An Econometric Analysis of the Nebraska Livestock Friendly County Program

Authors

Brian Mills, Oklahoma State University
Azzeddine Azzam, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kathleen Brooks, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
David Aiken, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2016

Citation

The Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy Vol. 11, Issue 2 (2016)

Comments

© 2016 New Prairie Press

Abstract

This article examines whether the Nebraska Livestock Friendly County Program (LFCP) has resulted in cattle and hog expansion in the state as intended. The analysis draws on the theory of long-run competitive equilibrium to specify econometric models that identify the determinants of cattle and hog farm numbers. Using county level census data, the econometric models were estimated with heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors and corrected for multicollinearity using the variance inflation factor procedure. Results show an effect of LFCP on both cattle and hog expansion.