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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Elvis Qenani-Petrela
Affiliation:
Agribusiness Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
Ron Mittelhammer
Affiliation:
School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Philip Wandschneider
Affiliation:
School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA

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.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2008

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