About

Dr. Michael Delgado is a faculty member associated with the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. His research and professional activities are focused on farm policy, rural development, and agricultural economics. He is involved in the Farm Policy Study Group, which conducts presentations and discussions on various topics related to agricultural policy, farmland markets, renewable energy, and rural resilience. His contributions include engaging with issues such as urban-rural divides, farmland market dynamics, renewable energy impacts on farmland, and the future of farming. Dr. Delgado's work is characterized by active participation in policy analysis and academic discussions aimed at understanding and shaping the economic and social aspects of agriculture and rural communities.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Econometrics
• Agricultural economics
• Economics
• Pediatrics
• Environmental health
• Immunology
• Ecology
• Demography
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Exploring the quantitative impact of medical marijuana dispensaries on residential sale prices in Oklahoma

  Empirical Economics · 2026-03-21

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Medical marijuana was legalized in Oklahoma as recently as 2018, and since then Oklahoma has rapidly grown to have the largest number of medical marijuana dispensaries of any states in the USA. What have been the impacts of this rapid proliferation of legalized medical marijuana? We use a hedonic pricing model to assess how legalized marijuana dispensary activity (both distance to the nearest dispensary and the number of nearby dispensaries) has impacted residential property values. The dataset spans six different counties from across the State of Oklahoma, and we explore a variety of different regression specifications to rigorously explore the effects of dispensary activity on local residents. While we find evidence of some heterogeneity in the dispensary effects, one broad finding is that residents prefer not to live in immediate proximity to a dispensary but prefer access to dispensaries moderately distanced from their home. Understanding these broad trends and the localized heterogeneity in effects are important for residents and policymakers alike in Oklahoma and in other states that may be considering similar legislation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Econometric evaluation of the impact of agricultural conservation on nonpoint source pollution: An application to the Wabash River watershed

  American Journal of Agricultural Economics · 2025-05-12 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract Agricultural production is the largest contributor of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in lakes, rivers, and streams in the United States. The effectiveness of agricultural conservation programs that encourage farmers to adopt certain practices to reduce this water pollution, once implemented, is an open question. We develop a unique data set combining the spatial structure of the watershed river system, the timing of federal conservation contracts, water quality measurements, land use, land cover, and weather data to study the effect of conservation contracts on nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the Wabash River watershed, which drains Indiana and Illinois. We develop econometric models that generate a causal understanding of the effectiveness of these conservation contracts for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the surface water system. We find that at current treatment levels, these programs reduce surface water pollution only during relatively dry periods. The efficacy of these programs in the study area is highly sensitive to precipitation to the extent that average precipitation can eliminate the nutrient loss reduction benefits of conservation program installations at current treatment levels. Therefore, we find weak evidence to support ambient downstream water quality improvements resulting from program investment levels to date. We anticipate this work will motivate further inquiry into the manner in which these conservation programs have or have not been effective.

  PublisherDOI

• When your neighbour is the village cadre: allocation of public resources in the social network

  Applied Economics · 2024-08-07 · 4 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  As a key node in the social network, political elites play an important role in the allocation of public resources in developing countries, and they may bring benefits to their neighbours. China's large-scale poverty alleviation efforts, as well as the nature of China as an acquaintance society, provides us with an opportunity to examine this issue. By using a novel panel of data from a village in China, our results show that households connected to village cadres are more likely to become beneficiaries of poverty alleviation projects than those not connected – the closer the social relationship with village cadres, the greater the benefits. Both favouritism and information transmission are proven to be mechanisms of the connection effect. As such, closely connected networks within communities are conducive to improving the targeting efficiency of public welfare projects, and external supervision is essential for eliminating the favouritism of political elites.

  PublisherDOI

• Local spatial difference-in-differences models: treatment correlations, response interactions, and expanded local models

  Empirical Economics · 2024-05-22 · 9 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Social interactions and household fuel choice: evidence from rural China

  Environment and Development Economics · 2024-12-23 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract We study household fuel choice in rural China through the lens of social interactions, deploying a structural discrete choice interaction model to explain peer-dependence in household fuel choice. The data comes from the China Family Panel Studies 2010–2020, and we use multiple strategies to examine the robustness of the social interaction effects. We find a significant endogenous social effect, meaning that whether a household chooses non-solid clean fuel for cooking is directly affected by the choice in cooking fuel made by its neighbors in the village. Households with lower non-farm income are more sensitive to the choices of others, and the fuel choices of households with a higher education and/or a higher income attracts more attention from others. Modern communication technologies facilitate information exchange among rural residents, thereby strengthening the endogenous social effect. We suggest that public policies can accelerate rural energy transition by stimulating positive social spillovers.

