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Abstract
This paper seeks to understand the effect of crop insurance and direct payments on farm survival and growth, and how this effect differs by the economic size of the farm. Using data from the Agricultural Censuses of 2007 and 2012, along with additional county-level data, we estimate a three stage model that accounts for sample selection bias and the endogeneity of the choice to purchase crop insurance. We also control for characteristics of the principal operator, farm household, and farm operation. Our preliminary results show that government policies in place over the period from 2007 to 2012 played a small but important role in the survival and growth of US commercial farms.