Measuring energy input plays an important role in many empirical studies, such as analyses of energy demand, efficiency, and productivity. Yet energy is a complex concept and difficult to measure. As a result, energy studies have used energy aggregates constructed based on different aggregation...

Empirical analysis of mergers and acquisitions in eight important food industries suggests that workers in acquired plants realized modest increases in employment and wages relative to other workers. Results also show that mergers and acquisitions reduced the likelihood of plant closures while...

Consolidation and structural changes in the food industry have had profound impacts on firms, employees, and communities in many parts of the United States. Over 1972-92, eight important food industries underwent a structural transformation in which the number of plants declined by about...

How do computers affect productivity? Many recent studies argue that using information technology, particularly computers, is a significant source of U.S. productivity growth. The specific mechanism remains elusive. Detailed data on the use of computers and computer networks have been scarce....

Processing plants in eight major food industries were highly productive before being acquired and they significantly improved their labor productivity afterward, Economic Research Service and U.S. Census Bureau researchers found in their analysis of Census data. The plant-level data on...

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on wages, employment, and plant closures in the meat packing, prepared meat products, and poultry slaughter and processing industries during two merger periods, 1977-1987 and 1982-1992. The analysis relies...

This paper investigates the motives for mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. meat products industry from 1977-92. Results show that acquired meat and poultry plants were highly productive before mergers, and that meat plants significantly improved productivity growth in the post-merger periods,...