Farmers’ long‐term investment decisions: A study of Sri Lankan rubber smallholders
研究了斯里兰卡橡胶小农在面临种植和重新种植决策时的行为，发现利润最大化模型能较好预测使用雇佣劳动的大农户行为，并可通过调整家庭劳动机会成本和风险因素扩展至小农户，现金补贴对诱导贫困家庭农户进行长期投资至关重要。
Planting and replanting of perennial crops confronts small farmers with a long‐term investment decision. In this study, we analyse the behaviour of rubber smallholders in Sri Lanka when faced with a replacement decision. An intertemporal profit maximizing model (maximizing discounted stream of expected future net revenues) predicts behaviour of larger, hired labour using farmers quite well. The model can also be extended successfully to smaller, family farms, when a lower than market wage rate is imputed to family labour to better reflect opportunity cost of labour, and risk considerations are incorporated in relatively simple fashion. The difference between a cash investment and a labour investment is crucial for the poorer family farmers and an appropriate cash subsidy can play a vital role in inducing them to undertake long term investments.