Using National Agricultural Workers Survey data, we estimate U.S. farm worker wage differentials by legal status. In order to adequately correct sample selection bias, we develop a Heckman-type two-stage method with an ordered probit model in the first stage and a wage equation model in the...

Specialty crop farmers have expressed concern about labor shortages and cost increases which may arise with immigration reform. The large-scale mechanization of the Florida sugarcane harvest during the 1970s/80s serves as an historical example of how technologies evolved due to changes in local...

Immigration reform may significantly impact the specialty crops sector since more than half of the workforce is foreign-born and undocumented. Based on data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey, the trends pertaining to workers' legal status, employment and wage rates in the U.S. and...

The prospect of immigration policy reform has renewed growers’ concerns of serious labor shortages and cost increases given that a large portion of the workforce is unauthorized for U.S. employment. This concern of labor shortages and cost increases is more serious for specialty crop...

The issue of legalization for unauthorized farm workers is examined in this paper. The analytical framework uses a treatment effects approach which casts legalization as a treatment under the assumption of heterogeneity. The results show an overall positive impact of legalization on farm worker...

The prospect of immigration reform has renewed farmers’ concerns of serious labor shortages and cost increases, which may urge highly labor-intensive specialty crop farmers to switch to less-labor-intensive technology. The large-scale mechanization of the Florida sugarcane harvest during the...

Immigration issues regained national prominence after the events of September 2001. Much of the specialty crop sector workforce is foreign-born and unauthorized, implying that there may be significant challenges ahead if stringent immigration legislation is passed. This paper assesses the...

A stationary, first-order Markov chain model with selection bias correction for legal status is estimated by maxixmum likelihood methods using the National Agricultural Worker Survey data for 1989-2004 to evaluate the likelihood of workers staying in U.S. agriculture by legal status. Although...

We have proposed and estimated a Heckman-type two stage model with legal status of farm workers using an ordered probit model in the first stage and a duration model in the second stage. Using the National Agricultural Workers Survey, self-reported legal status categories are: unauthorized,...

The prospect of immigration policy reform has renewed growers’ concerns of serious labor shortages and cost increases given that a large portion of the workforce is unauthorized for U.S. employment. This concern of labor shortages and cost increases is more serious for specialty crop...