Réflexions sur l'objet de l'économie rurale

In any disciplin, progress of knowledge depend on the validity of the concepts and theories which lie at its center. A historical study of the French school oj farm economics leads us to think that this school has often set the problems badly. Especially the theory according to which agriculture, by its biological nature, is a field completely apart in economics, does not seem able to improve economic thought applied to agriculture. On the contrary, interesting results have been obtained by applying certain concepts of the general economics. Thus it seems more fruitful to build up the conceptualization from the general economic theory. Here We must not forget that the existing agricultural structures give a distinguished caracter to this sector. This caracter justifies studies of the sector by specialized economists and leads to a planing of the research considering both themes of the general theory and the specific character of farm economics involved in every subject.