Date Available
12-7-2011
Year of Publication
2004
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Document Type
Thesis
College
Agriculture
Department
Agricultural Economics
First Advisor
Dr. Jerry R. Skees
Abstract
The livestock industry in the United States has experienced significant concentration and vertical integration in recent years. This change has resulted in greater observed levels of pollution attributed to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and society has attempted to use regulation to remedy these problems. Despite regulation at the federal and local level no documented improvement in water quality has been observed to date. This thesis is concerned with the response of profit-maximizing economic agents to the form of environmental regulation adopted at the federal level. A theoretical model of firm profit is proposed and analyzed using comparative statics to derive a variety of firm and policy relevant results. A qualitative discussion of monitoring and enforcement aspects of regulation and transaction costs in public policy implementation is provided. Results suggest that the form that regulation has taken fails to address the economic decision making process of the firm and thus fails to create incentives for more environmentally benign behavior.
Recommended Citation
Gramig, Benjamin, "REGULATION OF CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS: AN APPLICATION OF ECONOMIC THEORY TO FIRM DECISION MAKING AND APPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICY" (2004). University of Kentucky Master's Theses. 169.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_theses/169
