@article{Bullock:174416,
      recid = {174416},
      author = {Bullock, David S. and Salhofer, K.},
      title = {Measuring the social costs of suboptimal combinations of  policy instruments: A general framework and an example},
      journal = {Agricultural Economics: The Journal of the International  Association of Agricultural Economists},
      address = {1998-05},
      number = {968-2016-75884},
      pages = {12},
      year = {1998},
      abstract = {Since most agricultural programs employ two or more policy  instruments simultaneously, it is notable that little  research has
attempted to find optimal instrument  combinations and no research exists which evaluates the  social costs (unrealized benefits)
of combining instruments  suboptimally. In our paper we report a simple and feasible  method to find optimal policy instrument
combinations, and  we provide the first general, formal approach to measuring  the social costs of suboptimal policy  instrument
combinations. Our approach is illustrated in an  analysis for five major U.S. crops (com, feed grains,  wheat, rice, cotton). The
simple model we employ for the  illustration suggests that except for the feed grains  program, the observed programs combined
policy instruments  quite suboptimally. We conclude that agricultural economics  research now can and should begin placing
increased  emphasis on studying optimal policy instrument  combinations. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights  reserved.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/174416},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.174416},
}