Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:34:39.080Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Economists and the 2002 Farm Bill: What Is the Value-Added of Policy Analysis?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Bruce Gardner*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland
Get access

Abstract

The 2002 Farm Act is used as a case study of three problematic considerations related to economists' role in policy issues: priority on economic efficiency versus income distribution, the role of benefit-cost analysis, and appropriate policies given market power of agribusiness. The results of the 2002 Act relevant to each of these issues have been widely criticized, raising questions about the effectiveness of economists' involvement. However, given the uncertainties about many key program effects, criticisms of the Act are themselves in question. In this context, the role of economists is seen analytically as generating information for Bayesian decision makers, and practically as gaining attention for that information in the political process.

Type
Invited Presentation
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alston, J., and James, J. (2002, forthcoming). “The Incidence of Agricultural Policy.” In Gardner, B. and Rausser, G. (eds.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, Volume II. New York: Elsevier Science Publishing.Google Scholar
Boehlje, M., Schrader, L., Hurt, C., Foster, K., and Pritchett, J. (2001, February). “The Producer Protection Act: Will It Protect Producers?” Agricultural Economics Report, Purdue University.Google Scholar
Congressional Budget Office. (2002, May 22). “H.R. 2646: Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002Pay-As-You-Go Estimate. CBO, Washington, DC. Online. Available at www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=3468&sequence=0&from=6.Google Scholar
Connor, J., Carstensen, P. C., McEowan, R. A., and Harl, N. E. (2002). “The Ban on Packer Ownership and Feeding of Livestock: Legal and Economic Implications.” Research paper, Department of Economics, Iowa State University. Online. Available at www.econ.iastate.edu/research/abstracts/NDN0126.pdf.Google Scholar
Council on Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics. (2001). “The Risks of ‘One Size Fits Αll’ Farm Policy.” C-FARE, Washington, DC. Google Scholar
Feuz, D., Grimes, G., Hayenga, M., Koontz, S., Lawrence, J., Purcell, W., Schroeder, T., and Ward, C. (2002). “Comment on Economic Impacts of Proposed Legislation to Prohibit Beef and Pork Packer Ownership, Feeding, or Control of Livestock.” Report. Online. Available at www.aaec.vt.edu/rilp/Banning%20Issue-Final%20Report.pdf.Google Scholar
Gardner, B. (2002, forthcoming). “Returns to Policy-Related Research in Agriculture.” In Pardey, P. (ed.), What's Economic Research Worth? Valuing Policy Research. Baltimore, MD: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)/Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Gardner, B., Chase, R., Lynch, L., Lichtenberg, E., Musser, W., and Parker, D. (2002, June). “Economic Situation and Prospects for Maryland Agriculture.” Mimeo, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park. Prepared for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Hirshleifer, J., and Riley, J. G. (1992). The Analytics of Uncertainty and Information. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture/Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. (1997, August 29). “Review of Western Organization of Resource Councils Petition for RulemakingUSDA/GIPSA, Washington, DC. Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary. (2001, September). “Designing a Market-Based Stewardship Program.” In Food and Agricultural Policy: Taking Stock for the New Century (p. 86). USDA, Washington, DC.Google Scholar