IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tea/wpaper/1202.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The role of non-pecuniary benefits in the labour allocation decision of farmers

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Howley

    (Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland)

  • Emma Dillon

    (Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland)

  • Thia Hennessy

    (Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland)

Abstract

Previous research has primarily focused on the impact of economic variables in explaining the off farm labour allocation decisions of principal farm operators. This study finds attitudes regarding the non-pecuniary benefits associated with the farming lifestyle also significantly affect behaviour by acting as a strong disincentive to farmers towards working off farm. This may suggest that even if economic returns are greater in the offfarm labour market, farmers may not supply additional labour off farm. We also employed separate models of off-farm labour market participation and off-farm labour supply and found certain variables such as a farm operator’s age and the level of diversification undergone by the farm business affect off farm labour market participation and hours supplied differently.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Howley & Emma Dillon & Thia Hennessy, 2012. "The role of non-pecuniary benefits in the labour allocation decision of farmers," Working Papers 1202, Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc.
    • Handle: RePEc:tea:wpaper:1202
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/downloads/workingpapers/12wpre02.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2012
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Key, Nigel D. & Roberts, Michael J., 2008. "AJAE appendix for “Nonpecuniary Benefits to Farming: Implications for Supply Response to Decoupled Payments”," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(1), May.
    2. Huffman, Wallace E & Lange, Mark D, 1989. "Off-Farm Work Decisions of Husbands and Wives: Joint Decision Making," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(3), pages 471-480, August.
    3. Ashok K. Mishra & Barry K. Goodwin, 1997. "Farm Income Variability and the Supply of Off-Farm Labor," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(3), pages 880-887.
    4. Wayne Howard & Michael Swidinsky, 2000. "Estimating the Off-farm Labor Supply in Canada," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 48(1), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Ayal Kimhi & Noga Nachlieli, 2001. "Intergenerational Succession on Israeli Family Farms," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 42-58, May.
    6. Huffman, Wallace E, 1980. "Farm and Off-Farm Work Decisions: The Role of Human Capital," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(1), pages 14-23, February.
    7. Alfons Weersink, 1992. "Off-farm Labor Decisions by Ontario Swine Producers," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 40(2), pages 235-251, July.
    8. Hisham S. El-Osta & Ashok K. Mishra & Mitchell J. Morehart, 2008. "Off-Farm Labor Participation Decisions of Married Farm Couples and the Role of Government Payments," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(2), pages 311-332.
    9. Weersink, Alfons & Nicholson, Charles & Weerhewa, Jeeveka, 1998. "Multiple job holdings among dairy farm families in New York and Ontario," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 127-143, March.
    10. Nigel Key & Michael J. Roberts, 2009. "Nonpecuniary Benefits to Farming: Implications for Supply Response to Decoupled Payments," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(1), pages 1-18.
    11. Kline, Jeffrey & Wichelns, Dennis, 1998. "Measuring heterogeneous preferences for preserving farmland and open space," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 211-224, August.
    12. Hoppe, Robert A. & Banker, David E., 2006. "Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: 2005 Family Farm Report," Economic Information Bulletin 33895, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    13. Nigel Key, 2005. "How much do farmers value their independence?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(1), pages 117-126, July.
    14. Hoppe, Robert A. & Banker, David E., 2006. "Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: 2005 Family Farm Report," Economic Information Bulletin 59404, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    15. