Research interests:
My research seeks to understand the impacts of economic-social-environmental and
policy change on human well-being. Two themes guide recent work: 1)
understanding individual and household decision-making behaviors, especially
related to food production and adequate income provision, labor allocation and
natural resource use, and 2) understanding the impacts of public policy reform
in spatially-differentiated contexts, with a particular focus on two separate
but in some contexts interrelated topics: agricultural household-firms and
poverty. The influence of intra-household employment decisions on relevant
outcomes is also of considerable interest. Research often uses panel data and,
increasingly, spatial analysis. We are interested in modeling individual and
household adjustments to economic-social-environmental change and policy reform
using these methodologies.
Since many people in developing and developed countries remain dependent on
agricultural production for food sustenance and income, a major thrust of my
research program is on individuals, families and households engaged in food
production (agriculture). In a period of rapid change in agriculture
attributable to globalization and policy reform, these forces can have critical
impacts on well-being within and across households and ultimately on the
structure of agriculture. Understanding developing as well as developed country
situations is important, as they represent a continuum of behaviors. Recent
research efforts -- often in collaboration with graduate students -- have
concentrated on the NAFTA countries (U.S., Canada, Mexico), South Asia (India,
Bangladesh, and Nepal), and Africa (Malawi, The Gambia). We often use bargaining
models, based on game theory, to understand human interactions. Increasingly
this work includes an environmental, land use, or spatial component. A new NRI
grant assesses the interrelationships between employment decisions, sustainable
agricultural practices and networks. The research questions relate to how
households adjust to change; interdisciplinary work will then answer questions
regarding how household adjustments affect the environment.
Issues of particular interest include:
1) effects of policy reform, with spatial implications;
2) immigration policy and farm worker populations;
3) dual and multiple job-holding and related livelihood strategies;
4) farm women and gender-targeted policies and programs;
5) household decisions and adjustments (e.g., farm exit, migration, etc.).
The research group is also interested in disadvantaged populations. Studies
involve research on underemployment, poverty, impacts of welfare reform, and
different views of what constitutes social capital. Over the past four years we
have been working in selected rural and urban sites in Pennsylvania to assess
barriers to seeking employment and maintaining employment among low-income
populations. This project is in collaboration with the Mellon Community Bridge
Project funded by Mellon Financial Foundation. We seek to understand if (and
why) impacts vary by place.
Teaching (last 5 years):
Graduate Level in Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics (AEREC)
Program, or Community and Economic Development (CEDEV) Program:
- Rural Labor and Labor Markets (AEREC 597A)
- Methods and Techniques for Community and Economic Development (CEDEV 575)
- Operations Research I (AEREC 527)
- Production Economics I (AEREC 501)
- The Global Seminar (Graduate Section -- Experimental)
Undergraduate Level:
- The Global Seminar (ERRE/AG BM 497A)
- Food Processing and Agribusiness: Costa Rica (AG BM 297A)
- Introduction to Agribusiness Management (AG BM 101)
- Governor’s School for Agricultural Sciences (and in collaboration with
the
Governor’s School for IST)
Publications:
Books:
Hallberg, Milton C., Jill L. Findeis and Daniel A. Lass (eds.). 1991. Multiple
Job-
holding Among Farm Families. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Findeis, Jill .L., Ann Vandeman, Janelle Larson, and Jack Runyan (eds.). 2002.
The Dynamics of Hired Farm Labour: Constraints and Community Responses. UK: CAB
International.
Sachs, Carolyn, Willits, Fern, and Jill L. Findeis. Farm Women in the United
States. (in
progress). University Park, PA: Penn State University Press.
Selected publications (last 10 years):
Findeis, Jill L., Hema Swaminathan, and Anuja Jayaraman. (in press, 2005)
Agricultural Households in the United States: Labor Participation,
Decision-Making and the Effects of Farm Asset Control. Economic Rurale (Famille
Agricole) Vol. 289-290, September - December.
Findeis, Jill L., Anastasia Snyder, and Anuja Jayaraman. 2005.
Well-being of Farm Workers: Employee Benefits, Public Assistance and Long-term
Effects. Review of Agricultural Economics 27(3):1-18.
Findeis, Jill L. 2005. Book Review: Household Decisions, Gender and
Development by A. Quisumbring, Johns Hopkins University Press. Agricultural Economics 33:238-239.
Swaminathan, Hema, and Jill L. Findeis. 2004. Policy Interventions and Poverty
in Rural America. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 86:1289-1296.
