Research Interest Statement

• rural economics and policy
• poverty, hunger and the social safety net in rural areas
• rural studies

My current research projects focus on the causes of poverty and hunger in rural areas, particularly on the interaction of community characteristics, public policy and household economic outcomes for low-income people.

Biographical Sketch

Bruce A. Weber is professor of agricultural and resource economics and extension economist, director of the Rural Studies Program, and co-director of the RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center. Current Extension programs deal with rural policy and the economic and social conditions in rural communities. Fellow, American Agricultural Economics Asssociation. Distinguished Scholar, Western Agricultural Economics Association. Senior Research Affiliate, National Poverty Center.

Selected Recent Journal Articles

Weber, Bruce, Alexander Marre, Monica Fisher, Robert Gibbs and John Cromartie, “Education’s Effect on Poverty: The Role of Migration,” Review of Agricultural Economics, 29(3):437-445 Fall 2007

Weber, Bruce A., “Rural Poverty:  Why Should States Care and What Can State Policy Do?” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Vol. 37(1): 48-52, 2007. http://www.jrap-journal.org/pastvolumes/2000/v37/F37-1-weber.pdf

Edwards, Mark, Stephanie Bernell, and Bruce Weber, "Identifying Factors That Influence State-Specific Hunger Rates in the U.S.: A Simple Analytic Method for Understanding a Persistent Problem," Social Indicators Research, 81:579-595 (2007)

Bernell, Stephanie, Mark Edwards and Bruce Weber, "Restricted Opportunities, Unfortunate Personal Choices, Ineffective Policies? What Explains Food Insecurity in Oregon," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 31(2): 193-211, August 2006.

Weber, Bruce, Leif Jensen, Kathleen Miller, Jane Mosley and Monica Fisher, "A Critical Review of Rural Poverty Literature: Is There Truly a Rural Effect?" International Regional Science Review, 28(4): 381-414, October 2005.

Crandall, Mindy S. and Bruce A. Weber, "Local Social and Economic Conditions, Spatial Concentrations of Poverty and Poverty Dynamics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 86(5):1276-1281, December 2004.

Fisher, Monica G. and Bruce A. Weber, "Does Economic Vulnerability Depend on Place of Residence? Asset Poverty across Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas," The Review of Regional Studies, 34(2): 137-155, Fall 2004.

Weber, Bruce, Mark Edwards and Greg Duncan, "Single Mother Work And Poverty Under Welfare Reform: Are Policy Impacts Different In Rural Areas?" Eastern Economic Journal, 30(1):31-51, Winter 2004.

Davis, Elizabeth E., Laura S. Connolly and Bruce A. Weber, "Local Labor Market Conditions and the Jobless Poor: How Much Does Local Job Growth Help in Rural Areas?" Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 28(3):503-518, December 2003.

Book Chapters and Other Publications

Wu, JunJie, Paul W. Barkley, and Bruce A. Weber, editors, Frontiers in Resource and Rural Economics, Washington DC: Resources for the Future Press, 2008.

Weber, Bruce A., “People and Places at the Ragged Edge: Place-based Policy for Reducing Rural Poverty”, Chapter 8 in Frontiers in Resource and Rural Economics, Junjie Wu, Paul W. Barkley, and Bruce A. Weber, editors, Washington DC: Resources for the Future Press, 2008.

Weber, Bruce A., Greg J. Duncan, and Leslie A. Whitener, editors, Rural Dimensions of Welfare Reform: Welfare, Food Assistance and Poverty in Rural America. Kalamazoo MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute, 2002.

Leslie A. Whitener, Bruce A. Weber, and Greg J. Duncan, "As the Dust Settles: A Post-Welfare Reform Look at Rural America" in Weber, Bruce A., Greg J. Duncan, and Leslie S. Whitener, editors, Rural Dimensions of Welfare Reform: Welfare, Food Assistance and Poverty in Rural America. Kalamazoo MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute, 2002.

Duncan, Greg J., Leslie A. Whitener, and Bruce A. Weber, "Lessons Learned: Welfare Reform and Food Assistance in Rural America," in Bruce A. Weber, Greg J. Duncan, and Leslie S. Whitener, editors, Rural Dimensions of Welfare Reform: Welfare, Food Assistance and Poverty in Rural America. Kalamazoo MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute, 2002.

Weber, Bruce and Greg Duncan. "Welfare Reform and Food Assistance in Rural America" . Prepared for a June 21, 2000 Congressional Research Briefing on Welfare Reform and Rural Poverty. The report is available online at http://www.jcpr.org/conferences/rural-summary.pdf .

Weber, Bruce A. "Economic Policy," in Encyclopedia of Rural America: the Land and People, Gary A. Goreham, editor, Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO, 1997.

Holland, David W., Bruce A. Weber and Edward C. Waters. "The Economic Linkage Between Core and Periphery Regions: The Portland, Oregon, Trade Area," in Rural-Urban Interdependence and Natural Resource Policy, Corvallis OR: Western Rural Development Center, May 1996.

Holland, David W. and Bruce A. Weber. "Strengthening Economic Linkages: A Policy for Urban and Rural Development," in Rural-Urban Interdependence and Natural Resource Policy, Corvallis OR: Western Rural Development Center, May 1996.

Weber, Bruce A., "Extractive Industries and Rural-Urban Economic Interdependence," in The American Countryside: Rural People and Places, pp. 155-179, Emery N. Castle, editor, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995.

Teaching

AREC 407/507 Policy and Politics in Agriculture and Natural Resources