SUPPLY RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF IRAQI WHEAT GROWERS

Alternative specifications of model of supply response of Iraq wheat growers and their economic implications are considered in terms of the existences and nature of production lags, and the choice between expected wheat and gross returns as the preferred explanatory of producer’s response to changing economic condition. The analyses indicate that there are lags which are due primarily to the difficulties and cost of rapid adjustment rather than to the time required to revise expectations. The statistical results were similar for the alternative specification of gross margins and wheat as the economic decision available. However, the wheat elasticities derived using the gross margins specification were about a third of those using the wheat specification. The gross margin specification yielded additional information in the form of yield and in put cost elasticities