Permanent Housing for Seasonal Workers? A Generalized Peak Load Investment Model for Farm Worker Housing

Abstract

Many seasonal workers are housed in transitory accommodations, including tents and vehicles. In this study, we analyze the supply side of this problem by assuming that a public agent must house the workers through direct public investment. A peak load model is adapted to develop investment rules for the least-cost provision of seasonal worker housing, adding an interacting multi-season component to existing models. Based on this model and the data from three prototype projects, the majority of the least-cost investment would be in permanent, but seasonally occupied, housing.farmworker housing, investment rules, peak load model, public housing, seasonal labor, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital, Public Economics, R31, H75, J43, G31,