Applied Economics Teaching Resources

an AAEA Journal

Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Special Issue

Case-Study Research Topics in Agribusiness Economics and Management

Michael Boland
University of Minnesota

JEL Codes: Q13, L66
Keywords: Agribusiness, agriculture, case-study research, economics, food, industrial organization, management

Publish Date: September 18, 2019
Volume 2, Issue 1

View Full Article (PDF) | Request Teaching Notes/Supplemental Materials

Abstract

Within agricultural and applied economics, the development of and methodology for case-study research receives wide discussion. Despite this, there exists no published case-study research studies based in classic case-study methodology. Case-study research is an important methodological tool in social sciences, but generally not taught in agricultural and applied economics graduate programs. The objective is to discuss two different researchable topics requiring extensive data collection that are suitable for dissertations and research. The first topic is to help inform the theoretical contributions in geographic indications by collecting supply data for food products to better understand the relative shape of supply curves and their relative elasticities of supply for such products. The second topic is to understand the depth of agricultural global supply chains in a topical area such as sustainability. Both topics would provide cross-sectional and time-series dimensions in a detailed experimental design with individual firms being the subject of each data. There are opportunities for graduate degree programs to focus on case-study research, which would be suitable for dissertations. This is especially true for graduate students in agribusiness economics and management who have a desire to teach as a career.

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank Editor, Jason Bergtold for the helpful suggestions and comments, which made this a better manuscript, seminar participants at the University of Minnesota, and continuing legal education students at the 2018 Midwest Intellectual Property Institute. About the Author(s): Michael A Boland is a Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director of The Food Industry Center, Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota (Corresponding author: boland@umn.edu)

Copyright is governed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA

References

Antràs, P., and D. Chor. 2013. “Organizing the Global Value Chain.” Econometrica 81(6):2127–2204.

Antràs, P., and E. Helpman. 2004. “Global Sourcing.” Journal of Political Economy 112(3):552–580.

Balbach, J. 1998. “Chapter 7: The Effect of Ownership on Contract Structure, Costs, and Quality: The Case of the U.S. Beet Sugar Industry.” In J.S. Royer and R.T. Rogers, eds. The Industrialization of Agriculture: Vertical Coordination in the U.S. Food System. Brookfield VT: Ashgate Publishing, pp.155–184.

Bellemare, M.F., and S. Lim. 2018. “In All Shapes and Colors: Varieties of Contract Farming.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 40(3):379–401. doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppy019

Boland, M.A. 2018. “The Business Merit of Trade.” Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review 103:27–54.

———. 2009. “Leadership Development in Agricultural Economics: Challenges for Academic Units.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 34(3):367–382.

Boland, M.A., and M. Caķir. 2018. “Agribusiness Economics and Management.” In G.L. Cramer, K.P. Paudel, and A. Schmitz, eds. Handbook of Agricultural Economics. New York: Routledge, pp. 760–777. doi.org/10.4324/9781315623351-41

Boland, M.A., B. Cooper, and J.M. White. 2016. “Making Sustainability Tangible: Land O’Lakes and the Dairy Supply Chain.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 98(2):648–657. doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aav06

Boland, M.A., and J.M. Crespi. 2010. “From Farm Management to Agricultural and Applied Economics: The Expansion of a Professional Society as seen through a Census of Its Dissertations from 1951 to 2005.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 32(3):456–471. doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppq012

Coase, R. 1937. “The Nature of the Firm.” Economica 4(16):386–405.

Cook, M.L., and S. Ye. 2016. “Price Stability and Economic Sustainability—Achievable Goals? A Case Study of Organic Valley.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 97(2):635–651.

European Commission. 2019. “Food Safety and Quality.” ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety-andquality_en

Gereffi, G., J. Humphrey, and T. Sturgeon. 2005. “The Governance of Global Value Chains.” Review of International Political Economy 12(1):78–104.

Goodhue, R.E., S. Mohapatra, and G.C. Rausser. 2010. “Interactions between Incentive Instruments: Contracts and Quality in Processing Tomatoes.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 92(5):1283–1293.

Grossman, G.M., and E. Helpman. 2002. “Integration versus Outsourcing in Industry Equilibrium.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 117(1):85–120.

Hart, O. 2017. “Incomplete Contracts and Control.” American Economic Review 107(7):1731–1752.

Hayes, D.J., S.H. Lence, and A. Stoppa. 2003. “Farmer-Owned Brands?” Briefing Paper 02-BP 39, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University, Ames.

Holmström, B. 1979. “Moral Hazard and Observability.” The Bell Journal of Economics 10(1):7491.

Josling, T. 2006. “The War on Terroir.” Journal of Agricultural Economics 57(3):337–363.

Knoeber, C. 1989. “A Real Game of Chicken: Contracts, Tournaments, and the Production of Broilers.” Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 5:271–292.

Kuijpers, R., and J. Swinnen. 2016. “Value Chains and Technology Transfer to Agriculture in Developing and Emerging Economies.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 98(5):1403–1418. doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aaw069

Lence, S.H., S. Marette, D.J. Hayes, and W. Foster. 2007. “Collective Marketing Arrangements for Geographically Differentiated Agricultural Products: Welfare Impacts and Policy Implications.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 89(4):947– 963.

Menapace, L., and G. Moschini. 2014. “Strength of Protection for Geographical Indications: Promotion Incentive and Welfare Effects.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 96(4):1030–1048. doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aau016

and Welfare Effects.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 96(4):1030–1048. doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aau016

Moschini, G., L. Menapace, and D. Pick. 2008. “Geographical Indications and the Competitive Provision of Quality in Agricultural Markets.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 90(3):94–812. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8276.2008.01142x

Ostrom, E. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Penrose, E.T. 1960. “The Growth of the Firm: A Case Study of the Hercules Powder Company.” Business History Review 34(1):1– 23.

Penrose, E.T. 1960. “The Growth of the Firm: A Case Study of the Hercules Powder Company.” Business History Review 34(1):1– 23.

Standard & Poor’s Compustat Services. 2019. Standard & Poor’s Research Insight. Report & Chart Library (Global). Englewood CO: Standard & Poor’s Compustat.

Williamson, O.E. 2005. “The Economics of Governance.” The American Economic Review 95(2):118.

Wysocki, A.F. 1998. “Determinants of Firm-Level Coordination Strategy in a Changing AgriFood System.” PhD dissertation, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural Economics.

Yin, R.K. 2018. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods, 6th ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.