Farm Household Well-Being: Comparing Consumption- and Income-Based Measures

Household economic well-being can be gauged by the financial resources (income/ wealth) available to the household or by the standard of living enjoyed by household members (consumption). Based on responses to USDA’s annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), a joint effort by the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, ERS has long published estimates of farm household income and wealth. This report presents, for the first time, estimates of consumption-based measures of well-being for farm households based on new questions in ARMS. The consumption measure provides a different perspective from income or wealth on farm households’ well-being relative to that of all U.S. households.household consumption, household income, household well-being measures, farm households, self-employed households, permanent income, permanent income hypothesis., Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Do Bank Size and Metro-Nonmetro Location Affect Bank Behavior?

A bank's lending policies and its aggressiveness in attracting large deposits depend more on the size of the bank's assets than on its rural or urban location. Many rural banks do take fewer risks than urban banks, but that's because of the small sizes (value of assets) of many rural banks, not their locations. The kinds of deposits (6-month money market certificates and large time deposits) and investments (government securities and Federal funds) a bank uses, the rate of loan losses, and its profitability indicate a bank's aggressiveness and lending policies

THREE ESSAYS ON TEMPORARY EQUILIBRIUM.

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Measuring Farm Household Well-Being: Comparing Consumption and Income-based Measures

This paper reports estimates of consumption-based measures of well-being for farm households based on new, specially-designed survey questions in USDA’s annual, nationally representative survey of farms, the Agricultural Resource Management Survey. With this new data, we show how patterns of consumption-smoothing relative to income levels differ between farm households versus all U.S. households, and between households of operators of large farms vs. “residential-lifestyle” farms, with limited exposure to farm income variability. We then show that the consumption measure provides a different perspective than income and wealth on the well-being of farm households relative to all U.S. households

Measures of Farm Household Well-Being Tell Different Stories

Traditionally, the economic well-being of households is gauged by indicators of the financial resources available–— household income and, when available, wealth. ERS publishes estimates of farm household income and wealth based on responses to USDA’s annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). Since 1998, average farm operator household income has exceeded that of the typical U.S. household by 3 to 21 percent, and median farm household wealth has been 4-5 times that of all U.S. households. But the variability of income complicates farm-nonfarm comparisons

Should Rural Communities Fear Bank Deregulation?

Some thought bank deregulation would lead to a "rural takeover" as urban banks drained funds out of rural areas. Instead, in rural areas lucky enough to be served by both urban and local banks, credit and other financial services may be more readily available than before, urban banks, by drawing on their urban funding base, can better withstand reverses in the local economy. Customers have a wider choice of banks to patronize

Deregulation and the Structure of Rural Financial Markets

Rapid geographic deregulation of the financial services industry will probably continue in response to technological advances and legislative actions at the State and possibly Federal levels. The ultimate effect of bank deregulation on rural financial markets remains uncertain. Some analysts fear that rural areas will be stripped of their locally owned community banks and left to the whims of large regional and national banking firms. Others argue that geographic deregulation will benefit rural borrowers by increasing the range of financial services provided by banks operating in rural communities

Farm Household Well-Being: Comparing Consumption- and Income-Based Measures

Household economic well-being can be gauged by the financial resources (income/ wealth) available to the household or by the standard of living enjoyed by household members (consumption). Based on responses to USDA’s annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), a joint effort by the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, ERS has long published estimates of farm household income and wealth. This report presents, for the first time, estimates of consumption-based measures of well-being for farm households based on new questions in ARMS. The consumption measure provides a different perspective from income or wealth on farm households’ well-being relative to that of all U.S. households