Date of Graduation

5-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Nalley, Lanier L.

Committee Member/Reader

Rom, C. R. (Curt R.)

Committee Member/Second Reader

Farmer, Frank

Abstract

The development and evolution of an agricultural system is influenced by many factors including binding constraints (limiting factors), choice of investments, and historic presence of land and income inequality. This study analyzed the development of two farming systems: mechanized, “economies of scale” farming in the Arkansas Delta and crofting in the Scottish Highlands. The study hypothesized that the current farm size in each region can be partially attributed to the binding constraints of either land or labor. In Scotland, it was found that the continuous binding constraint was the availability of arable land. In Arkansas, the binding constraint began as land, but experienced points of inflection where the constraint became labor as a result of the end of slavery and mechanization. Each region’s respective inelastic supplies contributed to the investments that were used to maximize the output per binding constraint. This study also explored the idea that those investments related to binding constraints have influenced the levels of land and income inequality in the Highlands and the Delta today. It was found that the historic presence of slavery in the south has contributed to the Arkansas Delta’s relatively high income and land inequality today. The Induced Innovation Model and the Gini coefficient were employed in the analysis of data pertaining to the respective regions’ agricultural constraints, investments, and economic inequalities.

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