TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hansen,Zeynep K.
AU  - Libecap,Gary D.
TI  - Small Farms, Externalities, and the Dust Bowl of the 1930's
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 10055
PY  - 2003
Y2  - November 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10055
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10055.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Zeynep K. Hansen
College of Business and Economics
Department of Economics
Boise State University
1910 University Drive
Boise, ID 83725-1620
Tel: 208/426-3314
Fax: 208/426-2071
E-Mail: zeynephansen@boisestate.edu

Gary D. Libecap
Bren School of Environmental Science
and Management and Economics Department
University of California, Santa Barbara
Bren Hall 4412
Santa Barbara, CA  93106-5131
Tel: 805-893-8611
Fax: 805-893-7612
E-Mail: glibecap@bren.ucsb.edu
AB  - We provide a new and more complete analysis of the origins of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, one of the most severe environmental crises in North America in the 20th Century.  Severe drought and wind erosion hit the Great Plains in 1930 and lasted through 1940. There were similar droughts in the 1950s and 1970s, but no comparable level of wind erosion. We explain why.  The prevalence of small farms in the 1930s limited private solutions for controlling the downwind externalities associated with wind erosion. Drifting sand from unprotected fields damaged neighboring farms. Small farmers cultivated more of their land and were less likely to invest in erosion control than were larger farmers. Soil Conservation Districts, established by government after 1937, helped coordinate erosion control. This unitized' solution for collective action is similar to that used in other natural resource/environmental settings.
ER  -