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Clint Neill

Associate Professor
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Location:

312 Hutcheson Hall
250 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
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Contact:

cneill@vt.edu

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I am an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. My research and teaching focus on the economics of small business development and risk management in rural economies, approached through labor economics, entrepreneurship, and behavioral economics. Much of my work centers on the animal health industry, specialty crop production, and food/beverage markets. My main areas of interest are how businesses form, compete, price, and survive across these sectors and how consumers use their prior experiences to make choices among food alternatives. Before rejoining the department, I was an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and served as Senior Economist and Interim Director of the AVMA Economics Division, and I continue to work closely with practitioner and producer audiences through an active outreach program.

Expertise:

  • Rural entrepreneurship
  • Risk management
  • Choice modeling
  • Applied time series
  • Labor economics
  • Food and health economics

Education:

  • Ph.D., Agricultural Economics (Graduate Minor in Statistics), Oklahoma State University, 2017
  • M.Sc., Global Health Sciences and Epidemiology, University of Oxford, 2026
  • M.S., Agricultural and Applied Economics, Texas Tech University, 2014
  • B.S., Agricultural and Applied Economics, Texas Tech University, 2012

Neill's outreach program grew out of a prior extension appointment at Virginia Tech (2017 – 2020) and remains a core part of his work. His goal is to translate applied economic research into tools and guidance that business owners can act on, with particular emphasis on veterinary practices and food and specialty crop businesses. He has built interactive decision tools for practitioners, including practice forecasting and cash flow applications, and writes VetEconomics Weekly, a newsletter that brings economic analysis to a practitioner audience. He regularly delivers continuing education programs for veterinary professionals and presents to industry groups on pricing, workforce, and business management topics. 

Neill's research examines how small businesses in rural economies start, grow, and manage risk.

Current projects include:

  1. The market structure and economic contribution of rural veterinary businesses, including spatial concentration, shortage areas, and the evaluation of workforce incentive policies
  2. Consumer demand for veterinary services, including willingness to pay, service bundling, and payment plans as a mechanism for access to care
  3. Specialty crop and food market development, including work on edamame, cider, and wine
  4. Time use, health behavior, and wellbeing. 

As Project Director, Neill was awarded a grant from USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture for 2022-26 to study the economic impact and drivers of rural veterinary businesses throughout the United States. Across his career, he has been part of more than $5.5 million in funded research spanning 12 awards.

Neill teaches undergraduate courses in agricultural marketing. AAEC 3504, a course on agricultural marketing channels, uses a flipped classroom design built around real-world economic puzzles and cases drawn from Virginia agribusinesses. His senior-level advanced agricultural marketing course centers on primary data collection, with students designing surveys and experiments and carrying a market analysis project through to a final deliverable. Across both courses, his aim is for students to leave able to gather their own evidence and communicate economic analysis to industry audiences.

  • Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, 2026-present
  • Managing Partner, Applied Economics Consulting, LLC, 2023-present
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Cornell University, 2023-2026
  • Senior Economist and Interim Director, Economics Division, American Veterinary Medical Association, 2022-2023
  • Assistant Professor, Center for Veterinary Business and Entrepreneurship, Cornell University, 2020-2023
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, 2017-2020

  • 2020/21, Western Agricultural Economics Association: JARE Outstanding Reviewer Award (Less than 10 Years)
  • 2020, Southern Agricultural Economics Association: Emerging Scholar
  • 2019, Food Distribution Research Society: Patrick J. Byrne Emerging Leader Award

Neill has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles across economics, food science, plant and soil sciences, and veterinary medicine journals. 

  • Neill, C.L. and J. Lahne. (2022). “Matching Reality: A Basket and Expenditure Based Choice Experiment with Sensory Preferences.” Journal of Choice Modelling, 44: 100369
  • Moeltner, K., A.F. Ramsey, and C.L. Neill. 2021. "Bayesian Kinked Regression with Unobserved Thresholds: An Application to the von Liebig Hypothesis." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 103(5): 1832-1856.
  • Beverly, J.*, S. Stewart and C.L. Neill. (2023). “The Dynamics of Labor Force Participation: Is All Quiet on the Appalachian Front?” Empirical Economics, 65(6): 2867 – 2898.
  • Blemings, B., P. Zhang, and C.L. Neill. 2023. "Where's the Value? The Impacts of Sow Gestation Crate Laws on Pork Supply, Farm Exit, and Consumer Value Perceptions." Food Policy 117.
  • Neill, C.L., and R.B. Holcomb. 2019. "Does a Food Safety Label Matter? Consumer Heterogeneity and Fresh Produce Risk Perceptions under the Food Safety Modernization Act." Food Policy 85: 7-14.
  • Neill, C.L., and P. Zhang. 2023. "Effects of Payment Plans on Demand for Veterinary Services: Can they Reduce the Pain of Pet Owner Payment?" Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 49(1): 124-142.