IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jageco/v45y1994i3p299-311.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ethics And Externalities: Agricultural Stewardship And Other Behaviour: Presidential Address

Author

Listed:
  • David Colman

Abstract

Neo classical micro‐economic theory of the firm and household rests on the foundations of profit maximising and utility maximising behaviour respectively. This paper explores the issue of whether market efficiency can be improved when economic agents' behaviour is motivated by ethical objectives such as fairness and altruism. In particular the paper examines agricultural stewardship as an ethically motivated form of behaviour, which is profit sacrificing, but which improves economic efficiency by reducing environmental externalities. The paper also reiterates the limitations of Pareto optimality as a criterion of economic welfare because its rejection of interpersonal welfare comparisons rules out ethical considerations of income and wealth distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • David Colman, 1994. "Ethics And Externalities: Agricultural Stewardship And Other Behaviour: Presidential Address," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 299-311, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jageco:v:45:y:1994:i:3:p:299-311
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-9552.1994.tb00405.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.1994.tb00405.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1477-9552.1994.tb00405.x?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. Bromley, Daniel W & Hodge, Ian, 1990. "Private Property Rights and Presumptive Policy Entitlements: Reconsidering the Premises of Rural Policy," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 17(2), pages 197-214.
    2. Matthews, R C O, 1981. "Morality, Competition and Efficiency," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 49(4), pages 289-309, December.
    3. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    4. Kahneman, Daniel & Knetsch, Jack L & Thaler, Richard, 1986. "Fairness as a Constraint on Profit Seeking: Entitlements in the Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 728-741, September.
    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. Christopher Ritson, 1997. "Marketing, Agriculture And Economics: Presidential Address," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1‐3), pages 279-299, January.
    2. Harvey, David, 2013. "PL3_Paper - What’s The Point Of (Agricultural) Economics?," 19th Congress, Warsaw, Poland, 2013 345743, International Farm Management Association.
    3. Graversgaard, Morten & Jacobsen, Brian H. & Hoffmann, Carl Christian & Dalgaard, Tommy & Odgaard, Mette Vestergaard & Kjaergaard, Charlotte & Powell, Neil & Strand, John A. & Feuerbach, Peter & Tonder, 2021. "Policies for wetlands implementation in Denmark and Sweden – historical lessons and emerging issues," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Davies, B.B. & Hodge, I.D., 2007. "Exploring environmental perspectives in lowland agriculture: A Q methodology study in East Anglia, UK," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 323-333, March.
    5. Barnes, A.P. & Willock, J. & Hall, C. & Toma, L., 2009. "Farmer perspectives and practices regarding water pollution control programmes in Scotland," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(12), pages 1715-1722, December.
    6. Martin Whitby, 2000. "Challenges and Options for the UK Agri‐Environment: Presidential Address," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 317-332, September.
    7. Paul Webster, 1999. "The Challenge of Sustainability at the Farm Level: Presidential Address," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 371-387, September.
    8. Michael Burton & Dan Rigby & Trevor Young, 2003. "Modelling the adoption of organic horticultural technology in the UK using Duration Analysis," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 47(1), pages 29-54, March.
    9. Ruishi Si & Sitong Pan & Yuxin Yuan & Qian Lu & Shuxia Zhang, 2019. "Assessing the Impact of Environmental Regulation on Livestock Manure Waste Recycling: Empirical Evidence from Households in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-17, October.
    10. Toma, Luiza & Mathijs, Erik, 2005. "Determinants of Romanian Farmers' Participation in Agri-Environmental Programmes," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24574, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Defrancesco, Edi & Gatto, Paola & Runge, C. Ford & Trestini, Samuele, 2006. "Factors Affecting Farmers' Participation in Agri-Environmental Measures: Evidence from a Case Study," Conference Papers 6688, University of Minnesota, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy.
    12. Colman, David & Pascual, Unai & Hodge, Ian, 2010. "Evolution of Land Conservation Policy," 14th ICABR Conference, June 16-18, 2010, Ravello, Italy 188082, International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR).
    13. Hellberg-Bahr, Anneke & Spiller, Achim, 2012. "How to Treat Farmers Fairly? Results of a Farmer Survey," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(3), pages 1-11, September.
    14. Kreye, Melissa M. & Adams, Damian C. & Ober, Holly K., 2018. "Protecting Imperiled Wildlife Species on Private Lands: Forest Owner Values and Response to Government Interventions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 254-264.
    15. David Blandford, 2010. "Presidential Address: The Visible or Invisible Hand? The Balance Between Markets and Regulation in Agricultural Policy," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 459-479, September.
    16. Merlo, Maurizio & Ferro, Ottone & Povellato, Andrea, 1995. "Valuation and Remuneration of Countryside Stewardship Performed by Agriculture and Forestry," 1994 Conference, August 22-29, 1994, Harare, Zimbabwe 183402, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Dobbs, Thomas L., 2002. "Agricultural, Resource, And Ecological Economics With A "Multifunctionality" Perspective," Economics Staff Papers 32025, South Dakota State University, Department of Economics.
    18. Ahsanuzzaman, Ahsanuzzaman, 2015. "Duration Analysis of Technology Adoption in Bangladeshi Agriculture," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 200406, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Glenk, Klaus & Schaafsma, Marije & Moxey, Andrew & Martin-Ortega, Julia & Hanley, Nick, 2014. "A framework for valuing spatially targeted peatland restoration," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 20-33.
    20. Barnes, Andrew Peter & Willock, J. & Hall, Clare & Luiza, Toma, 2008. "Farmer Responses to Nitrate Vulnerable Zone Designation in Scotland," 82nd Annual Conference, March 31 - April 2, 2008, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, UK 36767, Agricultural Economics Society.

