This textbook is about modern agricultural economics and policy aimed at advanced degree students. Based on the lecture notes taught at the University of California, Berkeley, it presents a comprehensive perspective on agricultural policy, its evolution, challenges, and limitations. The first part of the book includes cutting-edge analytical analysis of production, technology, risk, environmental, and policy issues in agriculture. The second part of the book applies the analysis in areas of agricultural supply chain, food security, land conservation, pesticide use, and climate change. The book provides a multidisciplinary approach to analyse natural resources and environmental issues in agriculture, and introduces readers to the concepts of sustainability, biodiversity, bioeconomy, supply chain, and the role of agriculture and natural resources in addressing climate change. The book includes numerous applications as well as six problem sets with selected solutions.
Contents:
- Prologue: The Uniqueness of Agricultural Economics
- History of US Agriculture — A Lesson in Development
- A Review of Production Economics
- A Review of Consumer Demand
- Models for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
- Welfare Analysis of Agricultural Policies
- Political Economy of Agricultural Policies
- Technical Innovation
- Technology Adoption
- Agricultural Supply Chain
- Food Security, Safety, and Health
- Economics of Pesticides
- Economics of Space: Interaction of Urban and Rural Sector
- Climate Change and Agriculture
- Epilogue: Sustainable Development of Agriculture
- Appendices:
- Elements of Optimization Theory
- Problem Sets
- Solutions to Selected Problem Sets
Readership: Professors and lecturers, and advanced degree students in agricultural economics, policy, and related fields; researchers focused on agricultural policy, environmental issues, and sustainability; government officials and policymakers involved in agricultural and environmental policy; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working on issues related to food security, land conservation, and climate change.
David Zilberman holds the Robinson Chair in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the recipient of the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture and was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science 2019. David served as the 2018-19 President of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA). He's a fellow of multiple professional associations and has published in both professional and popular outlets. He has over 400 refereed articles in journals ranging from Science to ARE Update and has edited 25 books. In addition, he has served as a consultant to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the World Bank, and the FAO. David's BA is from Tel Aviv University and his PhD is from Berkeley. David is the co-founder of the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program and the academic director of the Berkeley Master of Development Practice program. David's research analyzes water, innovation, supply chains, and the interactions between agriculture, energy, and the environment. He has researched the economics and political economy of agricultural biotechnology and the potential of the bioeconomy. In addition, he has been working on water policy programs and the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ruiqing Miao is an associate professor in agricultural economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University. His research focuses on agricultural sustainability, innovation, and decision-making under risk and uncertainty. He studies the interaction between agricultural production and its environment, aiming to understand and quantify agriculture's impact on land use, water use, water quality, and biodiversity, as well as how agricultural production is affected by farmers' behaviors, public policies, agricultural innovation, technology adoption, and climate change. Ruiqing has served as a co-editor for Choices Magazine, and as an associate editor for American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Economics, and Natural Resource Modeling. Ruiqing received his PhD in economics from Iowa State University in 2012.
Jian Rong is a senior lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University. In 2022, Dr Rong was a visiting scholar in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a visiting lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis. Dr Rong has rich experience in teaching agricultural policy, agribusiness management and agribusiness marketing. She holds a PhD in Economics from Fudan University and an MBA from Iowa State University.