Nankhuni, Flora J., and Jill L. Findeis. 2004. Natural Resource Collection Work
and Children's Schooling in Malawi. Agricultural Economics 31/2-3:123-134.
Swaminathan, Hema, and Jill L. Findeis. 2003. Access to Credit and Women's Work
Decisions: An Empirical Study in Rural Malawi. Journal of Population 9(1):1-49.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Findeis, Jill, with
contributions from Jesus Anton, Christoph Weiss, and K. Saito). 2002.
Agricultural Policy and Employment. Paris: OECD.
Larson, Janelle, Jill L. Findeis, Hema Swaminathan and Qiuyan Wang. 2002. A
Comparison of Data Sources for Hired Farm Labour Research. In: The Dynamics of
Hired Farm Labour: Constraints and Community Responses. J. Findeis, A. Vandeman,
J. Larson and J. Runyan (eds.). UK: CAB-International.
Findeis, Jill L. 2002. Hired Farm Labor: A Dynamic Workforce. The Dynamics of
Hired Farm Labour: Constraints and Community Responses. In: The Dynamics of
Hired Farm Labour: Constraints and Community Responses. J. Findeis, A. Vandeman,
J. Larson and J. Runyan (eds.). UK: CAB-International
Larson, Janelle, Jill Findeis, Stephen Smith. 2001. Agricultural Adaptation to
Urbanization in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Agricultural and Resource Economics
Review 30(1):32-43.
Corsi, Alessandro, and Jill Findeis. 2000. True State Dependence and
Heterogeneity in
Off-farm Labour Participation. European Review of Agricultural Economics
27(2):127-151.
Findeis, Jill, Leif Jensen, and Qiuyan Wang. 2000. Underemployment Prevalence
and Transitions in the U.S. South. Southern Rural Sociology (Special Issue)
16:125-147.
Jensen, Leif, Jill Findeis, and Qiuyan Wang. 2000. Labor Supply and
Underemployment in the Southern United States. Southern Rural Sociology (Special
Issue) 16:96-124.
RUPRI Welfare Reform Research Panel (Findeis, J., M. Henry, T. Hirschl, W.
Lewis, I.
Ortega-Sanchez, E. Peine, J. Zimmerman, contributors). 2000. Welfare Reform in
Rural America: A Review of Current Research. Report submitted to the Rural
Policy Research Institute, University of Missouri. 85 pp.
Findeis, Jill. 2000. The Labor Shortage is Finally Here. Choices (fourth
quarter,
December).
Jensen, Leif, Jill Findeis, Wan-ling Hsu, and Jason Schachter. 1999. Slipping
Into and Out of Underemployment: Another Disadvantage for Nonmetropolitan
Workers? Rural Sociology 64:417-438.
Findeis, Jill, and Leif Jensen. 1998. Employment Opportunities in Rural Areas:
Implications for Poverty in a Changing Policy Environment. American Journal of
Agricultural Economics 80:1001-1008.
Corsi, Alessandro, and Jill L. Findeis. 1998. Off-Farm Labour Participation of
Farm Operators and Spouses. Dipartimento di Economia e Ingegneria Agraria,
Forestale e Ambientale Working Paper Series, Universita Degli Studi Di Torino,
Italy.
Shields, Martin, and Jill Findeis. 1998. How Might an Increase in the Minimum
Wage Affect U.S. Farms. Agricultural Law Update 15(9):4-6.
Findeis, Jill. 1998. Labor Adjustment in Agriculture: Implications of Policy
Reform in North America. Report to the Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD), Paris. 51 pp.
Findeis, Jill L. 1998. Transformation of the U.S. Rural Labor Force: Changes in
Occupation and Industry. In: Innovations in Rural Rehabilitation: A Modern
Perspective, T. S. Smith (ed.). Louisiana: Bow River Pub. pp. 54-96.
Findeis, Jill L., and Wan-Ling Hsu. 1997. Employment in Rural America. In:
Encyclopedia of Rural America (Vol. 1), Gary A. Goreham (ed.). Santa Barbara,
CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 227-230.
Findeis, Jill L., Leif Jensen, and Gretchen Cornwell. 1997. Rural Employment
Alternatives: Wage Work, Self-Employment, and the Informal Economy. In: Rural
Employment: An International Perspective, Ray. Bollman and John Bryden (eds.).
UK: CAB-International. pp. 277-290.
Smith, Stephen M., Jill L. Findeis, Donald B. Kraybill, and Stephen M. Nolt.
