The rationality of farm size growth: An example from ‘white’ South Africa
从四个角度检验南非商业农场主扩大规模是否基于市场信号，发现扩张出于理性经济原因，干预成本可能很高。
The author examines whether farmers respond reasonably efficiently to market signals, or whether their decision-making about farm expansion is based upon non-market principles. Four approaches to this problem are outlined. The first makes inferences from aggregate income data. The second estimates earnings functions. The third tests the hypothesis of economies of scale. The fourth examines farmers' long-term plans econometrically. These methods are applied in the context of commercial agriculture in South Africa. It appears that expansion is under taken for rational economic reasons. Ii is concluded that the costs of interventions to alter farm sizes may be considerable.