A New Modus Operandi for the Agricultural Economics Profession
Author(s)
Stonehouse, Peter D.
Abstract
Agricultural economics has, until the 1990s, enjoyed a reputation for relevance and usefulness to the agri-food industry and policy-makers. That reputation has been jeopardized by a growing infatuation with models and quantification, and a concomitant underemphasis placed on many complex problems and issues of society. An illustrative example is explored, using agricultural activity-related damage to the natural resource base, environment and ecology. Agricultural economists are urged to respond by broadening their terms of reference and joining forces with other disciplines.