  PublisherDOI

• Safety, Immunogenicity, and Efficacy of the NVX-CoV2373 COVID-19 Vaccine in Adolescents

  JAMA Network Open · 2023 · 50 citations

  • Medicine
  • Internal medicine
  • Pediatrics

  Importance: Greater than 20% of cases and 0.4% of deaths from COVID-19 occur in children. Following demonstration of the safety and efficacy of the adjuvanted, recombinant spike protein vaccine NVX-CoV2373 in adults, the PREVENT-19 trial immediately expanded to adolescents. Objective: To evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 in adolescents. Design, Setting, and Participants: The NVX-CoV2373 vaccine was evaluated in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years in an expansion of PREVENT-19, a phase 3, randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial in the US. Participants were enrolled from April 26 to June 5, 2021, and the study is ongoing. A blinded crossover was implemented after 2 months of safety follow-up to offer active vaccine to all participants. Key exclusion criteria included known previous laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or known immunosuppression. Of 2304 participants assessed for eligibility, 57 were excluded and 2247 were randomized. Interventions: Participants were randomized 2:1 to 2 intramuscular injections of NVX-CoV2373 or placebo, 21 days apart. Main Outcomes and Measures: Serologic noninferiority of neutralizing antibody responses compared with those in young adults (aged 18-25 years) in PREVENT-19, protective efficacy against laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and assessment of reactogenicity and safety. Results: Among 2232 participants (1487 NVX-CoV2373 and 745 placebo recipients), the mean (SD) age was 13.8 (1.4) years, 1172 (52.5%) were male, 1660 (74.4%) were White individuals, and 359 (16.1%) had had a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection at baseline. After vaccination, the ratio of neutralizing antibody geometric mean titers in adolescents compared with those in young adults was 1.5 (95% CI, 1.3-1.7). Twenty mild COVID-19 cases occurred after a median of 64 (IQR, 57-69) days of follow-up, including 6 among NVX-CoV2373 recipients (incidence, 2.90 [95% CI, 1.31-6.46] cases per 100 person-years) and 14 among placebo recipients (incidence, 14.20 [95% CI, 8.42-23.93] cases per 100 person-years), yielding a vaccine efficacy of 79.5% (95% CI, 46.8%-92.1%). Vaccine efficacy for the Delta variant (the only viral variant identified by sequencing [n = 11]) was 82.0% (95% CI, 32.4%-95.2%). Reactogenicity was largely mild to moderate and transient, with a trend toward greater frequency after the second dose of NVX-CoV2373. Serious adverse events were rare and balanced between treatments. No adverse events led to study discontinuation. Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this randomized clinical trial indicate that NVX-CoV2373 is safe, immunogenic, and efficacious in preventing COVID-19, including the predominant Delta variant, in adolescents. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04611802.

  DOI

• Clinical and Demographic Factors Associated With COVID-19, Severe COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Adults

