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Employer Size, Human Capital, and Rural Wages: Implications for Southern Rural Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2016

David S. Kraybill ,
Michael J. Yoder  and
Kevin T. McNamara
David S. Kraybill
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Georgia
Michael J. Yoder
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Georgia
Kevin T. McNamara
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
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Abstract

A recent trend in rural development policy emphasizes small business development in place of industrial recruitment. To analyze some of the likely effects of expanding the proportion of small firms in local economies, an empirical wage rate model incorporating employer size was developed, and parameters were estimated using household data from rural Putnam County, Georgia. The estimates indicated that large employers offered higher wages than small employers and that the wage premium they offered was greater for blacks than for whites. These results support Thomas Till's argument that southern rural counties with relatively large black populations should not abandon efforts to attract large employers. Other factors associated with higher wages included level of education, previous labor force experience, and employment in certain occupations and industries.

Keywords

employer sizehuman capitalwage determination
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , December 1991 , pp. 85 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1991

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