Date of Award

6-2014

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Political Science

Second Department

Economics

First Advisor

Bradley Lewis

Second Advisor

Clifford Brown

Language

English

Keywords

agirculture, crops, USDA, farms, market

Abstract

This thesis pertains to agricultural subsidies, their economic and political implications and what would happen to both price and production levels of different crops should those subsidies be removed. The 3 main crops examined are corn, wool and soybeans. Technological advancements made after 1900 had a profound effect on productivity and efficiency, leading to a number of important economic effects. Market integration, economies of scale, market structure, vertical integration and subsidization, all led to government intervention in the form of regulation and subsidy. Farm policy, starting in early 1900s, focused on price stabilization policies and food programs through the different federal acts and agencies created over this time period, starting with the USDA and New Deal in the early 1900s to the post WWII farm bills, culminating with the recent farm bills in Congress now. The empirical analysis is based on data obtained through the USDA regarding production, import, export, price and subsidy data. The analytic focus of the econometric model is on the potential effects of eliminating subsidies, hypothesizing that production would be lower, prices higher and the level of disparity between farm and non-farm incomes, higher. I found the conclusion mixed, with the hypothesis being supported for some, but not all cases.

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