Daniel M. Otto

Iowa State University | ISU · Department of Economics

Multicommunity development organizations (MDOs) are one strategy implemented by rural communities to promote economic growth. In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of these organizations and the attributes that influence their success in attracting and retaining jobs. Several factors within MDO control were found to influence the ability of s...

This study uses Iowa Hospital Association records related to inpatient and outpatient procedures performed at rural Iowa hospitals to examine how institutional, location, and individual characteristics affect choice of hospitals for rural residents. The rural residents most likely to bypass their local hospitals are younger people with private outp...

The results of this analysis based on the 2007 Census of Agriculture show that agriculture remains a critical component of Iowa's overall economic well-being. Iowa agriculture is connected to a large integrated set of industries -- from the production of agricultural commodities to food and feed processing to agricultural input manufacturing and ma...

The Waxman-Markey Bill (HR2454 American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) reflects the goal of the Obama administration to address climate change issues. The global nature of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and the mitigation efforts imply a multi-lateral approach to the issue. This paper discusses the policy strategies currently being conside...

Iowa's Agritourism Industry members were surveyed for information on their operational characteristics.

The Iowa floods of 2008 were a very destructive natural disaster with total property losses far exceeding the in-state damages occurring during the 1993 floods. Current estimates place total damages to private property and public infrastructure at over $3 billion, with the highest volume of damages in Linn and Johnson Counties. Offsetting these los...

Investments by Coon Rapids and the Whiterock Nature Conservancy in tourism related amenities were inventoried and the economic impacts of these investments were evaluated.

The 180 farmers' markets operating in a range of urban to rural communities in Iowa provide a useful setting to evaluate factors affecting sales at these markets. Higher average sales at markets tended to be associated with urban and higher income areas. Only 30% of vendors reported sales greater than $5,000, mostly in the produce category.

Iowa leads the nation in egg production, producing more than the second and third largest states combined. There were approximately 52.7 million layers in Iowa produced 13.9 billion eggs in 2007. This level of production consumes 50 million bushels of corn and 453,000 tons of soybean meal. In addition, the egg industry is an important value-added a...

Concern that nutrient (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) runoff are seriously contributing to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico has led some environmental groups to call for the banning of fall fertilizer applications; especially fall anhydrous ammonia. However, restricting fertilizer application to only the spring season has agronomic as well as econom...

Considerable controversy exists regarding the costs and benefits of growth in the meat packing and processing industry for rural counties. This study investigates the effects of this industry on social and economic outcomes in nonmetropolitan counties of 23 Midwestern and Southern states from 1990 to 2000. Results suggest that as the meat packing i...

This paper describes uses of economic impact models to examine labor force and housing relationships associated with regional employment changes, including area-wide labor demands, expected housing needs in response to changes in the labor force size, and the predicted quantity of new housing units that will be developed. The perspectives analyzed...

Note: The material contained herein is supplementary to the article named in the title and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (AJAE).

In a time of changing demographics, an increasing demand for renewable energy sources and a growing concern for the environment, policy makers in Iowa are faced with the challenge of identifying strategies for economic development that balances the needs of the changing population with economic and resource sustainability.

This study examines the impact of tax rates and tax rate differentials in a trade area on local sales tax revenues. Sales data for FY 1986 were analyzed for the 75 nonmetropolitan communities in Oklahoma with populations between 2,500 and 50,000. Multiple regression techniques were used to estimate local tax revenues as a function of tax rates, tax...

These county reports provide estimates of the transactional value of the local health care industries in each of the nonmetropolitan counties in Iowa. This transactional value comes from the business transactions that health care providers engage in (employing staff, purchasing supplies, etc.) and is different from the quality and outcome values of...

This report addresses the needs of state policymakers to understand the implications to the state’s economy from current levels of energy supply imports. Historical energy consumption patterns for the state and the role of energy in the performance of the Iowa economy are reviewed using current data. Economic modeling techniques are then used to an...

A sample of Iowa farm couples is used to evaluate whether off-farm labor supply decisions respond to permanent and transitory components of farm income. Off-farm labor supply of both spouses declines in response to increases in permanent farm income. Farm wives also reduce off-farm labor supply in response to positive transitory farm income shocks....

This report provides a spatial representation of hospital geography in Iowa and of the decisions of patients to patronize hospitals. It begins with a brief analysis of hospital proximity and hospital proximity’s relationship to population distributions and existing hospital capacity. This is followed with a discussion of hospital capacity as a prox...

These publications offer statistics on the agriculture industry in each of the state's 99 counties along with specific economic analysis of livestock and corn and soybean production in comparison to the non-agriculture industry.

We measure how local growth in meatpacking and processing affects growth in local economies, government expenditures, and crime rates from 1990-2000 in nonmetropolitan counties of 12 Midwestern States. Propensity score matching is used as a check on possible non-random placement of meatpacking and processing plants. Results suggest that as the meat...

This study investigates the value of Iowa’s agri-food industries. The investigators define the agri-food industries to include agricultural production, primary food processing, other agricultural commodity processing, and agricultural input manufacturing and distribution activities. These definitions are used to aggregate data obtained from the IMP...

