The Impact of Environmental Regulation on the Structure of the US Hog Industry

Authors

Gibson Nene, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Azzeddine M. Azzam, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Karina Schoengold, University of Nebraska, LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

6-2013

Comments

Replaces "Environmental Regulations and the Exit of Small Hog Farms" (September, 2010)

Copyright (c) 2010, 2013 Gibson Nene, Azzeddine M. Azzam, & Karina Schoengold

A revised final version of this paper has been accepted for publication in the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics.

Abstract

Abstract: This paper develops a comparative statics model of long-run industry equilibrium in the presence of size-based environmental regulation stringency and applies the model to the United States hog industry. The economic model shows that when size-based environmental stringency is also size-biased, large farms downsize, expand, or do neither depending on how environmental stringency shifts their marginal production cost relative to their average cost. Empirical testing using data from the top-ten hog producing states suggests that environmental regulation stringency has limited impact on small farms and leads to a reduction in the number of large farms. We cannot reject positive size bias at the farm level due to the stringency of environmental regulation.