    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. Petrick, Martin, 2004. "Governing Structural Change And Externalities In Agriculture: Toward A Normative Institutional Economics Of Rural Development," IAMO Discussion Papers 14878, Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    2. Alejandro Agafonow, 2020. "From Hybrid Organizations to Social-purpose Hierarchies: Toward a Transaction Cost Economics of Social Enterprises," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 32(2), pages 180-199, July.
    3. Fraser, Iain & Chisholm, Tony, 2000. "Conservation or cultural heritage? Cattle grazing in the Victoria Alpine National Park," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 63-75, April.
    4. Goeree, Jacob K. & Riedl, Arno & Ule, Aljaz, 2009. "In search of stars: Network formation among heterogeneous agents," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 445-466, November.
    5. Jost, John T. & Blount, Sally & Pfeffer, Jeffrey & Hunyady, Gyorgy, 2003. "Fair Market Ideology: Its Cognitive-Motivational Underpinnings," Research Papers 1816, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    6. John A. List, 2006. "The Behavioralist Meets the Market: Measuring Social Preferences and Reputation Effects in Actual Transactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 1-37, February.
    7. Grönqvist, Erik, 2004. "Information Updating and Insurance Dropout: Evidence from Dental Insurance," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 576, Stockholm School of Economics.
    8. Jordi Brandts & Arno Riedl & Frans van Winden, 2004. "Competition and Well-Being," Working Papers 120, Barcelona School of Economics.
    9. Johannes M. Lehner, 2000. "Shifts of Reference Points for Framing of Strategic Decisions and Changing Risk-Return Associations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(1), pages 63-76, January.
    10. Alvi, Eskander, 1998. "Fairness and self-interest: An assessment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 245-261.
    11. Maxwell, Sarah, 2002. "Rule-based price fairness and its effect on willingness to purchase," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 191-212, April.
    12. Heidhues, Paul & Köszegi, Botond, 2018. "Behavioral Industrial Organization," CEPR Discussion Papers 12988, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Renner, Elke & Tyran, Jean-Robert, 2004. "Price rigidity in customer markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 575-593, December.
    14. Sven Hoeppner, 2014. "The unintended consequence of doorstep consumer protection: surprise, reciprocation, and consistency," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 247-276, October.
    15. Mason, Susan G. & Holley, Don & Wells, Aaron & Jain, Amit & Wuerzer, Thomas & Joshi, Alark, 2016. "An experiment-based methodology to understand the dynamics of group decision making," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 14-26.
    16. Uri Gneezy, 2005. "Deception: The Role of Consequences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 384-394, March.
    17. Paul Sergius Koku & Anique A. Qureshi, 2006. "Analysis of the effects of settlement of interfirm lawsuits," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 307-318.
    18. Beckert, Jens, 2009. "Koordination und Verteilung: Zwei Ansätze der Wirtschaftssoziologie," MPIfG Discussion Paper 09/2, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    19. Azar, Ofer H., 2007. "Why pay extra? Tipping and the importance of social norms and feelings in economic theory," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 250-265, April.
    20. Upravitelev, A., 2023. "Neoclassical roots of behavioral economics," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 110-140.

    More about this item

    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:bla:jageco:v:45:y:1994:i:3:p:299-311. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-857X .

    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.