  JAMA Network Open · 2023 · 23 citations

  • Medicine
  • Demography
  • Internal medicine

  Importance: Current data identifying COVID-19 risk factors lack standardized outcomes and insufficiently control for confounders. Objective: To identify risk factors associated with COVID-19, severe COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Design, Setting, and Participants: This secondary cross-protocol analysis included 4 multicenter, international, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy trials with harmonized protocols established by the COVID-19 Prevention Network. Individual-level data from participants randomized to receive placebo within each trial were combined and analyzed. Enrollment began July 2020 and the last data cutoff was in July 2021. Participants included adults in stable health, at risk for SARS-CoV-2, and assigned to the placebo group within each vaccine trial. Data were analyzed from April 2022 to February 2023. Exposures: Comorbid conditions, demographic factors, and SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk at the time of enrollment. Main Outcomes and Measures: Coprimary outcomes were COVID-19 and severe COVID-19. Multivariate Cox proportional regression models estimated adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% CIs for baseline covariates, accounting for trial, region, and calendar time. Secondary outcomes included severe COVID-19 among people with COVID-19, subclinical SARS-CoV-2 infection, and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: A total of 57 692 participants (median [range] age, 51 [18-95] years; 11 720 participants [20.3%] aged ≥65 years; 31 058 participants [53.8%] assigned male at birth) were included. The analysis population included 3270 American Indian or Alaska Native participants (5.7%), 7849 Black or African American participants (13.6%), 17 678 Hispanic or Latino participants (30.6%), and 40 745 White participants (70.6%). Annualized incidence was 13.9% (95% CI, 13.3%-14.4%) for COVID-19 and 2.0% (95% CI, 1.8%-2.2%) for severe COVID-19. Factors associated with increased rates of COVID-19 included workplace exposure (high vs low: aHR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.16-1.58]; medium vs low: aHR, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.21-1.65]; P < .001) and living condition risk (very high vs low risk: aHR, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.21-1.66]; medium vs low risk: aHR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.08-1.32]; P < .001). Factors associated with decreased rates of COVID-19 included previous SARS-CoV-2 infection (aHR, 0.13 [95% CI, 0.09-0.19]; P < .001), age 65 years or older (aHR vs age <65 years, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.50-0.64]; P < .001) and Black or African American race (aHR vs White race, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.67-0.91]; P = .002). Factors associated with increased rates of severe COVID-19 included race (American Indian or Alaska Native vs White: aHR, 2.61 [95% CI, 1.85-3.69]; multiracial vs White: aHR, 2.19 [95% CI, 1.50-3.20]; P < .001), diabetes (aHR, 1.54 [95% CI, 1.14-2.08]; P = .005) and at least 2 comorbidities (aHR vs none, 1.39 [95% CI, 1.09-1.76]; P = .008). In analyses restricted to participants who contracted COVID-19, increased severe COVID-19 rates were associated with age 65 years or older (aHR vs <65 years, 1.75 [95% CI, 1.32-2.31]; P < .001), race (American Indian or Alaska Native vs White: aHR, 1.98 [95% CI, 1.38-2.83]; Black or African American vs White: aHR, 1.49 [95% CI, 1.03-2.14]; multiracial: aHR, 1.81 [95% CI, 1.21-2.69]; overall P = .001), body mass index (aHR per 1-unit increase, 1.03 [95% CI, 1.01-1.04]; P = .001), and diabetes (aHR, 1.85 [95% CI, 1.37-2.49]; P < .001). Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with decreased severe COVID-19 rates (aHR, 0.04 [95% CI, 0.01-0.14]; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: In this secondary cross-protocol analysis of 4 randomized clinical trials, exposure and demographic factors had the strongest associations with outcomes; results could inform mitigation strategies for SARS-CoV-2 and viruses with comparable epidemiological characteristics.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Risk, arbitrage, and spatial price relationships: Insights from China's hog market under the African Swine Fever

  Journal of Development Economics · 2023-10-26 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  Spatial market integration, an important means to increase market efficiency and boost economic development, is often affected by policy changes such as trade liberalization and trade restrictions. With unique weekly data on provincial hog prices, we use the 2018 outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in China and the subsequent ban on cross-province shipment of hogs as a natural experiment to study dynamic spatial mechanisms underlying market integration. We employ a high-dimensional spatial model to estimate pairwise inter-province price links over several periods around the ASF outbreak for 29 Chinese provinces. Regressions reveal that a greater inter-province distance weakens the spatial price links post-ban, but not before the ban, which indicates insufficient arbitrage under imperfect public information regarding ASF. The temporary market segmentation implies substantial dead-weight-loss. Our findings highlight the role of public information on risks in maintaining market integration and efficiency under supply-side disruptions.

  PublisherDOI

• Foreign capital inflows, exchange rates, and government stability

  Empirical Economics · 2023-11-18 · 7 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Risk, Arbitrage, and Spatial Price Relationships: Insights From China’s Hog Market Under the African Swine Fever

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Javier Morales Ortíz

  25 shared

• Agustin Cruz

  University of Puerto Rico System

  25 shared

• Wendy G. Smooth

  25 shared

• T. H. Jackson

  25 shared

• Diego Vacano

  Princeton University

  25 shared

• Christine Garza

  25 shared

• Lynn Alva- Rez

  Princeton University

  25 shared

• Kim Williams

  Velindre NHS Trust

  25 shared

Education

• PhD, Economics

  State University of New York, Binghamton

Awards & honors

• James C. Snyder Memorial Lecture