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The End of Farm Labor Abundance

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  • J. Edward Taylor
  • Diane Charlton
  • Antonio Yúnez-Naude

Abstract

An analysis of nationally representative panel data from rural Mexico, with observations in years 2002, 2007, and 2010, suggests that the same shift out of farm work that characterized U.S. labor history is well underway in Mexico. Meanwhile, the demand for agricultural labor in Mexico is rising. In the future, U.S. agriculture will compete with Mexican farms for a dwindling supply of farm labor. Since U.S. domestic workers are unwilling to do farm work and the United States can feasibly import farm workers from only a few countries in close geographic proximity, the agricultural industry will eventually need to adjust production to use less labor. The decline in foreign labor supply to farms in the United States ultimately will need to be accompanied by farm labor conservation, switching to less labor intensive crops and technologies, and labor management practices that match fewer workers with more farm jobs.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Edward Taylor & Diane Charlton & Antonio Yúnez-Naude, 2012. "The End of Farm Labor Abundance," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 34(4), pages 587-598.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:apecpp:v:34:y:2012:i:4:p:587-598.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/aepp/pps036
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Goeun & Beatty, Timothy, 2022. "Impacts of Wildfire Smoke on Farmworker Labor Supply," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322338, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Rutledge, Zachariah & Mayorga, Joaquin, 2022. "Chinese Trade Competition and Mexican Farm Labor Supply," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322515, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Feuerbacher, Arndt & McDonald, Scott & Dukpa, Chencho & Grethe, Harald, 2020. "Seasonal rural labor markets and their relevance to policy analyses in developing countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    4. Rutledge, Zach & Richards, Timothy & Martin, Philip, 2023. "Adverse Effect Wage Rates and US Farm Wages," 2024 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 5-7, 2024, San Antonio, Texas 339074, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Christiaensen, Luc & Rutledge, Zachariah & Taylor, J. Edward, 2020. "The Future of Work in Agriculture - Some Reflections," Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides 32012537, The World Bank.
    6. Grace Melo & Gregory Colson & Octavio A. Ramirez, 2014. "Hispanic American Opinions toward Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 36(4), pages 604-622.
    7. Frida Cruz & Genti Kostandini & Elton Mykerezi & Jeffrey Jordan & Eftila Tanellari, 2022. "The effects of E‐Verify on the share of labor‐Intensive and capital‐Intensive crops: Evidence from farm‐level data," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 660-678, July.
    8. Zhe Chen & Apurbo Sarkar & Md. Shakhawat Hossain & Xiaojing Li & Xianli Xia, 2021. "Household Labour Migration and Farmers’ Access to Productive Agricultural Services: A Case Study from Chinese Provinces," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    9. Devadoss, Stephen & Luckstead, Jeff, 2017. "Immigration Policies and Farm Labor," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258435, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Christiaensen, Luc & Rutledge, Zachariah & Taylor, J. Edward, 2021. "Viewpoint: The future of work in agri-food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. A. Ford Ramsey & Tadashi Sonoda & Minkyong Ko, 2023. "Intersectoral labor migration and agriculture in the United States and Japan," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 364-381, May.
    12. Ramsey, A. Ford & Sonoda, Tadashi & Ko, Minkyong, 2021. "Aggregation and Threshold Models of Intersectoral Labor Migration: Evidence from the United States and Japan," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315110, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Rutledge, Zach, 2020. "No Farm Workers, No Food? Evidence from Specialty Crop Production," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304249, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Suh, Dong Hee & Guan, Zhengfei & Khachatryan, Hayk, 2017. "The impact of Mexican competition on the U.S. strawberry industry," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 20(4), April.
    15. Ifft, Jennifer & Jodlowski, Margaret, 2016. "Is ICE Freezing US Agriculture? The Impact of Local Immigration Enforcement on Farm Profitability and Structure," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235950, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Andrew J. Cassey & Kwanyoung Lee & Jeremy Sage & Peter R. Tozer, 2018. "Assessing post-harvest labor shortages, wages, and welfare," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, December.
    17. Luo, Tianyuan & Escalante, Cesar, 2014. "Determinants of Occupational Changes of U.S. Migrant Farm Workers under Recessionary Times," 2014 Annual Meeting, February 1-4, 2014, Dallas, Texas 162415, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    18. Ahmad H. Khan & Emmanuel K. Yiridoe & Travis J. Esau & Aitazaz A. Farooque & Qamar U. Zaman & Prosper J. Koto & Craig B. MacEachern, 2021. "Field Capacity and Harvest Efficiency Evaluation of Traditional Small Box and Semi-Automated Bin Handling Systems for Wild Blueberries," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-11, October.
    19. Roka, Fritz m. & Simnitt, Skyler & Farnsworth, Derek, 2016. "Pre-employment costs associated with H-2A agricultural workers and the effects of the ‘60-minute rule’," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 20(3), December.
    20. Mateusz Filipski & Anubhab Gupta & Justin Kagin & Arif Husain & Alejandro Grinspun & Oscar Maria Caccavale & Silvio Daidone & Valerio Giuffrida & Friederike Greb & Joseph Hooker & Susanna Sandström & , 2022. "A local general‐equilibrium emergency response modeling approach for sub‐Saharan Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(1), pages 72-89, January.
    21. Ifft, Jennifer & Jodlowski, Margaret, 2022. "Is ICE freezing US agriculture? Farm-level adjustment to increased local immigration enforcement," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    22. Richards, Timothy J., 2018. "Immigration Reform and Farm Labor Markets," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274165, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    23. repec:ags:aaea22:335904 is not listed on IDEAS

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