SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS JULY, 1974 INCORPORATING MULTIPLE GOALS INTO THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: A SIMULATION APPROACH TO FIRM GROWTH ANALYSIS*

Although the importance of multiple goals in the consumption by the farm family, land acquisition decision-making process has been recognized for years alternatives, beginning farm size, and availability and by economists [1,3], economic analyses typically are cost of irrigation water. The study area includes eight based on the assumption of maximization or counties in the northern high plains of Texas, the minimization of a single goal. Some firm growth three Oklahoma Panhandle counties, eight counties in analyses have considered two or more goals by southwestern Kansas, and two counties in maximizing one goal subject to constraints on the southeastern Colorado. The primary basis for remaining goals [4, 11]. In other cases, utility delineating this study area is the location of the functions that incorporate expected income and underground aquifer (the Central Ogallala Formation) income variability have been estimated for individual that can be used as a source of irrigation water [2]. farm operators [12]. Although these approaches are THE MODIFIED MULTIDIMENSIONAL an effort to incorporate more than one goal in the UT T AP AUTILITY APPROA CHdecision process, firm growth research in general has not been based on multiple-goal decision models. ' Models designed to select the financial and This paper discusses a multiple-goal decision production strategies for a farm firm over time model used to select farm plans in a study of farm required a detailed specification of the farmer's goals