Vidalina Abadam Staff Photo

Vidalina Abadam

Agricultural Economist
vidalina.abadam@usda.gov

Google Scholar profile

Briefly

Vidalina (“Vida”) Abadam joined the Economic Research Service as an agricultural economist in the Crops Branch of the Market and Trade Economics Division in October 2021. She is the coordinator of the Agency’s Sugar and Sweeteners Market Outlook (SSO) Program, overseeing the monthly SSO and related database.

Background

Vida worked for the USDA Farm Service Agency, Economic and Policy Analysis Division—now part of the Farm Production and Conservation Business Center (FPAC)—from April 2016 to October 2021. During that time, she was involved in managing and analyzing various commodity programs, particularly the sugar program for 5.5 years. Prior to working for USDA, Vida was an economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, producing U.S. employment and occupation data. She also served as an agricultural economist at the International Food Policy Research Institute, where she conducted economic analyses and recommended investment priorities for agriculture growth, poverty alleviation, and food and nutrition security.

Vida’s research interests include food politics, food-consumption patterns, assessment of commodity programs, and impacts of foreign countries’ policies on U.S. commodity markets.

Awards
• Awardee, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy and Analysis, Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Cost-Benefit Analysis, August 2021

• Awardee, FPAC Business Center COO Awards, One FPAC/One USDA Process Improvement Category, July 2021

Education

Vida received her B.S. in Economics from the University of the Philippines and her M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech. She is currently pursuing her part-time PhD in Public Policy at George Mason University.

Professional Affiliations

Vida is a member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM).

Selected Publications

Abadam, V. 2015. “To retire or not retire,” [Review of the article “Employment, late-life work, retirement, and well-being in Europe and the United States,” by M. Nikolova and C. Graham], U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Abadam, V. 2014. No time to play in the USA, [Review of the book Free time: the forgotten American Dream, by B.K. Hunnicutt], U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Diao, X., L. You, V. Alpuerto, and R. Folledo. 2012. “Assessing agricultural potential in South Sudan - A spatial analysis method,” in Application of Geographic Information Systems, B.M. Alam, ed. Rijeka, Croatia: Intech.

Diao, X., E. Robinson, S. Kolavalli, and V. Alpuerto, V. 2012. “The role of agriculture in African economic development: What do we disagree on?” in Towards Agricultural Change, P. Jacquet, R.K. Pachauri, and L. Tubiana, eds. Delhi, India: The Energy and Resources Institute Press.

Diao, X., M. Nwafor, V. Alpuerto, K.T. Akramov, V. Rhoe, and S. Salau. 2012. “Nigeria,” in Strategies and priorities for African agriculture: Economywide perspectives from country studies, X. Diao, J. Thurlow, S. Benin, and S. Fan, eds. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Alpuerto, V., G. Norton, J. Alwang, and A. Ismail. 2009. “Economic impact analysis of Marker-Assisted Breeding in rice,” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 31(4): 779–792.