The purpose of this dissertation is to derive a production possibilities curve illustrating alternative choices of agricultural production and rural environmental quality for the Willow Creek area of the Columbia Plateau in Oregon. The research was done as a supplement to the USDA Oregon Rivers Cooperative River Basin Nonpoint Pollution Study. The dissertation is primarily a methodology which can be expanded to address similar trade-offs between conflicting goals. The study initially presented a methodology for measuring environmental quality. A hierarchical structure was introduced which allowed goals and subgoals to be measured in order of their importance. Linkages among these different goals were also defined. Then a preference function was introduced so that goals could be related to preferences or values. Technical indicators were used to measure how well different practices achieve various goals. Finally a model was developed which maximized the level of environmental quality subject to various profit constraints. The model used mathematical programming to develop a production possibilities frontier giving various choices of economic production and environmental quality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/186315 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Creators | STELLERN, MICHAEL JOSEPH. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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