Area of Interest:

The Labor Economics section will focus on theoretical and empirical analysis of labor-market issues facing firms in the agricultural and food system. We intend to address problems that range from micro-economic in origin, including the organization and conduct of sector-specific labor markets, firm-level employment and labor management decisions, and worker welfare, to macroeconomic, such as international migration, unemployment and intersectoral labor movement, and immigration and guestworker policies. Our research will span the set of labor interests from Association members to include traditional methods of economic analysis and policy evaluation to research that addresses applied firm-level management and human resource problems.

Scope and Purpose of Proposed Section:

We intend for the Labor Economics section to serve as an academic home for researchers who are primarily concerned with applying modern research methods from the labor economics and human resource management fields to problems in agriculture and the food system more generally. Our hope is that the Section provides a way for AAEA members to share scholarly research on issues of common and mutual interest by organizing periodic meetings, both within the formal AAEA meeting structure (i.e., summer AAEA meetings and winter ASSA meetings) and through workshops sanctioned by the Section. The Labor Economics section distinguishes itself from other AAEA sections by focusing specifically on labor-related issues of interest to agricultural and food-system firms in the US, and other developed economies, rather than household-based problems in less developed countries that are the primary focus of development economists. However, to the extent that immigration and global trade connect labor markets across developed and developing countries, we welcome research and discussion from development economics that has direct implications for labor markets in the agrifood system in developed countries. We also invite participation from transdisciplinary scholars who conduct research that may be relevant to the conduct of labor markets and the management of human resources within food-system firms, including researchers in sociology, psychology, supply chain management, ecology, and other related disciplines. We intend to produce fact-based, policy-relevant research that will be relevant to policymakers charged with enacting and implementing labor-related legislation and rulemaking, along with research that seeks to advance our understanding of methods and concepts in labor economics and human resource management.