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Can Local Farms Survive Globalization?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Shawn Arita ,
Dilini Hemanchandra  and
PingSun Leung
Shawn Arita*
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Dilini Hemanchandra
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management and the Department of Economics at University of Hawai'i at Manoa
PingSun Leung
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa
*
Correspondence: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 355 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20024, Phone +1 202.694.5102, Email ssarita@ers.usda.gov.
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Abstract

Due to expanding trade and increasing concentration of production during the past few decades, small local farms have faced ever-growing competitive pressures. We investigate the impacts of this globalization on production of local food by examining Hawai‘i's open island economy and econometrically evaluating impacts of import competition on the growth and survival of individual fruit and vegetable farms. We find evidence that rising levels of imports significantly hinder farm growth in Hawai'i and have a smaller impact on farm survival. Increased foreign competition increases the likelihood of exit for commercial farms but has little effect on small noncommercial farms.

Keywords

import competitionlocal foods
Type
Research Article
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , August 2014 , pp. 227 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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