Specific Objectives of the Project:

• Document stylized facts regarding clustering of agricultural production and exporting in both the US and Mexico.
• Estimate the returns to scale in exporting by crop at the regional level.
• Develop a model which features agricultural value chains that can help explain the patterns in agricultural clustering that we observe.
• Estimate the model and quantify the importance of clustering and returns to scale for export patterns across crops and locations.
• Perform counterfactual analysis comparing the welfare benefits of infrastructure investment (e.g. roads) vs. more targeted investment in agricultural value chains.
• Make quantitative comparisons between US and Mexican agricultural exporting, illuminating some of the features that govern exporting in both countries.
• Publish the final article(s) in a top refereed journal, as well as a summary in the ARE update.

Summary of Results:
Aside from publishing the paper, all objectives have been attained. Most of the results are provided in James Sayre paper which will be made available here: http://jaysayre.com/.