IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v11y2021i6p520-d568163.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Survival of Family Farms: Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) and Factors Affecting Intention to Continue the Business

Author

Listed:
  • Manel Plana-Farran

    (Faculty of Law, Economics and Tourism, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain)

  • José Luis Gallizo

    (Faculty of Law, Economics and Tourism, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain)

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of succession in family farms in a context of generational change. Family businesses are characterized by their long-term orientation and by having a positive effect through environmental goals that remain in place generation after generation. The general increase in average age among farmers is seen as a barrier to more sustainable land use, and the survival of family farming therefore depends on the availability of a successor in the family. Socioemotional wealth (hereafter, SEW) is understood as the affective endowment of family members. This study adopts the SEW dimensions conceptually validated to analyse the effects of psychological and socioeconomic factors on potential successors’ intentions. The results of a survey administered to students attending agricultural schools in Catalonia show that intentions to assume the management and ownership of the family farm increase in line with individuals’ interest in creating their own business, their ability to take over the farm, and their emotional inclination to continue the family legacy. In addition, SEW was measured in relation to the potential successor and not the incumbent, as has typically been the case in previous work, bringing this important research subject as a principal actor. Finally, an empirical validation of a short FIBER scale, i.e., REI scale, was obtained that relates individuals’ intentions to succeed the family farm to the socioemotional wealth of business families, testing suitability of the REI scale as a measure of intention to succeed.

