We identify the effects of alternative explanatory variables on the propensity of U.S. farmers to cease farming, with a particular emphasis on understanding the roles of off-farm employment and federal farm program payments. Conventional ordinary least squares analysis using all counties suggests that off-farm employment has no statistical effect on the (net) number of farmers quitting between 1987 and 1997, ceteris paribus. A more refined analysis, which separates counties losing farmers from those that gained farmers, reveals subtle and less clear-cut effects of off-farm employment (and federal program payments) on farm exits. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.

Abstract. We examine the relationship between county per capita income and toxic pollutants using a comprehensive model of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The model incorporates ethnic diversity, spatial effects and most independent variables used in previous studies. Initial results suggest that the relationship follows an inverted‐U‐shape. However, incorporation of a cubic term for income reveals that toxic pollution eventually increases again as income continues to rise. Ethnic diversity and spatial effects are found to be important in understanding toxic pollution in US counties. We also detect an EKC‐type relationship with respect to income inequality.

Federal farm program benefits accrue disproportionately to large-scale farm operators, and continue largely because of the political influence of their beneficiaries. Some writers argue that these payments stem the movement of labor out of agriculture, ultimately reducing the pace of rural depopulation. Here, a theoretical model linking farm program payments to population loss is presented and empirically estimated for the years 1980–90. Larger farm program payments as a share of total cash marketing receipts were associated with greater population losses from rural counties. This result holds after controlling for other economic variables affecting population migration from rural areas. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.

An empirical analysis reveals that states with more highly educated populations have better environmental conditions, after controlling for income, population density, and industrial composition. The strategy of raising human capital stocks to maintain or improve environmental quality is proposed as a complement, if not an alternative, to direct government intervention, which consists of command and control, market incentives, and moral suasion. Under this approach, general education becomes the control variable that guides economic behavior in a manner consistent with long-term environmental sustainability.