TOBACCO AND THE ECONOMY: FARMS, JOBS, AND COMMUNITIES

Gale, H. Frederick,, Linda Foreman and Tom Capehart

No 34007, Agricultural Economic Reports from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: Public health policies intended to reduce the incidence of smoking-related disease adversely affect thousands of tobacco farmers, manufacturers, and other businesses that produce, distribute, and sell tobacco products. This report assesses the likely impacts of declining tobacco demand, and identifies the types of workers, farms, businesses, and communities that are most vulnerable to loss of tobacco income and jobs. The dollar impact on the farm sector of a reduction in cigarette demand will be smaller than that experienced by manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and transportation businesses, but tobacco farms and their communities may have the most difficulty adjusting. Many tobacco farmers lack good alternatives to tobacco, and they have tobacco-specific equipment, buildings, and experience. Most communities will make the transition to a smaller tobacco industry with little difficulty, because tobacco accounts for a small share of the local economy. However, a number of counties depend on tobacco for a significant share of local income.

Keywords: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Crop Production/Industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40
Date: 2000
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uerser:34007

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.34007

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