| Over the years, several have assessed the impacts of changes in agricultural technology. In most studies, the emphasis has been on evaluating the economic impacts of technology. In most studies, the emphasis has been on evaluating the economic impacts of technological change with little consideration of the secondary and tertiary distributional impacts of such change. This article uses partial equilibrium analysis to estimate the gross and net social rates of return arising from proposed mechanization of strawberry harvesting in Oregon. The discussion considers other factors not explicitly accounted for in the economic model, (e.g., social and technical) but which are likely to have repercussions on the estimated social rates of return. |
