Regulation in a Dynamic Market: The U.S. Dairy Industry

An econometric model of the U.S. dairy market is estimated for the period 1950–80. The economic costs of the dairy program for the period 1965–80 are calculated using ex ante, ex post, and long‐run demand and supply functions. Results indicate that the costs of the dairy program averaged from 430 to 590 million 1980dollars per year, depending upon the choice of economic surplus measure. The cost estimates depend only slightly on the year that the dairy program is assumed to have been terminated.