Although the negative externalities of large-scale hog production have been
well studied, econometric estimates of its potentially positive labor
markets effects are lacking. We use the geographic shifts in large-scale hog
production between 1992 and 2007 to estimate such production's effects on
local farm and nonfarm labor markets. We find that every additional 1000
head at large-scale facilities in a county generates 0.57 additional
large-scale hog operation jobs, 0.04 fewer small-scale hog operation jobs,
0.16 fewer nonhog-related agricultural jobs, and 0.59 additional nonfarm
jobs, for a total of 0.96 jobs. Our total estimate is lower than previous
ones based on input-output modeling.