Methodological perspective demonstrates strategies for integrating economics with biophysical sciences in food systems, highlighting the value of fine-scale geospatial resolution.
Key Points
To outline practical frameworks and methodological shifts needed to bridge agricultural economics with biophysical sustainability sciences for evaluating long-term food, water, and land systems.
Evaluated methodological transitions from national-scale general equilibrium economic modeling to fine-scale gridded partial equilibrium models operating at latitude-longitude coordinates.
Developed a Global-to-Local-to-Global analytical and curricular approach for structuring interdisciplinary sustainability research and graduate education.
Prioritizing accessible economic concepts over overly complex models lowers collaboration barriers while still providing crucial insights into market-mediated policy impacts.
Harmonizing economic modeling to match the fine grid-cell spatial resolution used by biophysical scientists leverages granular environmental data while capturing global market feedbacks.
Structuring interdisciplinary sustainability research around economic frameworks from inception improves project coherence and prevents ineffective or misleading environmental policy designs.