IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agecon/v6y1992i4p333-344.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Choice of utility function form: its effect on classification of risk preferences and the prediction of farmer decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Zuhair, Sugu M. M.
  • Taylor, Daniel B.
  • Kramer, Randall A.

Abstract

In applications of expected utility analysis, researchers are confronted with a choice among several utility functional forms. Subjective utility values and probability distributions for price and yield were elicited from Sri Lankan producers of minor export crops. Exponential quadratic and cubic utility functions were estimated. The choice of functional form was found to affect both the classification of risk attitudes and the prediction of harvesting strategy. The exponential function was the best predictor of harvesting strategy because it was the best predictor of mature harvesting. All three functions were equally poor predictors of premature harvesting.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Zuhair, Sugu M. M. & Taylor, Daniel B. & Kramer, Randall A., 1992. "Choice of utility function form: its effect on classification of risk preferences and the prediction of farmer decisions," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 6(4), pages 333-344, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agecon:v:6:y:1992:i:4:p:333-344
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0169-5150(92)90009-N
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanoch, Giora & Levy, Haim, 1970. "Efficient Portfolio Selection with Quadratic and Cubic Utility," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 181-189, April.
    2. repec:ags:agsaem:288652 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. H. M. G. Herath & J. Brian Hardaker & Jock R. Anderson, 1982. "Choice of Varieties by Sri Lanka Rice Farmers: Comparing Alternative Decision Models," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 64(1), pages 87-93.
    4. William Lin & G. W. Dean & C. V. Moore, 1974. "An Empirical Test of Utility vs. Profit Maximization in Agricultural Production," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 56(3), pages 497-508.
    5. Musser, Wesley N. & Wetzstein, Michael E. & Reece, Susan Y. & Musser, Lynn M. & Varca, Philip E. & Chou, Charlene C.J., 1984. "Classification Of Risk Preferences With Elicited Utility Data: Does Functional Form Matter?," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 9(2), pages 1-7, December.
    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. Jeahan Jung & Jeong-Yoo Kim, 2019. "Cheap Talk by Two Senders in the Presence of Network Externalities," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 35, pages 249-274.
    2. Torkamani, Javad, 2006. "Measuring and Incorporating Farmers’ Personal Beliefs and Preferences about Uncertain Events in Decision Analysis: A Stochastic Programming Experiment," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 1-15.
    3. Lelyon, Baptiste & Chatelier, Vincent & Daniel, Karine, 2011. "Decoupling and prices: determinant of dairy farmers’ choices?," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 92(01).
    4. Jeahan Jung & Jeong Yoo Kim, 2024. "Cheap Talk with Transparent and Monotone Motives from a Seller to an Informed Buyer," Games, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Yan Jin & Dušan Drabik, 2022. "CRISPR Rice vs conventional rice dilemma of a Chinese farmer," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(2), pages 424-446, April.
    6. Torkamani, Javad, 2005. "Using a whole-farm modelling approach to assess prospective technologies under uncertainty," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 138-154, August.
    7. Ceddia, M.G. & Heikkil, J. & Peltola, J., 2009. "Managing invasive alien species with professional and hobby farmers: Insights from ecological-economic modelling," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1366-1374, March.
    8. Hanukov, Gabi, 2022. "A service system where junior servers approach a senior server on behalf of customers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).

    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. Anderson, Jock R. & Dillon, John L. & Hardaker, J. Brian, 1985. "Farmers and Risk," 1985 Conference, August 26-September 4, 1985, Malaga, Spain 183026, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Ramaratnam, S. Sri & Rister, M. Edward & Bessler, David A. & Novak, James, 1986. "Risk Attitudes and Farm/Producer Attributes: A Case Study of Texas Coastal Bend Grain Sorghum Producers," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 85-96, December.
    3. Mintewab Bezabih & Mare Sarr, 2012. "Risk Preferences and Environmental Uncertainty: Implications for Crop Diversification Decisions in Ethiopia," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 53(4), pages 483-505, December.
    4. Buccola, Steven T., 1982. "Portfolio Selection Under Exponential And Quadratic Utility," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 7(01), pages 1-10, July.
    5. Kramer, Randall A., 1986. "Decisionmaking On The Conservation Reserve: Discussion," Regional Research Projects > 1986: S-180 Annual Meeting, March 23-26, 1986, Tampa, Florida 272078, Regional Research Projects > S-180: An Economic Analysis of Risk Management Strategies for Agricultural Production Firms.
    6. McCarl, Bruce A., 1984. "Model Validation: An Overview with some Emphasis on Risk Models," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(03), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Flores-Ortega, Miguel. & Flores-Castillo, Lilia Alejandra. & Paredes-Gómez, Angelica., 2014. "Selección de portafolios de inversión incluyendo el efecto de asimetría: evidencia con activos de la Bolsa Mexicana de Valores," Panorama Económico, Escuela Superior de Economía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, vol. 0(19), pages 77-101, segundo s.
    8. Musser, Wesley N. & Martin, Neil R., Jr. & Wise, James O., 1975. "The Beef Cow-Calf Enterprise In The Georgia Piedmont: A Case Study In Conspicuous Production," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 7(01), pages 1-7, July.
    9. Francisco J. André & Laura Riesgo, 2006. "A Duality Procedure to Elicit Nonlinear Multiattribute Utility Functions," Working Papers 06.02, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    10. Lyman, Nathaniel & Nalley, Lawton Lanier, 2013. "Stochastic Valuation of Hybrid Rice Technology in Arkansas," 2013 Annual Meeting, February 2-5, 2013, Orlando, Florida 142505, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    11. Wilson, Paul N. & Gundersen, Carl E., 1985. "Financial Risk In Cotton Production," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 17(2), pages 1-8, December.
    12. Shumway, C. Richard, 1993. "Production economics: Worthwhile investment?," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 89-108, August.
    13. Wall, Charles A. & Fisher, Brian S., 1988. "Supply Response and the Theory of Production and Profit Functions," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(03), pages 1-22, December.
    14. Robert G. Chambers & Margarita Genius & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2021. "Invariant Risk Preferences and Supply Response under Price Risk," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(5), pages 1802-1819, October.
    15. Fiske, John Robery, 1983. "The impact of financial constraints on the local price of farm land," ISU General Staff Papers 198301010800008710, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    16. Gourieroux, C. & Monfort, A., 2005. "The econometrics of efficient portfolios," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 1-41, January.
    17. McCarl, Bruce A. & Musser, Wesley N., 1985. "Modeling Long Run Risk In Production And Investment Decisions," Regional Research Projects > 1985: S-180 Annual Meeting, March 24-27, 1985, Charleston, South Carolina 271799, Regional Research Projects > S-180: An Economic Analysis of Risk Management Strategies for Agricultural Production Firms.
    18. Andrews, Margaret S., 1975. "An Analysis Of Small Holder Obectives In The Dominican Republic," Journal of the Northeastern Agricultural Economics Council, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 4(2), pages 1-9, October.
    19. Kim, Kwansoo & Chavas, Jean-Paul, 2002. "A Dynamic Analysis Of The Effects Of A Price Support Program On Price Dynamics And Price Volatility," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 27(2), pages 1-20, December.
    20. Antle, John M. & Goodger, William A., 1983. "Measuring Stochastic Technology: The Case Of Tulare Milk Production," Working Papers 225708, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

    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:eee:agecon:v:6:y:1992:i:4:p:333-344. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/agec .

    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.