This project was funded by the Regional Food Systems Working Group, a working group of the Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture (VCPSA), under identification code RWG03-04: Farmers' Market Economic Impact Survey Analysis. This project was initiated by the Iowa Farmers' Market Association and supported through the efforts of the Io...

Foreword, Executive Summary, Chapter 1: The European Economy: Macroeconomic outlook, Chapter 2: A trust-driven financial crisis, Chapter 3: From Fiscal Rescue to Global Debt, Chapter 4: US adjustment needs, Chapter 5: Implications of the crisis for the euro area

Nationally, ethanol has had a growth market over the last two decades

This report was commissioned by the Marengo Memorial Hospital to evaluate the market potential for a new kidney dialysis facility. Marengo Memorial Hospital is a rural hospital located in Marengo, a town of 2,535 people in north central Iowa County, Iowa (see the star in Map 1). In 2001, the hospital reported a capacity of 25 acute-care beds, 228 a...

An induced innovations framework was used to develop a median voter model to test factors affecting county government's decisions to adopt alternative service delivery methods. Size measures of population and tax base, fiscal measures of tax revenues, the share of tax base in agriculture, and access to human capital were significantly related to st...

This paper analyzes farmers' attitudes toward competing agricultural policies. The empirical work utilizes data on Iowa farmers' opinions of four policies: continuing the current program, targeting benefits to fiscally stressed farmers, mandatory controls, and decoupling. The results show that a farmer's financial situation, size and type of operat...

Washington D.C

Executive Summary The 12 farmer-owned ethanol facilities of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association add significantly to the ethanol processing capacity of Iowa. The 411 million gallons of ethanol capacity represented by these facilities would utilize 152 million bushels of corn and generate 1.72 million tons of DDG. This level of corn utilization pro...

This is a preliminary investigation into the relationships between public school district size and patterns in school district expenditures and revenues in Iowa. The report uses Internet-accessible revenue and expenditure data to examine the relative importance of primary education to the Iowa’s budget and to local government budgets. Data derived...

The egg production and processing industry has a significant impact on Iowa's economy. And if consumer demand for eggs continues to increase and Iowa continues its commitment to grow the industry, expansion of Iowa's egg industry will continue.

Abstract not currently available.

This paper examines factors affecting the role of individual, farm production, family finance, and regional characteristics in affecting labor force decisions by farm households. Young, more educated households are much more likely to work off-farm, suggesting that off-farm labor has become an expected part of new farm households.

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This research examines the relationship of social capital, measured at the community level, to community and economic development outcomes. We empirically examine the independent influence of social capital on development outcomes as well as social capital's interactive effect with other community characteristics including human capital, economic,...

An empirical model of joint decisions of where to live and where to work demonstrates that individuals make residential and job location choices by trading off wages, housing prices, and commuting costs. Wages are higher in metropolitan markets, but housing prices are also higher in urban areas. Consumers can live in lower priced nonmetropolitan ho...

If economic growth elsewhere raises an individual's earning prospects relative to his present location, then the individual will move. However, if the individual can exploit economic growth elsewhere by commuting, he will not need to move to gain from the expansion. County-level data from eight states in the Midwest over the period 1969-1994 are us...

This article examines the effects of an oxygen content requirement for fuel in several midwestern states. Ethanol could dominate the midwestern oxygenate market with federal incentives for ethanol blending or a generalized ban on MTBE; otherwise, price incentives would shift between ethanol and MTBE. Several states would share in the ethanol output...

The pace and patterns of growth in Iowa's economy have produced distinct groups of winners and losers during the past decade. Drastic differences are evident in both the geographic location and industrial mix of employment growth. As we begin a new decade, it is useful to review recent changes in the Iowa economy, identify its strengths, and assess...

An empirical model of joint decisions of where to live and where to work demonstrates that individuals make residential and job location choices by trading off wages, housing prices, and commuting costs. Wages are higher in metropolitan markets, but housing prices are also higher in urban areas. Consumers can live in lower priced nonmetropolitan ho...

This paper investigates rural residents' perceptions of the risk to water quality from large confinement facilities and their willingness to pay to delay nitrate contamination from these facilities. Rural residents are concerned about the environmental impact of confinement facilities are willing to pay as much as $82 annually to delay nitrate cont...

An empirical model of joint decisions of where to live and where to work demonstrates that individuals make residential and job location choices by trading off wages, housing prices and commuting costs. Wages are higher in metropolitan markets, but housing prices are also higher in urban areas. Consumers can live in lower priced nonmetropolitan hou...

A 1996 welfare act that allows states more leeway in designing their own welfare programs is expected to dramatically change the role of local governments with respect to human service delivery programs. It is important that policymakers and local officials understand how changes are likely to affect local economies. This report develops a database...

The consolidation of pork production into fewer and larger operations has implications for rural agribusiness that have traditionally serviced producers. This study examines purchasing patterns of existing pork producers for production inputs by size of operation. Distance traveled to purchase inputs and reasons for bypassing the nearest supplier a...

