IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v52y2015icp1-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the political economy of guest worker programs in agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Rickard, Bradley J.

Abstract

Guest workers have provided a source of agricultural labor supply in many countries. Recent legislative proposals on immigration reform in the United States have renewed discussions about the role of guest worker programs, and highlighted the arguments for and against such programs. Even within the agricultural sector, there has not been strong broad-based support for an expansion in the number of guest workers. A model is developed that considers competing interests between commodity groups (horticulture crops and grain crops) to explain this lack of support, and then a series of simulations are conducted to highlight the possible economic effects of an expanded guest worker program. Results suggest that an increase in the labor supply would have much larger economic impacts for horticultural producers and firms in the supporting input markets. Furthermore, under some conditions, simulation outcomes show how an increase in the labor supply may lead to small revenue losses for both producers and input suppliers in grain markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Rickard, Bradley J., 2015. "On the political economy of guest worker programs in agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:1-8
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.01.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030691921500007X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.01.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zahniser, Steven & Hertz, Thomas & Rimmer, Maureen T. & Dixon, Peter B., 2012. "The Potential Impact of Changes in Immigration Policy on U.S. Agriculture and the Market for Hired Farm Labor: A Simulation Analysis," Economic Research Report 262231, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Sumner, Daniel A. & Lee, Hyunok & Hallstrom, Daniel G., 1999. "Implications of trade reform for agricultural markets in northeast Asia: a Korean example," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 309-322, December.
    3. Huang, Kuo S. & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2000. "Estimation of Food Demand Nutrient Elasticities from household Survey Data," Technical Bulletins 184370, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Emerson, Robert D., 2007. "Agricultural Labor Markets and Immigration," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 22(1), pages 1-10.
    5. Barry J. Barnett & Keith H. Coble, 2012. "Understanding Regional Differences in Farm Policy Preferences," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(2), pages 528-534.
    6. Dawn D. Thilmany, 1996. "FLC Usage Among California Growers under IRCA: An Empirical Analysis of Farm Labor Market Risk Management," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(4), pages 946-960.
    7. Philip Martin, 2013. "Immigration and Farm Labor: Policy Options and Consequences," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(2), pages 470-475.
    8. Steven Zahniser & Tom Hertz & Peter Dixon & Maureen Rimmer, 2012. "Immigration Policy and its Possible Effects on U.S. Agriculture and the Market for Hired Farm Labor: A Simulation Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(2), pages 477-482.
    9. Chiswick, Barry R, 1988. "Illegal Immigration and Immigration Control," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 101-115, Summer.
    10. Huang, Kuo S. & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2000. "Estimation Of Food Demand And Nutrient Elasticities From Household Survey Data," Technical Bulletins 33579, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    11. Espey, Molly & Thilmany, Dawn D., 2000. "Farm Labor Demand: A Meta-Regression Analysis Of Wage Elasticities," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 25(1), pages 1-15, July.
    12. Gary S. Becker, 1983. "A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for Political Influence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(3), pages 371-400.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gelan, Ayele & Al-Shamali, Shaima & Awadh, Wafa, 2023. "Economic and welfare effects of immigration policy: Lessons from the experience of Kuwait," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 1015-1035.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rickard, Bradley J., 2014. "On the Political Economy of Guest Worker Programs in Agriculture," Working Papers 180139, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    2. Chouinard, Hayley H & Davis, David E. & LaFrance, Jeffrey T. & Perloff, Jeffrey M, 2005. "The Effects of a Fat Tax on Dairy Products," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt60t1f3tn, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    3. Shapiro, Jesse M., 2005. "Is there a daily discount rate? Evidence from the food stamp nutrition cycle," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 303-325, February.
    4. Cremer, Helmuth & Goulão, Catarina & Roeder, Kerstin, 2016. "Earmarking and the political support of fat taxes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 258-267.
    5. Chambwera, Muyeye & Folmer, Henk, 2007. "Fuel switching in Harare: An almost ideal demand system approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2538-2548, April.
    6. Chantal Le Mouël & Anna Birgit Milford & Benjamin L. Bodirsky & Susanne Rolinski, 2019. "Drivers of meat consumption," Post-Print hal-02175593, HAL.
    7. Liaukonyte, Jura & Rickard, Bradley J. & Kaiser, Harry M. & Richards, Timothy J., 2010. "Evaluating advertising strategies for fruits and vegetables and the implications for obesity in the United States," Working Papers 126972, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    8. Alston, Julian M. & Mullally, Conner C. & Sumner, Daniel A. & Townsend, Marilyn & Vosti, Stephen A., 2009. "Likely effects on obesity from proposed changes to the US food stamp program," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 176-184, April.
    9. Moss, Charles B., 2006. "Valuing State-Level Funding for Research: Results for Florida," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(1), pages 1-15, April.
    10. Miroslav Verbič & Mitja Čok & Ana Božič, 2014. "Demand for food during economic transition: an AIDS econometric model for Slovenia, 1988-2008," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 277-295, June.
    11. Biing‐Hwan Lin & Steven T. Yen & Diansheng Dong & David M. Smallwood, 2010. "Economic Incentives For Dietary Improvement Among Food Stamp Recipients," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(4), pages 524-536, October.
    12. Corinna Manig & Alessio Moneta, 2014. "More or better? Measuring quality versus quantity in food consumption," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 155-178, July.
    13. Naveed Hayat & Ghulam Mustafa & Bader Alhafi Alotaibi & Abou Traore, 2022. "Nutritional Demand and Consumption Pattern: A Case Study of Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-21, June.
    14. Guanghua Han & Xujin Pu & Bo Fan, 2017. "Sustainable Governance of Organic Food Production When Market Forecast Is Imprecise," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-20, June.
    15. Hayley H. Chouinard & David E. Davis & Jeffrey T. LaFrance & Jeffrey M. Perloff, 2010. "Milk Marketing Order Winners and Losers," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 59-76.
    16. Okrent, Abigail M. & Alston, Julian M., 2011. "Demand for Food in the United States: A Review of Literature, Evaluation of Previous Estimates, and Presentation of New Estimates of Demand," Monographs, University of California, Davis, Giannini Foundation, number 251908, December.
    17. Schroeter, Christiane & Lusk, Jayson & Tyner, Wallace, 2008. "Determining the impact of food price and income changes on body weight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 45-68, January.
    18. Jeon, Younghyeon & Hoang, Hoa K. & Thompson, Wyatt & Abler, David & Miller, J. Isaac, 2022. "Revealing the fundamental parameters of a food demand system using estimated elasticities," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322182, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Davis, Christopher G. & Blayney, Donald P. & Cooper, Joseph C. & Yen, Steven T., 2009. "An Analysis of Demand Elasticities for Fluid Milk Products in the U.S," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51791, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Caillavet, France & Fadhuile, Adelaide & Nichèle, Véronique, 2014. "Taxing animal foods for sustainability: environmental, nutritional and social perspectives in France," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182863, European Association of Agricultural Economists.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:1-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.