Module Identifier RS10110  
Module Title AN INTRODUCTION TO THE RURAL ECONOMY  
Academic Year 2000/2001  
Co-ordinator Professor Peter Midmore  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Mr Garth Hughes  
Course delivery Lecture   22 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   4 Hours  
Assessment Exam   1.5 Hours   70%  
  Essay   1,500 words   30%  
  Resit assessment   WIRS departmental policy applies    

Brief description
The lectures will consider economic development and structural change; land as a resource; the demand for food and characteristics of consumer behaviour, including price and income elasticity of demand for food; farm and rural business organisation within the food chain; agricultural and rural policies, including protection, subsidisation and regional location incentives;
conservation and public goods in the rural environment.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:

i) identify different components of land-based activity and their characteristics;

ii) relate rural economic behaviour at the level of the individual and household to aggregate changes in the countryside;

iii) describe government policies relating to agriculture, conservation and the rural economy.

Aims of the module
This module will provide a core contribution to all land-based degree schemes, providing insight into the working of fundamental economic relationships, the opportunities and problems these offer for the countryside, and the responses of policymakers. The aims are therefore to:

(a) describe the economic influences on farming, the countryside and rural communities, mainly with reference to Britain and
Western Europe; and

(b) provide insight into the underlying causal mechanisms.

Reading Lists
Books
Brassley P. (1997) Agricultural economics and the CAP: an introduction. Blackwell Science
Harding R. (1997) One semester economics. Blackwell
Midmore P and Hughes G O. (1996) Rural Wales: an economic and social perspective. Welsh Institute of Rural Studies
Strak J. (1989) Rural pluriactivity in the UK. NEDC

Technical Reports
Hughes G O, Sherwood A-M and Midmore P. (1996) Welsh agriculture into the new milennium. CAP prospects and farming in rural Wales. Report to DBRW and WDA. Welsh Institute of Rural Studies