The Economics of Peasant Agriculture: The Indonesian Case

Abstract

Describes the poverty of the Javanese peasants and the lack of prospects for improvement, noting population density , poor soils, lack of natural resources, erosion, and increasing incidence of death by starvation. Discusses the economic environment and farmer response related to prices and resource allocation at the farm level; to prices in the factor markets of labor, land, and capital; to the economics of related industries; and to national planning for agricultural development. Relates the self-defeating pattern of economic behavior to farmers' reluctance to innovate