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Data on attendees at the World Pork Expo from 1991-1995 are used to evaluate the impact of farming generally, and hog farming and confinement operations more specifically, on the measured health outcomes of participants. Hog farming is found to increase risk of lost hand strength and respiratory...

Economists have long puzzled over the fact that large firms pay higher wages than small firms, even after controlling for worker’s observed productive characteristics. One possible explanation has been that firm size is correlated with unobserved productive attributes which confound firm...

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/21/06.

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/27/06.

Midwestern agriculture is moving toward large, specialized production units where harvested crops are shipped off the farm and livestock are raised on purchased feed. Many people are concerned that increased manure concentration from specialized livestock units poses an unacceptable...

In order to prolong the efficacy of Bt, the Environmental Protection Agency has imposed mandatory refuge requirements for Bt crops. Growers, however, have no economic incentive to comply with requirements because, on average, refuge crops are riskier and less productive. The authors evaluate...

Biologists now engineer transgenic crop varieties that offer farmers a new tool for effectively managing pests. Concern over pest resistance, however, has prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to require resistance management plans. This paper develops an economic model of pest management...

Newly proposed rules governing future CRP enrollments are causing concern among groups interested in using CRP to maintain and enhance waterfowl habitat in the region. A collaborative effort between economists at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University and...