The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on wages and employment and plant closures in the meat packing, prepared meat products, and poultry slaughter and processing industries over 1977-87 and 1982-92. The analysis relies on a balanced panel dataset...

The cost of compliance with the Pathogen Reduction Hazard Analysis Critical Control Program (PR/HACCP) rule of 1996 has been controversial since it was first proposed. Surveys have provided some cost information but examined plant size and other indirect effects with limited data and did not...

The compliance costs of the Pathogen Reduction Hazard Analysis Critical Control Program (PR/HACCP) rule have been controversial. Previous reports have used limited data to evaluate its overall and component costs. This paper addresses those deficiencies by examining compliance costs with data...

This article investigates the motives for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the U.S. meat products industry from 1977 to 1992. Results show that acquired meat and poultry plants were very productive before mergers, and that all but the very largest meat slaughter and processing plants and all...

Food safety technology can increase a company’s capacity to prevent a foodborne contamination. A food safety audit—a quality control tool in which an auditor observes whether a plant’s processing practices and technologies are compatible with good food safety practices—can indicate how...

This article examines the impact of regulation and market-driven private actions on food safety performance in the meat and poultry industries. We find that private actions account for about 80% and regulation about 20% of the overall reduction in the share of samples of cattle and hog...