1997.
Nonagricultural Micro-enterprise Development Among the Pennsylvania Amish: A New
Phenomenon. Journal of Rural Studies 13(3):237-251.
Jensen, Leif, Gretchen Cornwell, and Jill L. Findeis. 1995. Informal Work in
Nonmetropolitan Pennsylvania. Rural Sociology 60(1): 19-107.
Findeis, Jill, Leif Jensen and Wan-ling Hsu. 1996. Education and Employment:
Getting
Better Jobs. Choices (Fourth Quarter):22-23.
Findeis, Jill 1995. Gender Differences in Human Capital. In: Investing in
People: The
Human Capital Needs in Rural America, Lionel Beaulieu and David Mulkey (eds.).
Boulder, CO: Westview Press. pp. 183-211.
Findeis, Jill, and John Becker. 1995. Impacts on U.S. Farms of Increasing the
Minimum
Wage. Agricultural Law Update 12(8):4-6.
Recent presented papers 2003-2005:
2005 (chronological order):
Findeis, Jill, Anastasia Snyder and Anuja Jayaraman. 2005. The Well-being of
Farm Workers: Employee Benefits, Public Assistance and Long-term Effects.
Principal paper presented at the Allied Social Sciences Association Annual
Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. January.
Snyder, Anastasia, Diane McLaughlin, Jill L. Findeis, Alisha Coleman, and Mary
Ann Demi. 2005. Race, Place and Family: Race/Ethnic Differences and Well-being
Among Nonmetro Female-headed Families. Paper presented at the 2005 Annual
Meeting of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia. April.
Jayaraman, Anuja and Jill L. Findeis. 2005. Disaster, Population and Poverty
Dynamics Among Bangladeshi Households. Paper presented at the 2005 Annual
Meeting of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia. April.
Findeis, Jill. 2005. Is Small Really More Beautiful?: Efficiency, Innovation and
Location. Invited paper to be presented at the Agricultural Commercialization
and the Small Farmer Symposium, FAO, Rome. May.
Jayaraman, Anuja and Jill L. Findeis. Floods and Poverty Dynamics Among
Bangladeshi Households. 2005. Paper presented at the International Union for the
Scientific Study of Population (XXV International Population Conference), Tours,
France. July.
Shresthra, Sundar and Jill L. Findeis. 2005. Space, Government Payments, and
Off-farm Labor Response of Principal Farm Operators: A County-Level Analysis.
Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Agricultural Economics
Association, Providence, RI. August.
Findeis, Jill. 2005. Poverty, Place and Policy: Making Transitions to Work
Possible. Invited paper to be presented at the Conference Poverty and Place in
the U.S.-U.K.: Comparisons of Experiences and Policy With a Look Toward the
Future. The Cambridge-MIT Institute, Cambridge, UK. September.
2004:
Findeis, Jill L. 2004. Understanding Farm Households: The New Census of
Agriculture.
Invited paper presented at the 2004 Ag Outlook Forum. (Paper presented in
collaboration with NASS), Washington, DC. February.
Findeis, Jill, Anuja Jayaraman and Hema Swminathan. 2004. Myth Versus Reality:
The ‘New’ Farm Household. Invited plenary session paper presented at the Societe
Francaise d’Economie Rurale Conference. “Developments in Farm Families: Policy
Implications.’ The Sorbonne, Paris. April.
Swaminathan, Hema and Jill L. Findeis. 2004. Income Diversification and
Children’s Nutritional Status in Malawi. Paper presented at the session paper
presented at the Societe Francaise d’Economie Rurale (SFER)ference ‘Developments
in Farm Families: Policy Implications.’ The Sorbonne, Paris. April.
Ortega-Sanchez, Ismael and Jill L. Findeis. 2004. Out-migration and Transitions
in
Labor Allocation and Labor Regimes in Rural Mexico. Paper presented at the 2004
Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America., Boston. May.
Findeis, Jill L. 2004. Linkages to External Labor Markets and Why It Matters.
Invited paper presented at the ‘Ag Policy Links to Farm Households and the Rural
Economy: A Research and Policy Workshop.’ Workshop sponsored by NCFAP and the
Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC. May.
Swaminathan, Hema and Jill Findeis. 2004. Policy Interventions and Poverty in
Rural America. Principal paper presented at the 2004 American Agricultural
Economics Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. August.
Jayaraman, Anuja, Jill Findeis and Hema Swaminathan. 2004. Stress Among Farm
Women: An Analysis of Farm Households in Pennsylvania. Paper presented at the
2004 American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
August.
