Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specifically dealt with land usage. It focused on maximizing the crop yield while maintaining a good soil ecosystem. Throughout the 20th century the discipline expanded and the current scope of the discipline is much broader. Agricultural economics today includes a variety of applied areas, having considerable overlap with conventional economics. Agricultural economists have made substantial contributions to research in economics, econometrics, development economics, and environmental economics. Agricultural economics influences food policy, agricultural policy, and environmental policy.
Applied economics is the application of economic theory and econometrics in specific settings. As one of the two sets of fields of economics, it is typically characterized by the application of the core, i.e. economic theory and econometrics to address practical issues in a range of fields including demographic economics, labour economics, business economics, industrial organization, agricultural economics, development economics, education economics, engineering economics, financial economics, health economics, monetary economics, public economics, and economic history. From the perspective of economic development, the purpose of applied economics is to enhance the quality of business practices and national policy making.
Gordon Rausser is an American economist. He is currently the Robert Gordon Sproul Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dean Emeritus, at Rausser College of Natural Resources and more recently, a professor of the graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. On three separate occasions, he served as chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, served two terms as Dean of the Rausser College of Natural Resources, and has served on the board of trustees of public universities and one private university. Rausser has been appointed to more than 20 board of directors of both private and publicly traded companies, including chairman of several of such boards.
Marc Leon Nerlove was an American agricultural economist and econometrician and a distinguished university professor emeritus in agricultural and resource economics at the University of Maryland. He was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal from the American Economic Association (AEA) in 1969 and held appointments at eight different universities from 1958–2016. The Clark Medal is awarded to an economist under the age of 40 who “is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge”, and when the AEA appointed him as a distinguished fellow in 2012, they cited his development of widely used econometric methods across a range of subjects, including supply and demand, time series analysis, production functions, panel analysis, and family demography.
The American Journal of Agricultural Economics is a peer-reviewed academic journal of agricultural, natural resource, and environmental economics, as well as rural and community development. Published five times per year, it is one of two journals published by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, along with Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. It was established in 1919, at which point it was called the Journal of Farm Economics.
Daniel W. Bromley is an economist, the former Anderson-Bascom Professor of applied economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and since 2009, Emeritus Professor. His research in institutional economics explains the foundations of property rights, natural resources and the environment; and economic development. He has been editor of the journal Land Economics since 1974.
Vernon Wesley Ruttan (1924–2008) was a development economist at the University of Minnesota, where he was Regents Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Economics and Applied Economics. Ruttan's research focused on agricultural development, induced innovation, technical change and productivity growth, institutions, and development assistance policy. His book with Yujiro Hayami, Agricultural Development: An International Perspective (1971) was considered a classic in the field and was translated into four other languages.
Choices is an online peer-reviewed magazine published by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) for readers interested in the policy and management of agriculture, the food industry, natural resources, rural communities, and the environment. Choices is published quarterly and is available free online. It is currently one of three outreach products offered by AAEA, along with the more timely Policy Issues and the forthcoming Shared Materials section of the AAEA Web site.
Policy Issues is a series of online peer-reviewed articles published by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA). Each article presents a short analysis and discussion focusing on timely policy issues targeted for those in public and private sector decision-making roles that have a stake in the national issues addressed. It is currently one of three outreach products offered by AAEA, along with the online policy magazine Choices and the forthcoming Shared Materials section of the AAEA Web site.
The Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) is an autonomous, multidisciplinary Centre for advanced research and training. Established in 1958, its faculty of about 23 social scientists and a large body of supporting research staff focus on areas of social and policy concern.
Sanjiv M. Ravi Kanbur, is T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics, and Professor of Economics at Cornell University. He worked for the World Bank for almost two decades and was the director of the World Development Report.
David Zilberman is an Israeli-American agricultural economist, professor and Robinson Chair in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Zilberman has been a professor in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department at UC Berkeley since 1979. His research has covered a range of fields including the economics of production technology and risk in agriculture, agricultural and environmental policy, marketing and more recently the economics of climate change, biofuel and biotechnology. He won the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture, he is a member of the US National Academy Science since 2019, was the President of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), and is a Fellow of the AAEA, Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, and the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economics. David is an avid blogger on the Berkeley Blog and a life-long Golden State Warriors fan.
Jayson Lusk is Vice President and Dean of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University. Prior to that position, he served as Distinguished Professor and Department Head in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He authors books and articles related to contemporary food policy issues.
George Stanford Tolley was an agricultural economist at the University of Chicago. Along with the faculty at the University of Chicago, he has worked on the faculty of North Carolina State University. In 1965–1966, he was Director of the Economic Development Division of the Economic Research Service at the US Department of Agriculture, and in 1974–1975 he was Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Tax Analysis at the US Department of Treasury.
Gerald Shively is an American economist and Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He teaches and publishes research articles and books related to contemporary policy-related issues in economic development. His specializations are in poverty, food security and sustainable development.
Scott H. Irwin is the Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing and professor in the department of agricultural and consumer economics at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Elisabeth Sadoulet is an economist and Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley who has carried out field research in China, India, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Sadoulet was the editor of the World Bank Economic Review from 2010 to 2013, and is a fellow of several scholarly associations in the fields of agriculture and economics.
William Alan Masters is an American economist, teaching and conducting research on agricultural economics and food policy in the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University, where he also has a secondary appointment in the Department of Economics.
Awudu Abdulai is a Ghanaian agricultural and development economist, and professor at the Institute of Food Economics and Consumption Studies, University of Kiel, Germany. His research and teaching focus on issues related to poverty alleviation, food and nutrition security, consumer behavior, and sustainable agriculture.
Martin D. Smith is an American environmental economist and the George M. Woodwell Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. He is known for his research on fisheries economics, marine conservation, seafood markets, and climate change impacts on coastal areas.