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In general, economic conditions have favored Iowa as a premier livestock-producing state, but at the same time, government policies have worked against Iowa's livestock-feeding industries. The authors trace Iowa's dilemma as it must decide whether to become self-sufficient in feed, or be one of the last states to serve as an export source.

The wide use of artificial insemination by dairy farmers has facilitated the development of a multi-billion dollar international market in animal genetics. In the major western dairy producing nations, each country has developed a single index to rank bulls, based on the value of traits they are expected to pass on to their offspring. One of the as...

Streptozotocin diabetic rats, with and without insulin replacement, and sham-injected controls were fed a high-fat (30% of energy) menhaden oil (MO) or corn oil (CO) diet for 2 weeks. After an overnight fast, plasma and livers were collected for analysis of insulin, glucose, triacylglycerol, cholesterol and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activit...

The protective role of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) for 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)- and methylpyridiniumion (MPP+)-lesioned dopaminergic (DAergic) nigrostriatal neurons was studied, using dissociated cell cultures of embryonic day (E) 14 rat mesencephalon. Cells were grown in different culture media and received F...

Input-output (I-O) analysis is widely used to analyze and shape policies. Until recently, I-O models could be run only on mainframe computer systems, but with advances in microcomputing I-O analysis is now possible for colleges, agencies and local governments which lack access to mainframe computers. This book provides a synthesis of information ab...

On July 27, 1993 a multidisciplinary committee was formed at Iowa State University to provide preliminary estimates for the economic effects of the 1993 floods on Iowa's agricultural enterprises. This report summarizes the committee's initial estimates of the losses by broad economic category; detailed income information was not available at the ti...

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Appendix Chapter prepared for Iowa Department of Transportation

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A better understanding of the relationship between a state's agricultural sector and the national agricultural economy increases the ability of agricultural interest groups to anticipate and understand policy developments. This paper develops and documents a state-level model of the Iowa agricultural sector. The model is used to evaluate the future...

Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

The objective of this study was twofold: (1) to identify nontraditional sources of data that can be used to monitor economic activity in rural areas, and (2) to test the relationship between such data and trends in traditional measures, such as income and employment.

The objective of this study was to explore a new method of analyzing the performance of substate economies. A major limitation of conventional analyses of economic diversity and growth is the reliance on static measures of economic structure. Such measures do not capture the patterns of growth dynamics or structural change the region may be experie...

Examines the impact of tax rates and tax rate differentials in a trade area on local sales tax revenues. Analysis of sales data for FY 1986 for the 75 nonmetropolitan communities in Oklahoma; Use of multiple regression techniques.

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Economic restructuring in rural areas of the Midwest has stimulated a myriad of initiatives. This paper examines recent economic development patterns in the rural Midwest and reviews traditional policy approaches prescribed for dealing with rural problems. These approaches relate to resource availability, technology, markets, and space and location...

Sciatic nerve transection performed on adult rats caused neuronal losses after 4 weeks in the L4-6 dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of 35% as compared to the unlesioned side. Nerve growth factor (NGF) administered at a single dose of 6000 Biological Units in silicone tubes fixed to the proximal nerve stump completely prevented these cell losses. Basic fib...

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MERC Staff Report ES-2-99, 1988

Examines the relationship between agriculture and communities in rural areas in the United States. Link between economics and agriculture; Historical indicators of performance in the farm and nonfarm sectors of midwestern states; Information on agricultural output at the beginning of the 1985 farm bill.

The signing of the Food Security Act of 1985 (FSA 85), by President Reagan in December 1985 culminated a lengthy deliberation process involving food producing and consuming groups throughout the United States. During the debate, an analysis of a wide range of policy options for the 1985 Farm Bill was helpful to various interest groups in assessing...

Studies prepared for the use of the Subcommittee on Agriculture and Transportation of the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the U.S

Farm survey data for Iowa and Alabama are analyzed and related to Internal Revenue Service sample data for these states and published tax statistics for the agricultural sector as a whole. The primary research objective was to characterize several categories of tax preparation and management costs associated with the three taxes levied on income in...

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University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

The aggregate approach to the evaluation of production oriented expenditure in the United States has consistently shown high rates of return to agricultural research investments. These efforts, while showing the value of agricultural research, are limited in the information they can provide policy and budget decisionmakers. More recently, efforts s...

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The improvement of economic and social conditions in rural areas has long been a special goal in our nation's history. Rural development is a broad-scale effort encompassing the many dimensions or conditions which determine the quality of life, such as access to public services and facilities, economic development, and the protection or enhancement...

Transportation related infrastructure investment is closely linked to economic performance of a region. In assessing the role of transporta- tion investment in economic growth, it is important to refine the spatial detail of analysis and to use effective data analysis techniques. As an alternative to county level data, property tax data that is col...

The importance of medical and health facilities as community service providers is well established, yet their role in generating significant economic impacts for the community is less often acknowledged. Health care facilities, such as hospitals and nursing homes, not only employ many people with a sizeable payroll, but also draw a large number of...