Wang, Quiyan and Jill L. Findeis. 2004. Do Women Earn Less in Rural Areas? An
Empirical Analysis of the Female Rural-Urban Wage Differential. Paper presented
at the 2004 American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Denver,
CO. August.
2003:
Wang, Qiuyan and Jill L. Findeis. 2003. Employment Prospects of Unemployed
Low-
Income Persons in the Nonmetropolitan U.S. Paper presented at the Association
for Public Policy and Management (APPAM) Fall Conference, Washington, DC.
November.
Findeis, Jill L., Hema Swaminathan and Anuja Jayaraman . 2003. Farm Household
Adjustments to Policy Reform. Paper presented at the Workshop on Adjustments to
Policy Reform in Agriculture, Imperial College, Wye, UK. October.
Swaminathan, Hema and Jill Findeis. 2003. Paper presented at the Northeast
University Development Consortium. Harvard University, Cambridge. October.
Nankhuni, F., J. Findeis, and D. Shapiro.2003. Women’s and Children’s Work,
Environmental Stress, and Children’s Education in Malawi. Paper presented at
conference on African children and educational initiatives within Africa,
Montreal. September.
Nankhuni, F. and J. Findeis. 2003. Natural Resource Collection Work and
Children’s Schooling in Malawi. Paper presented at the 25th Conference of the
International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Durban, South
Africa. August.
Findeis, J. L., H. Swaminathan, L. Bharadwaj and A. Jayaraman. 2003. U.S. Farm
Household Work Adjustments: Twenty Years of Change. Paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Montreal,
Canada. July.
Jayaraman, A., and J. L. Findeis. 2003. His Work, Her Work, and the Operation of
the Farm: Off-farm Employment and Sustainable Agricultural Practices. Paper
presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics
Association, Montreal, Canada. July.
Bharadwaj, L., and J. L. Findeis. 2003. Off-farm Work Among Farm Women:
Motivations, Earnings, and Benefit Receipt. Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Montreal, Canada.
July.
Nankhuni, F., and J. L. Findeis. 2003. The Effects of Environmental Degradation
on Women’s and Children’s Time Allocation Decisions in Malawi: Impact on
Children’s Welfare. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Agricultural Economics Association, Montreal, Canada. July.
Swaminathan, H., and J. L. Findeis. 2003. Impact of Credit on Labor Allocation
and Consumption Patterns in Malawi. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
American Agricultural Economics Association, Montreal, Canada. July.
Findeis, J., and H. Swaminathan. 2003. Gender and Intergenerational Transfer of
the Farm: Its Influence on Multiple Job-holding and On-farm Decision-making
Among U.S. Farm Women. Paper presented at the Population Association of America
Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN. May.
Nankhuni, F., and J. Findeis. 2003. Human Capital Investment in Children, the
Environment, and Children’s Work Burdens in Malawi. Paper presented at the
Population Association of America Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN. May.
Findeis, J. L. and H. Swaminathan. 2003. Off-farm Employment, Intrahousehold
Work Decisions, and Why It Matters: Revisiting the Subjective Equilibrium of the
Farm Household-Firm. Paper presented at the Agricultural Economics Society
Annual Meeting, Harper Adams College, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
April.
Wang, Qiuyan and Jill L. Findeis. Rural/Urban Wage Gap of Women in the United
States. 2003. Paper presented at the Eastern Economics Association Meeting, New
York, NY. February.
Graduate students recently completing degrees:
- Asa Mukhopadhyay, M.S. CEDEV. 2005. CSIS Project, Penn State University.
- Flora J, Nankhuni, Ph.D., AEREC & Demography, 2004. Postdoctoral
Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge.
- Qiuyan ‘Cindy’ Wang, Ph.D., AEREC & Demography, 2004. Economist/Health
Policy, Philadelphia.
- Hema Swaminathan, Ph.D. AEREC 2003. Senior Economist, International
Center for
Research on Women, Washington, DC.
- Ismael Ortega-Sanchez, Ph.D. AEREC & Demography, 2002. Economist and
Demographer, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta.
- Tokunbo Oluwole, M.S. AEREC 2001. Ph.D. Candidate, Health Policy
Administration, Penn State University.
- Rachel Ritz, M.S. AEREC & Demography, 2001. University of Rochester,
Rochester, NY.
- Constance Ileko Mugalla, Ph.D. AEREC & Demography 2000. Emory
University, Atlanta, Georgia.
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