Jock R. Anderson

Jock Robert Anderson (born 23 January 1941) is an Australian agricultural economist, specialising in agricultural development economics, risk and decision theory, and international rural development policy. Born in Monto, Queensland, he studied at the University of Queensland, attaining bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural science. After graduation, Anderson joined the Faculty of Agricultural Economics at the University of New England. At New England, he focused on research in farm management, risk, and uncertainty and received a doctor of philosophy in economics in 1970. In 1977, Anderson co-authored a book, Agricultural Decision Analysis, which has served as an influential source on risk and decision analysis for agricultural economics researchers and the agricultural industry.

From 1978 to 1979, Anderson was chief research economist at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the first holder of that role. In 1991, he was appointed an emeritus professor at New England and departed to a full-time position as an agricultural economist and rural development policy advisor at the World Bank in Washington D.C. He retired from the World Bank in 2003. A prolific author and editor of papers and publications related to his field, Anderson has continued to write and consult in retirement. He was elected a fellow and/or presiding member of a number of professional agricultural, economic, and science organizations, including as a Distinguished Fellow in the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. He was honored with a Doctor of the University by the University of New England in 2006 and Doctor of Agricultural Science by the University of Queensland in 2014.

Early life and education Anderson was born at Monto, Queensland, to parents Robert William and Nellie Frances Anderson on 23 January 1941. As a child he lived on and helped tend his family's beef, pig, wheat, and sorghum farm, called "Clifton Hills," in the Upper Burnett area of Queensland. Due to an absence of high schools in his rural area, for his postprimary education Anderson traveled to Brisbane to attend Brisbane Grammar School. He graduated in 1958 and was awarded an open scholarship to the University of Queensland.

At the University of Queensland, Anderson majored in agricultural economics, with a focus in applied production. He received a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with First Class Honors in 1963. Continuing with postgraduate studies at the University of Queensland, Anderson received a Master of Agricultural Science in 1965. While working towards his masters, he was selected and worked as a research fellow for the university's department of agriculture, sponsored by Sir Edmund Marsden Tooth. At the same time, he served as a science tutor at the university's Emmanuel College campus.

Career

University of New England After receiving his master's degree, Anderson was employed as a research agronomist and applied production economist for ACF & Shirleys Fertilizers Ltd in Brisbane. He departed Brisbane one year later, in 1966, to join the faculty of the University of New England at its campus in Armidale, New South Wales. Anderson served as a research fellow under John L. Dillon, Foundation Chair of Farm Management, studying the pastoral-zone wool industry of Queensland and New South Wales. The two particularly focused on risk management, biometric, and econometric issues related to farm management. Under Dillon's guidance, Anderson received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics in 1970.

Anderson afterward became a lecturer in farm economic statistics until 1972, before becoming a senior lecturer between 1973 and 1974. In 1975 he was appointed as an associate professor, and in 1984 became a full-time professor (personal chair) in agricultural economics and business management, a position he held until 1991. In 1973, Anderson took a sabbatical as a visiting professor of agricultural economics at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, beginning his career-long work with agricultural development economics.

At New England, Anderson specialized in risk and uncertainty, in particular Bayesian statistics, stochastic processes and efficiency analysis, and modern decision theory as applied to agricultural economics. Along with Dillon and J. Brian Hardaker, Anderson co-authored a 1977 book, Agricultural Decision Analysis, which served as an influential source on risk and decision analysis for agricultural economics researchers and the agricultural industry. The American Journal of Agricultural Economics described the expository text as "Something of a classic in the field, especially amongst graduate students of U.S. colleges."

From 1978 to 1979, Anderson took a leave of absence to serve as deputy director and chief research economist for the Australian government's Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAE) (later called Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics) in Canberra. With BAE, he managed a portfolio consisting of 200 economic researchers examining current issues and aspects of the agricultural industry.

World Bank

While at New England, Anderson at times did part-time consultant work for the World Bank. First, in 1977, with the bank's Development Research Center.

During his time with the World Bank, Anderson accompanied a number of in-country missions, including to Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe. He also worked with research studies on Burkina Faso, India, Kenya, and Malawi. In 1992, again with Dillon, Anderson co-authored Risk Analysis in Dryland Farming Systems which, as its title suggested, focused on risk analysis in dryland farming systems in less-developed regions.

Further work In 2004 the second edition of Coping with Risk in Agriculture, co-authored by Anderson, Hardaker, Ruud B. M. Huirne, G. Lien, was published. The book was intended as a replacement text for Agricultural Decision Analysis and was targeted at senior undergraduate or graduate students of farm management, agricultural researchers, farm advisors, veterinarians, farmers, and policy makers. A third edition including copulas was published in 2015 as Hardaker, J.B., Lien, G., Anderson, J.R. and Huirne, R.B.M. (2015), Coping with Risk in Agriculture: Applied Decision Analysis, CABI Publishing, Wallingford. More recently, Anderson served as an Editor in Chief of Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability, Elsevier, Oxford (3 volumes).

Consultancies Throughout his career at New England, in addition to his work with the World Bank Anderson also acted as a consultant for several outside organizations. In 1973 he served as an economist for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico. In 1988, Anderson, with R. W. Herdt and G. M. Scobie, coauthored a book on CGIAR titled, Science and Food: The CGIAR and its Partners.

Professional associations Anderson's professional associations while at New England included membership in the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES), for which he was elected president in 1981, serving in that position for one year. Also in 1981, he was an exchange fellow in the Academies' Australia-China Exchange in the Humanities and Social Sciences. From 1982 to 1983, Anderson served as a research fellow in the Resource Systems Institute of the East–West Center, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1984 he selected as a Distinguished Foreign Scholar of the Mid-American State Universities Association. In 1985 and 1988 he was respectively named a fellow in the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and the World Academy of Productivity Science. In 1996, Anderson was selected as a fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association and in 2003 as a distinguished fellow with AARES. In 1989, he was a guest editor, along with J. L. Dillon, of a special issue of Agricultural Economics. In addition, in 1978, Anderson served as editorial manager for the Quarterly Review of Agricultural Economics. 1981 President and Fellow, Australian Agricultural Economics Society 1981 Exchange Fellow in the Academies' Australia-China Exchange in the Social Sciences 1984 Distinguished Foreign Scholar, Mid-America State Universities Association 1985 Fellow, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science 1988 Fellow, World Academy of Productivity Science 1996 Fellow, American Agricultural Economics Association 2000 Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia 2003 Distinguished Fellow, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society 2003 Honorary Life Membership of the International Association of Agricultural Economists 2006 Doctor of the University, h.c., University of New England 2014 Doctor of Agricultural Science, h.c., University of Queensland

Selected publications

3rd edn 2015