Economie agro-alimentaire

The last number of Economie Rurale raises certain questions concerning the economics of agri-business and its methods. This new, developing subject differs from farm economics more particularly in its field of study. It considers all the functional and socio-economic sub-sectors that contribute to the satisfaction of nutritional needs in a given society. It analyses the food consumption model and the underlying production model. In Western economics the added value from agri-business tends to equal the added value from farming. Thi equality indicates the stage reached by agri-business. Agri-business economics are not analysed in the same way as farms economics. The industrialization and capitalization processes of the agri-business economy, closely connected with modifications in the social conditions of consumption in Western economics, become fundamental as do the resulting modifications down the agribusiness chain. The agri-business products market is very different from that of farm products and the « monopolistic competition » model explains the food economy market much better than the traditional model of imperfect competition.