James MacDonald
ERS Publications by this Author
Amber Waves Articles by this Author
Journal Publications by this Author
Branch Chief
202-694-5610
Email:
macdonal@ers.usda.gov
Briefly:Jim MacDonald is chief of the Agricultural Structure and
Productivity branch. The branch is responsible for developing data
and research that: measures and explains productivity growth in
agriculture; assesses the causes and effects of the changing
structure and organization of U.S. farms; examines changes in
business relationships between farms and their suppliers and
buyers, and how those changes affect farm performance and
government programs.
Background:Prior to assuming his present position in 2001, Jim was senior
economist in the Food Economics Division at ERS, where his research
covered such topics as consolidation in meatpacking, competition
and pricing in USDA commodity procurement programs, the measurement
of food price indexes, and the effects of railroad deregulation on
agriculture. Jim has also been a faculty member at Hamilton College
and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Education:Jim received a Ph.D in economics from the State University of
New York at Buffalo. He also received an M.A. from SUNY Buffalo and
a B.S. from Siena College.
Professional Affiliations:Jim is a member of the American Economic Association, the
American Agricultural Economics Association, and the Industrial
Organization Society.
Selected Publications:Selected Recent Articles in Journals
"Market Power in Poultry Production Contracting? Evidence from a
Farm Survey" (with Nigel Key).Journal of Agricultural and Applied
Economics, forthcoming (2012).
"Foregoing Subtherapeutic Antibiotics: the Impact on
Broiler Grow-out Operations" (with Sun Ling Wang).Applied Economic
Perspectives and Policy, 33 (Spring, 2011): 79-99.
"Adoption of Technology, Management Practices, and
Production Systems in U.S. Milk Production" (with Aditya R. Khanal
and Jeffrey Gillespie).Journal of Dairy Science93 (December, 2010):
612-622.
"The Minimum Wage, Restaurant Prices, and Labor
Market Structure" (with Daniel Aaronson and Eric French). Journal
of Human Resources43 (Summer, 2008): 688-720.
"How Firms Construct Price Increases: Responses to Minimum Wage
Increases" (with Daniel Aaronson). American Journal of
Agricultural Economics88 (May 2006): 292-307.
"Technology, Labor Wars, and Producer Dynamics: Explaining
Consolidation in Beefpacking" (with Michael Ollinger). American
Journal of Agricultural Economics87 (November 2005):
1020-1033.
"Tracing the Effects of Agricultural Commodity Prices on Food
Costs" (with Catherine Morrison Paul). American Journal of
Agricultural Economics85 (August 2003): 633-646.
Selected Recent Book Chapters
"Reshaping Agricultural Production: Geography, Farm Structure,
and Finances" (with Robert Hoppe and Eric O'Donoghue), inFarming,
Finance, and the Global Marketplace. Alan Barkema and Jason
Henderson, eds. Kansas City, MO: Federal Reserve Bank of
Kansas City. 2010.
"The Agriculture Industry" (with Bruce M. Marion), in The
Structure of American Industry, 12th edition. James
Brock, ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.
"Structural Change in U.S. Agriculture" (with Robert Hoppe
and David Banker), in Policy Reform and Adjustment in the
Agricultural Sectors of Developed Countries. David Blandford
and Berkeley Hill, eds. London: CABI Publishing. June, 2006.
Bulletins and Reports
Small Farms in the United States: Persistence Under
Pressure(with Robert A. Hoppe and Penni Korb). U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Economic Information
Bulletin No. 63. February, 2010.
The Transformation of U.S. Livestock Agriculture: Scale,
Efficiency and Risks(with William D. McBride). U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Economic Information
Bulletin No. 43. January, 2009.
The Economic Organization of U.S. Broiler Production.U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Economic
Information Bulletin No. 38. June, 2008.
Agricultural Contracting Update: Contracts in 2005(with Penni
Korb). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
Economic Information Bulletin No. 35. April, 2008.
Profits, Costs, and the Changing Structure of Dairy
Farming(with Erik O'Donoghue, William McBride, Richard Nehring,
Carmen Sandretto, and Roberto Mosheim). U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Economic Research Report
No. ERR-47. September, 2007.