| In a very literal way, subsistence households are both producers and consumers. Consequently, their behavior reflects a commingling of the resource management decisions of production theory with the household expenditure decisions of consumer theory. This dissertation addresses this commingling of household decision making within an "agricultural household model" framework. This framework is used to evaluate economic gains accruing from a technology demonstration project implemented in the Western Highlands of Guatemala.; An indirect variable cost model representing household production decision making is linked by net farm income (controlled for selection and imitation biases) to two consumption models: A linear logit budget allocation model, and an almost ideal demand system (AIDS) model. Empirical versions of these models are tested using survey data collected from a cross-section of subsistence households in the project area. The empirical results indicate that project participation improved productive efficiency, generated significant gains in net farm incomes (with particularly high returns to irrigation), and induced significant diversification in food consumption patterns. |
