Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization

Farmer's risk attitudes are modelled using the Cobb-Douglas, transcendental, negative exponential, and conjoint measurement utility functions. The farmers' perception of the riskiness ofaltemative crops are also measured and a quadratic programming algorithm is used to derive the most ef...

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Main Author: Mohayidin, Mohd. Ghazali
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: 1982
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/2187/1/Small_Farmers%27_Decisions_Utility_Versus_Profit_Maximization.pdf
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author Mohayidin, Mohd. Ghazali
author_facet Mohayidin, Mohd. Ghazali
author_sort Mohayidin, Mohd. Ghazali
collection UPM
description Farmer's risk attitudes are modelled using the Cobb-Douglas, transcendental, negative exponential, and conjoint measurement utility functions. The farmers' perception of the riskiness ofaltemative crops are also measured and a quadratic programming algorithm is used to derive the most efficient expected meanvariance (E- V) frontier of each farmer. The E- V frontiers are then used in conjunction with the utility junctions to determine the optimal farm plans. Farm plans that maximise expected profit are also determined. The results reveal that the conjoint measurement utility model predicts actual behaviour better than the other models. The expected profit model, on the other hand, is the worst predictor. This indicates that risk does playa role in decision-making and that the farmers are utility maximizers rather than profit maximizers only. Therefore, more effective programs would be those that tend to reduce risks and uncertainties faced by the farmers.
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spelling upm.eprints-21872013-05-27T06:59:24Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/2187/ Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization Mohayidin, Mohd. Ghazali Farmer's risk attitudes are modelled using the Cobb-Douglas, transcendental, negative exponential, and conjoint measurement utility functions. The farmers' perception of the riskiness ofaltemative crops are also measured and a quadratic programming algorithm is used to derive the most efficient expected meanvariance (E- V) frontier of each farmer. The E- V frontiers are then used in conjunction with the utility junctions to determine the optimal farm plans. Farm plans that maximise expected profit are also determined. The results reveal that the conjoint measurement utility model predicts actual behaviour better than the other models. The expected profit model, on the other hand, is the worst predictor. This indicates that risk does playa role in decision-making and that the farmers are utility maximizers rather than profit maximizers only. Therefore, more effective programs would be those that tend to reduce risks and uncertainties faced by the farmers. 1982 Article NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/2187/1/Small_Farmers%27_Decisions_Utility_Versus_Profit_Maximization.pdf Mohayidin, Mohd. Ghazali (1982) Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization. Pertanika, 5 (2). pp. 141-153. English
spellingShingle Mohayidin, Mohd. Ghazali
Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization
title Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization
title_full Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization
title_fullStr Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization
title_full_unstemmed Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization
title_short Small Farmers' Decisions: Utility Versus Profit Maximization
title_sort small farmers decisions utility versus profit maximization
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/2187/1/Small_Farmers%27_Decisions_Utility_Versus_Profit_Maximization.pdf
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