Méthodes quantitatives et théorie micro-économique : enseignement et application à la politique agricole au Royaume-Uni

Eighteenth and Nineteenth century writings on political economy by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and J.S. Mill were very much concerned, among other things, with agricultural trade and the economics of agricultural production and rents. It was not, however, until the decade 1910-1920 that the institutional basis of a separate agricultural economics profession in the UK was established, inspired in particular by the development of the discipline of farm management in the USA. UK agricultural economics has built on the twin bases of farm management studies and neo-classical economic principles applied to markets, trade and policy. The teaching of the subject very much reflects these origins, and there is heavy emphasis on microeconomic theory and econometrics. While agricultural economics in the UK is a broad school, embracing marketing, third-world development, and rural and environmental studies there is no major dissent from the core theoretical curriculum.