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Small French Farms and Employment: are they creating wage labour

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  • Pauline Lécole

    (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)

Abstract

In this article, we highlight the structure of employment in the small French farms sector and we identify the characteristics of those that are conducive to the use of wage labour. For this purpose, we code labour regimes according to different types of workforce and propose a classification of small farms from the 2010 French agricultural census. It is shown that small farms with permanent waged workforce are mostly involved in high valueadded creation activities and are managed by trained farmers. However, we observe two main models: on the one hand, small farms with low recourse to family workforce (including that of the farmer). The proximity of job market and consumer market constitute an opportunity for these farms and the income earned off the farm have a positive impact on wage labour on the farm. On the other hand, small farms with significant recourse to family workforce complete their working time with permanent waged labour. It can reflect farmers' preferences for agricultural activity (chosen following a career change).

Suggested Citation

  • Pauline Lécole, 2020. "Small French Farms and Employment: are they creating wage labour," Working Papers hal-03027189, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03027189
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03027189
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    small farm; farm work; waged workforce; agricultural census;
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