Abstract
AbstractThis article studies the political activities of individual cotton farmers and cotton political action committees (PACs) by exploiting a vote to amend the 2008 Farm Bill. Using a simultaneous model, I estimate reduced form equations for donations from cotton farmers and cotton PACs using tobit models, which instrument donations in the probit vote equation to control for the hypothesized endogeneity between campaign contributions and legislative votes. I find evidence that cotton farmers, like cotton PACs, contribute to legislators representing a median cotton farming constituency. I find no evidence that contributions from cotton farmers or cotton PACs significantly affected the vote decision.
Highlights
Farm owners receive substantial benefits from federal agricultural programs
The first is that cotton farmers contribute significantly to campaigns in the House of Representatives
They employ a contribution strategy more sophisticated than contributing to local legislators, and one that closely resembles that of their political action committees (PACs)
Summary
Farm owners receive substantial benefits from federal agricultural programs. Gardner (1987) finds that these benefits are not spread evenly among the agricultural industry. The nature of these programs has evolved over time, extensive federal support for agriculture persists. They accrue instead to farmers with a comparative advantage in political organizing. Even Scottie Pippen, of Chicago Bulls fame, received more than $200,000 in payments from the Conservation Reserve Program, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture, Farm Services Agency (USDA-FSA, 2017). Understanding the political activities of farmers is crucial to understanding why farm income support programs remain so firmly entrenched in modern agricultural policy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
