Author

Ekata Sharma

Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

2011

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Economics

Abstract

This research provides both a description and comparisons of the effect that poor health and insufficient or non-existing insurance coverage has on a farmer's decision to leave farming. This study employed a logistic regression analysis on the exit decision model. The data for this study was collected from the 2000-2004 Medical Expenditure Panel' Survey, which was administered 5 times over the 2 year period for each panel. This study tested the following three hypotheses: (1) health status affects a farmer's exit decision, (2) having health insurance discourages exit, and (3) when compared to insured and healthy farmers, uninsured and unhealthy farmers are more likely to exit. The first finding is that possessing health insurance does encourage farmers to remain in the business, regardless of their health. The second finding is that unhealthy farmers with no health insurance have a much higher tendency to leave farming. This paper is an extension of the work of Chang et.al (2011).

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Health insurance

Farmers -- Attitudes

Farmers -- Health and hygiene

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

77

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Share

COinS