The tuberculous cattle trust: Disease contagion in an era of regulatory uncertainty

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: University of California System; University of California Davis; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050704043049
• 发表日期: 2004
• 页码: 929-963
• 关键词: eradication; origins; state; rise

摘要

In 1900 bovine tuberculosis was a serious and growing threat to animal and human health. Early private and state initiatives in the United States often increased the incentives for the interstate trade of diseased stock. One unscrupulous dealer exposed thousands of dairy herds and families to the disease. Our study helps explain the expanding federal role in regulating food safety. In this case regulations arose from genuine health concerns. Before the development of strict regulations, diagnostic innovations that could have helped prevent the spread of the disease actually made the operation of markets worse by aggravating asymmetric information problems.