Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 January 2015
Although the negative externalities of large-scale hog production have beenwell studied, econometric estimates of its potentially positive labormarkets effects are lacking. We use the geographic shifts in large-scale hogproduction between 1992 and 2007 to estimate such production's effects onlocal farm and nonfarm labor markets. We find that every additional 1000head at large-scale facilities in a county generates 0.57 additionallarge-scale hog operation jobs, 0.04 fewer small-scale hog operation jobs,0.16 fewer nonhog-related agricultural jobs, and 0.59 additional nonfarmjobs, for a total of 0.96 jobs. Our total estimate is lower than previousones based on input-output modeling.