Premium
The Economic Implications of Farm Interest Groups' Beliefs
Author(s) -
Vercammen James,
Fulton Murray
Publication year - 1990
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 - 10.2307/1242617
Subject(s) - conformity , interest group , public economics , economics , actuarial science , positive economics , social psychology , psychology , political science , law , politics
It is usually assumed that interest groups fully understand their economic environment. A method of determining the economic beliefs of farm interest groups and of examining the implications for the groups if these beliefs do not conform to reality is presented. The approach obtains estimates of the perceived beliefs of a group from knowledge of its actions and assumptions regarding its objectives. A comparison of the optimal policy recommendations with those based on the perceived beliefs provides an indication of the benefits of conformity. An example involving farm organizations in western Canada illustrates the use of the method.