小農經濟에 있어서의 農産物生産費算出問題

Estimating Agricultural Costs of Production in Peasant Economy

Even after the concept of the costs of production becomes clear there still remain certain problems of choosing items of the costs of production and estimating them. Traditionally there have been two contrasting views on costs of production. The one is economists’ view and the other is that of accountants. According to the former the items of the costs of production extend to include taxes and other charges as well as the items such as speed, fertilizer, chemicals, etc. These two views show some differences in estimation. The former includes even unpaid costs for self-supplied labor, land, and other materials in calculation through imputation while the latter excludes any items unpaid and records only practical payments. These differences in estimation of costs of production create differences in the magnitude of costs of production between economists’ method and that of accountants. Usually, estimated results of the costs of preducticn by economists’ method are greater than those of accountants. This is one of the reasons why producers favor the economists’ method while consumers favor the accountants’ method. As a base determining a level of supporting price which makes agricultural sector enjoy equality with industrial sector economists’ method is more appropriate. However, in explaining the background including socio-economic relationship of agricultural production accountants’ method is superior. In this sense there is no general cost of production. Any estimates of the cost of producing agricultural products will encounter some criticism. Beside these, a lots of problems emerge from the characteristics of peaseant economy such as indivisibility of consumption and production. To reduce the number of problems as many alternative estimation should be attempted as possible and estimates should offer flexibility to the user. That means providing sufficient detail on input items, including both costs and physical quantities, so that users can adjust the cost estimates. Furthermore, estimates should be accompanied by indicators of returns to have full meaning.