Suggested Citation

  • Manel Plana-Farran & José Luis Gallizo, 2021. "The Survival of Family Farms: Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) and Factors Affecting Intention to Continue the Business," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:6:p:520-:d:568163
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/6/520/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/6/520/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hauck, Jana & Suess-Reyes, Julia & Beck, Susanne & Prügl, Reinhard & Frank, Hermann, 2016. "Measuring socioemotional wealth in family-owned and -managed firms: A validation and short form of the FIBER Scale," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 133-148.
    2. Mark R. Rosenzweig & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 1985. "Specific Experience, Household Structure, and Intergenerational Transfers: Farm Family Land and Labor Arrangements in Developing Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(Supplemen), pages 961-987.
    3. Alessandro Corsi, 2004. "Intra-family succession in Italian farms," CHILD Working Papers wp21_04, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.
    4. Morais, Manoela & Borges, João Augusto Rossi & Binotto, Erlaine, 2018. "Using the reasoned action approach to understand Brazilian successors’ intention to take over the farm," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 445-452.
    5. William S. Schulze & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2015. "Reifying Socioemotional Wealth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 447-459, May.
    6. Thia C. Hennessy & Tahir Rehman, 2007. "An Investigation into Factors Affecting the Occupational Choices of Nominated Farm Heirs in Ireland," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 61-75, February.
    7. Jan Polcyn, 2021. "Eco-Efficiency and Human Capital Efficiency: Example of Small- and Medium-Sized Family Farms in Selected European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, June.
    8. Arzubiaga, Unai & Diaz-Moriana, Vanessa & Bauweraerts, Jonathan & Escobar, Octavio, 2021. "Big data in family firms: A socioemotional wealth perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 344-352.
    9. Ayal Kimhi & Noga Nachlieli, 2001. "Intergenerational Succession on Israeli Family Farms," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 42-58, May.
    10. Luis R. Gomez‐Mejia & Marianna Makri & Martin Larraza Kintana, 2010. "Diversification Decisions in Family‐Controlled Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 223-252, March.
    11. Angelos Liontakis & Alexandra Sintori & Irene Tzouramani, 2021. "The Role of the Start-Up Aid for Young Farmers in the Adoption of Innovative Agricultural Activities: The Case of Aloe Vera," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Stefan Mann & Klaus Mittenzwei & Franziska Hasselmann, 2013. "The importance of succession on business growth: A case study of family farms in Switzerland and Norway," Journal of Socio-Economics in Agriculture (Until 2015: Yearbook of Socioeconomics in Agriculture), Swiss Society for Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, vol. 6(1), pages 109-137.
    13. May, Daniel & Arancibia, Sara & Behrendt, Karl & Adams, John, 2019. "Preventing young farmers from leaving the farm: Investigating the effectiveness of the young farmer payment using a behavioural approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 317-327.
    14. Isabel Dinis, 2019. "The Concept of Family Farming in the Portuguese Political Discourse," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-15, July.
    15. Unai Arzubiaga & Manel Plana-Farran & Agnès Ros-Morente & Albert Joana & Sílvia Solé, 2021. "Mindfulness and Next-Generation Members of Family Firms: A Source for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, May.
    16. Morris, Michael H. & Williams, Roy O. & Allen, Jeffrey A. & Avila, Ramon A., 1997. "Correlates of success in family business transitions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 385-401, September.
    17. Lowder, Sarah K. & Skoet, Jakob & Raney, Terri, 2016. "The Number, Size, and Distribution of Farms, Smallholder Farms, and Family Farms Worldwide," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 16-29.
    18. Alvaro Rojas & Daniel Lorenzo, 2021. "Environmental and Social Goals in Spanish SMEs: The Moderating Effect of Family Influence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eduard Alexandru Dumitru & Cristina Maria Sterie & Steliana Rodino & Marian Butu, 2023. "Consumer Preferences in the Purchase of Agri-Food Products: Implications for the Development of Family Farms," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Manel Plana-Farran & Unai Arzubiaga & Angel Blanch, 2023. "Successors’ Future Training in Family Farms: The Impact of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(4), pages 4216-4237, December.
    3. Isaac Zúñiga Aguilar, 2022. "Neuroeconomics in Cooperatives: Hierarchy of Emotional Patterns in the Collective Decision-Making Process for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-31, June.
    4. Cosmin Alin Popescu & Tiberiu Iancu & Gabriela Popescu & Ionut Marius Croitoru & Tabita Adamov & Ramona Ciolac, 2024. "Rural Tourism in Mountain Rural Comunities-Possible Direction/Strategies: Case Study Mountain Area from Bihor County," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-27, January.
    5. Supannika Lursinsap & Ruth Sirisunyaluck & Suraphol Sreshthaputra & Juthathip Chalermphol, 2023. "Factors Influencing the Chance of Inheriting the Family Farming Career among Heirs in the Upper Northern Region of Thailand in the Crisis of Farming Labor Decline," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    6. Manel Díaz Llobet & Manel Plana-Farran & Micaela L. Riethmuller & Victor Rodríguez Lizano & Silvia Solé Cases & Mercè Teixidó, 2023. "Mapping the Research into Mental Health in the Farming Environment: A Bibliometric Review from Scopus and WoS Databases," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Muhammad Abid Shahzad & Syed Abubakr & Christian Fischer, 2021. "Factors Affecting Farm Succession and Occupational Choices of Nominated Farm Successors in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, November.
    8. Breitenbach, Raquel & Foguesatto, Cristian Rogério, 2023. "Should I stay or should I go? Gender differences and factors influencing family farm business succession in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shin, Mika W. & Loughrey, Jason & Dillon, Emma & Geoghegan, Cathal, 2022. "Economic and Social Drivers of Farm Succession in Ireland," 96th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2022, K U Leuven, Belgium 321164, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    2. Umans, Ine & Lybaert, Nadine & Steijvers, Tensie & Voordeckers, Wim, 2021. "The influence of transgenerational succession intentions on the succession planning process: The moderating role of high-quality relationships," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2).
    3. Muhammad Abid Shahzad & Syed Abubakr & Christian Fischer, 2021. "Factors Affecting Farm Succession and Occupational Choices of Nominated Farm Successors in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Moreno-Menéndez, Ana M. & Casillas, José C., 2021. "How do family businesses grow? Differences in growth patterns between family and non-family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    5. Cambrea, Domenico Rocco & Ponomareva, Yuliya & Pittino, Daniel & Minichilli, Alessandro, 2022. "Strings attached: Socioemotional wealth mixed gambles in the cash management choices of family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3).
    6. Jean-Luc Arregle & Francesco Chirico & Liena Kano & Sumit K. Kundu & Antonio Majocchi & William S. Schulze, 2021. "Family firm internationalization: Past research and an agenda for the future," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(6), pages 1159-1198, August.
    7. Pessotto, Ana Paula & Costa, Carlos & Schwinghamer, Timothy & Colle, Gabriel & Corte, Vitor Francisco Dalla, 2019. "Factors influencing intergenerational succession in family farm businesses in Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Xueru Yang & Jun Li & Laura J. Stanley & Franz W. Kellermanns & Xinchun Li, 2020. "How family firm characteristics affect internationalization of Chinese family SMEs," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 417-448, June.
    9. Susana Álvarez‐Díez & J. Samuel Baixauli‐Soler & María Belda‐Ruiz & Gregorio Sánchez‐Marín, 2023. "Variable selection for classification and forecasting of the family firm's socioemotional wealth," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(8), pages 2063-2078, December.
    10. Arends-Kuenning, Mary & Kamei, Akito & Garcias, Marcos & Romani, Gisele Esser & Assis Shikida, Pery Francisco, 2021. "Gender, education, and farm succession in Western Paraná State, Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    11. Chua, Jess H. & Chrisman, James J. & De Massis, Alfredo & Wang, Hao, 2018. "Reflections on family firm goals and the assessment of performance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 107-113.
    12. Debicki, Bart J. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Chrisman, James J. & Pearson, Allison W. & Spencer, Barbara A., 2016. "Development of a socioemotional wealth importance (SEWi) scale for family firm research," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 47-57.
    13. Miles Corak & Patrizio Piraino, 2011. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Employers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 37-68, January.
    14. Mikel Alayo & Txomin Iturralde & Amaia Maseda & Gloria Aparicio, 2021. "Mapping family firm internationalization research: bibliometric and literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1517-1560, August.
    15. Segaro, Ethiopia L. & Larimo, Jorma & Jones, Marian V., 2014. "Internationalisation of family small and medium sized enterprises: The role of stewardship orientation, family commitment culture and top management team," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 381-395.
    16. Davila, Jessenia & Duran, Patricio & Gómez-Mejía, Luis & Sanchez-Bueno, Maria J., 2023. "Socioemotional wealth and family firm performance: A meta-analytic integration," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    17. Melanie Richards, 2023. "When do Non-financial Goals Benefit Stakeholders? Theorizing on Care and Power in Family Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(2), pages 333-351, May.
    18. Hauck, Jana & Suess-Reyes, Julia & Beck, Susanne & Prügl, Reinhard & Frank, Hermann, 2016. "Measuring socioemotional wealth in family-owned and -managed firms: A validation and short form of the FIBER Scale," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 133-148.
    19. Andrea Stübner & Svenja Jarchow, 2023. "Family oblige: the link between CSR and succession intention in small and medium family firms," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 389-431, April.
    20. Alfred M. Stiglbauer & Christoph R. Weiss, 2000. "Family and Non-Family Succession in the Upper-Austrian Farm Sector," Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 54, pages 5-26.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:6:p:520-:d:568163. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.