The thirteen chapters in this book introduce students to the theory and analysis of price determination in markets for agricultural and food products, and in markets for the main factors of production in agriculture – land, labour and capital. The book is targeted at advanced BSc as well as MSc students. It covers neoclassical economic theory as well as the many unique institutions and policies that affect agricultural price determination. The chapters cover important characteristics of agricultural and food markets and prices, such as the role of institutions and organisations for agricultural price formation, imperfect competition, the role of technical change, retail pricing, price volatility and futures markets. The included case studies and exercises will enable students to apply what they have learned and test their comprehension.

The thirteen chapters in this book introduce students to the theory and analysis of price determination in markets for agricultural and food products, and in markets for the main factors of production in agriculture - land, labour and capital. The book is targeted at advanced BSc as well as MSc students. It covers neoclassical economic theory as well as the many unique institutions and policies that affect agricultural price determination. The chapters cover important characteristics of agricultural and food markets and prices, such as the role of institutions and organisations for agricultural price formation, imperfect competition, the role of technical change, retail pricing, price volatility and futures markets. The included case studies and exercises will enable students to apply what they have learned and test their comprehension.

This is an open access book. This edited volume discusses topics in environmental economics with a focus on sustainability, conservation, and responsible resource management. Written in memory of Peter Berck, Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, the chapters expand upon his insights about the connections between human activities and the natural world. The volume includes a selection of research on agriculture, energy, forestry, fisheries, land use, recycling, and conservation – all parts of the broad question of how natural resources can meet human needs while avoiding environmental degradation. Written from a 21st century perspective, with concerns about climate, renewable energy, biodiversity, and sustainable development, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students of agricultural and resource economics.

This book presents the basic model of an agricultural household that underlies most of the case studies undertaken so far. The model assumes that households are price-takers and is therefore recursive. The decisions modeled include those affecting production and the demand for inputs and those affecting consumption and the supply of labor. Comparative results on selected elasticities are presented for a number of economies. The empirical significance of the approach is demonstrated in a comparison of models that treat production and consumption decisions separately and those in which the decisionmaking process is recursive. The book summarizes the implications of agricultural pricing policy for the welfare of farm households, marketed surplus, the demand for nonagricultural goods and services, the rural labor market, budget revenues, and foreign exchange earnings. In addition, it is shown that the basic model can be extended in order to explore the effects of government policy on crop composition, nutritional status, health, saving, and investment and to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the effects on budget revenues and foreign exchange earnings. Methodological topics, primarily the data requirements of the basic model and its extensions, along with aggregation, market interaction, uncertainty, and market imperfections are discussed. The most important methodological issues - the question of the recursive property of these models - is also discussed.

The history of economic development of countries show that there have been countless examples of institutional agencies that have played pivotal role in fulfilling certain developmental activities. Cooperation as an institution is used in various countries as instrument of economic growth. The economic performance of rural regions around the world is lagging, despite efforts by governments and local leaders to address the problem. Rural economic development should focus on the unique strengths of each area, rather than concentrating on ameliorating generic weaknesses. Rural economic development should address and harness the efficient spatial distribution of economic activity rather than attempt to replicate urban economies. Rural development aims at improving rural people's livelihoods in an equitable and sustainable manner, both socially and environmentally, through better access to assets and services, and control over productive capital that enable them to improve their livelihoods on a sustainable and equitable basis. It is certain that the valuable contributions, views and suggestions of the researchers will be of immense help to the future researchers, policy-makers, administrators and social thinkers in solving the problem of poverty, unemployment and to achieve economic development of the country as well as the state, especially in rural sector, renewing the existing employment generating programmes. The objective underlying the publication of this book is, therefore, to attract the attention of those interested in, and concerned with, the growth and progress of agricultural sector in our country.

This book provides fresh insights into concepts, methods and new research findings on the causes of excessive food price volatility. It also discusses the implications for food security and policy responses to mitigate excessive volatility. The approaches applied by the contributors range from on-the-ground surveys, to panel econometrics and innovative high-frequency time series analysis as well as computational economics methods. It offers policy analysts and decision-makers guidance on dealing with extreme volatility.