Coronavirus Economics: The Impact of Shutting Down Meatpacking Plants

Abstract

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Covid-19 infections at meatpacking plants led to shutdowns across the United States. Beef became scarcer and with higher consumer prices, while ranchers received lower prices for their beef. Meanwhile, meatpacking plants that were still operational were reported to have been raking in vast profits. ​This issue of PERCspectives on Research summarizes working paper 2006, where authors Dennis Jansen, Liqun Liu, and Andrew Rettenmaier use a simple model to study the effects of meatpacking shutdowns while focusing on the decisions of meatpacking firms.