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Food and Agricultural Industries: Opportunities for Improving Measurement and Reporting
Author(s) -
Dunn Richard A.,
Hueth Brent
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1093/ajae/aaw105
Subject(s) - microdata (statistics) , agriculture , business , confidentiality , agricultural economics , agricultural productivity , economics , census , geography , computer science , environmental health , medicine , population , computer security , archaeology
We measure one component of off‐farm food and agricultural industries using establishment‐level microdata in the federal statistical system. We focus on services for crop production, and compare measures of firm and employment dynamics in this sector during the 1992–2012 time period with county‐level publicly available data for the same measures. Based on differences across data sources, we establish new facts regarding the evolution of food and agricultural industries, and demonstrate the value of working with confidential microdata. In addition to the data and results we present, we highlight possibilities for collaboration across universities and federal agencies to improve reporting in other segments of food and agricultural industries.