Review of Agricultural Policy, Agribusiness, and Rent-Seeking Behavior By Andrew Schmitz, Hartley Furtan, and Katherine Baylis

摘要

This excellent text is suitable for senior undergraduate students and graduate students in agricultural economics and agribusiness. Its underlying premise is that the formation of agricultural policy is driven by rent-seeking behavior and that agribusiness is an important participant in the policy process. The book goes on to contrast agricultural policies in Canada and the United States through this rent-seeking lens. Although its title's emphasis on rent-seeking and agribusiness is somewhat misleading, the volume offers an excellent economic analysis of agricultural policy. Rent-seeking is a dominant theme but certainly not the book's focus, unless policy and rent-seeking are simply seen as tautologous. Agribusiness receives little attention other than being identified as a major player in rent-seeking and lobbying activity. Despite this weakness, this is one of best and most comprehensive texts on the economics of agricultural policy currently available.