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A Century‐Long Perspective on Agricultural Development
Author(s) -
Barrett Christopher B.,
Carter Michael R.,
Timmer C. Peter
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1093/ajae/aaq005
Subject(s) - disequilibrium , perspective (graphical) , agriculture , economics , inefficiency , agricultural development , imperfect , process (computing) , perfect information , market economy , microeconomics , geography , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science , ophthalmology , operating system
This article strategically surveys the past century's literature on agricultural development. We organize the discussion around three “grand themes” that reveal the richness of agricultural development as an intellectual endeavor. First, we explore the role of agriculture in the broader development process from a macroeconomic and political economy perspective. We then examine the role of technological and institutional change in successful agricultural development. Finally, the focus turns to a microeconomic perspective on agricultural household decision making and the problems of imperfect and missing markets, asymmetric information, and transactions costs that lead to widespread apparent inefficiency and disequilibrium.