

  • O'Mara, L. Paul & Mullen, John D. & Powell, Roy A. & Reece, B.F., 1988. "The Consumption Behaviour of Farmers: a review of the evidence," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(02), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:remaae:12552
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.12552
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/12552/files/56020179.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.12552?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. H. W. Arndt & Burgess Cameron, 1957. "An Australian Consumption Function," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 33(64), pages 108-115, April.
    2. John D. Mullen & Roy A. Powell & B.F. Reece, 1980. "The Income And Consumption Experiences Of A Sample Of Farm Families," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 24(3), pages 268-282, December.
    3. Smyth, David J & McMahon, Patrick C, 1972. "The Australian Short-Run Consumption Function," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 48(122), pages 220-231, June.
    4. GirAo, J A & Tomek, W G & Mount, T D, 1974. "The Effect of Income Instability on Farmers' Consumption and Investment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 56(2), pages 141-149, May.
    5. Milton Friedman, 1957. "A Theory of the Consumption Function," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie57-1, March.
    6. Keith O. Campbell, 1958. "Some Reflections On Agricultural Investment," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 2(2), pages 93-103, December.
    7. James A. MacMillan & R.M.A. Loyns, 1969. "A Cross-Section Analysis Of Farm Household Expenditures," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 17(2), pages 92-105, July.
    8. Rutledge, D J S & Madden, G M, 1974. "The Australian Short-run Consumption Function: A Comment," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 50(130), pages 287-295, June.
    9. Campbell, Keith O., 1958. "Some Reflections On Agricultural Investment," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 2(2), pages 1-11, December.
    10. J. Hirshleifer, 1958. "On the Theory of Optimal Investment Decision," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(4), pages 329-329.
    11. Ouliaris, Sam, 1981. "Household Saving and the Rate of Interest," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 57(158), pages 205-214, September.
    12. Mullen, John D. & Powell, Roy A. & Reece, B.F., 1980. "The Income And Consumption Experiences Of A Sample Of Farm Families," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 24(3), pages 1-15, December.
    13. Freebairn, J W, 1977. "Inflation and Stability of the Household Consumption-Savings Function," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 53(142&143), pages 198-218, June-Sept.
    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. Sand, Roald, 2002. "The Propensity to Consume Income from Different Sources and Implications for Saving: An Application to Norwegian Farm Households," Workshop on the Farm Household-Firm Unit: Its Importance in Agriculture and Implications for Statistics, April 12-13,2002, Wye Campus, Imperial College 15716, International Agricultural Policy Reform and Adjustment Project (IAPRAP).

    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. Mullen, John D. & Powell, Roy A. & Reece, B.F., 1980. "The Income And Consumption Experiences Of A Sample Of Farm Families," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 24(3), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Chen, Kevin Z. & D. Meilke, Karl & Turvey, Calum, 1999. "Income risk and farm consumption behavior," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 173-183, March.
    3. David J. Williams & Brady E. Brewer & Jessica E. Todd, 2022. "Farm households' consumption of ad hoc program payments," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 1465-1481, September.
    4. Fisher, Brian S., 1974. "A Quarterly Model Of Agricultural Investment In Australia," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 18(1), pages 1-10, April.
    5. R. A. Powell & T. D. Mandeville, 1978. "Analysis of Sector Interactions and Stability in a Rural Region of NSW," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 54(2), pages 239-255, August.
    6. Gulnur MURADOGLU & Fatma TASKIN, 1996. "Differences In Household Savings Behavior: Evidence From Industrial And Developing Countries," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 34(2), pages 138-153, June.
    7. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nawaz, Kishwar & Arouri, Mohamed & Teulon, Frédéric & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2013. "On the validity of the Keynesian Absolute Income hypothesis in Pakistan: An ARDL bounds testing approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 290-296.
    8. Will Chancellor & Shiji Zhao, 2021. "Agricultural Households: An Exploratory Analysis Revisiting Financial Position and Well‐being in Australia," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 40(1), pages 14-30, March.
    9. Carriker, Gordon L. & Featherstone, Allen M. & Schroeder, Ted C., 1989. "Analysis of Kansas Farm Household Expenditures," Staff Papers 133752, Kansas State University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    10. Mallawaarachchi, Thilak & Hall, Nigel H. & Phillips, Brian, 1992. "Investment in Water Saving Technology on Horticultural Farms," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 60(02-1), pages 1-14, August.
    11. Cameron, Trudy Ann, 1986. "Permanent and transitory income in models of housing demand," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 205-210, September.
    12. Sam Ouliaris, 1981. "Household Saving and The Rate of Interest," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 57(3), pages 205-214, September.
    13. Capella-Ramos, João & Checherita-Westphal, Cristina & Leiner-Killinger, Nadine, 2020. "Fiscal transfers and economic convergence," Occasional Paper Series 252, European Central Bank.
    14. Longworth, John W., 1982. "Domestic Price-Income Policies for Farmers in Relation to International Trade Policies: Exporting Country," 1982 Conference, August 24-September 2, 1982, Jakarta, Indonesia 182515, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nawaz, Kishwer & AROURI, Mohamed El Hedi & Teulon, Frédéric, 2013. "Does The Keynesian Absolute Income Hypothesis Exist in Pakistan?," MPRA Paper 47923, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jul 2013.
    16. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-411 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Williams, John & McSweeney, Peter & Salmon, Robert, 2014. "Australian Farm Investment: Domestic and Overseas Issues," Papers 234408, University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Land and Environment.
    18. Lewis, Philip E.T. & Hall, Nigel H. & Savage, C.R. & Kingston, A.G., 1988. "Taxation, Cost Of Capital And Investment In Australian Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 32(1), pages 1-7, April.
    19. Davidson, Bruce Robinson, 1992. "Rum Corps to IXL: Services to Pastoralists and Farmers in New South Wales, Part IV 1930-1990: Depression, War and Peace," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 60(03), pages 1-35, December.
    20. Chul‐Woo Kwon & Peter F. Orazem & Daniel M. Otto, 2006. "Off‐farm labor supply responses to permanent and transitory farm income," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 34(1), pages 59-67, January.
    21. Bunting, David, 2009. "The saving decline: Macro-facts, micro-behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(1-2), pages 282-295, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer/Household Economics;

    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:remaae:12552. 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/aaresea.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.