Risk Efficiency in the Interpretation of Agricultural Production Research

Abstract

Risk is often perceived by farmers as being more formidable in new technologies emanating from agricultural research than in more traditional practices. Consequently risk may tend to act as an impediment to adoption of improved practices as well as a general friction on efficient use of resources. Research and extension workers in agriculture may thus wish to identify technologies that are not only "improved" (more productive and profitable on the average) but are also less risky in that they would be preferred by "risk-averse" farmers. The extent to which this identification can proceed in the absence of knowledge of farmers' individual attitudes to risk is explored here through application of the concepts of stochastic dominance.