Powering America: The Impact of Ethanol Production in the Corn Belt States

25 Pages Posted: 23 Jul 2009 Last revised: 22 Mar 2015

See all articles by Luisa R. Blanco

Luisa R. Blanco

Pepperdine University School of Public Policy

Michelle Isenhouer

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: March 11, 2010

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of ethanol production in the Corn Belt states (Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin). Employing data at the county level, from 2005 and 2006, we investigate the effect of ethanol production on employment and wages. Our empirical results show that ethanol production has a positive significant effect on employment and wages, but this effect is of insignificant magnitude. We also find that counties with high and medium levels of ethanol production capacity show higher levels of employment and wages than those counties that do not produce ethanol. Counties with low levels of ethanol production do not show any significant difference in employment and wages than non-producing ethanol counties.

Keywords: Ethanol, Energy Policy, County Level Analysis

JEL Classification: Q10, R10, O13

Suggested Citation

Blanco, Luisa R. and Isenhouer, Michelle, Powering America: The Impact of Ethanol Production in the Corn Belt States (March 11, 2010). Energy Economics, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1437757

Luisa R. Blanco (Contact Author)

Pepperdine University School of Public Policy ( email )

24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263
United States

Michelle Isenhouer

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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