Basic concepts of production function. Historical background and characteristics of different forms of production functions- linear, quadratic, square-root, Spillman, cubic, semi-log, Cobb-Douglas, trascedental, CES, VES and Leontief. Static and dynamic production functions and their applications. Frontier production functions. Dualities between production, cost and profit functions. Derivation of output supply and factor demand functions from production and profit functions. Optimisation and resource allocation. Multiple product relationships. Production possibility curves. Choice between products and resource use. Spatial and temporal allocation of resources. Resource-use efficiency: size, productivity and returns to scale, allocative efficiency, analysis of factor shares in agriculture and their implications on income distribution. Risk attitudes in agriculture, optimization under risk.
