Estimating utility functions of Greek dairy sheep farmers: A multicriteria mathematical programming approach

Abstract

Mathematical programming models are commonly used to approach decision making in livestock farms. The majority of these models assume gross margin maximisation as the sole objective of farmers. In this study an alternative multicriteria model is built to test the hypothesis of the multiplicity of the objectives of Greek sheep farmers. A farm typology is constructed to account for diversified farm structures and a non-interactive methodology is used to elicit the utility function of farmers. The results of the analysis indicate that the multicriteria model allows for a better representation of the farms, compared to the gross margin maximisation model.