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Tobacco Mechanization and Potential Out-Migration*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Leon B. Perkinson
Affiliation:
Economic Development Division, ERS
Dale M. Hoover
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Business, North Carolina State University

Extract

This paper reports an investigation of the potential out-migration response to flue-cured tobacco harvest mechanization in an eight county area of eastern North Carolina. The study is unique in that lost harvest earnings and potential out-migration response are reported in a household context. In addition, as the adoption process of mechanization is still in its beginning stages, out-migration responses are those that could be anticipated.

The impact of increased agricultural productivity and substitution of capital for labor are familiar to agricultural economists. So, too, is the social concern about farm-to-city migration which accompanied the mechanization of agriculture.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1977

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Footnotes

*

Paper 5190 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh. The opinions expressed are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or North Carolina State University. Comments by colleagues and anonymous reviewers are appreciated

References

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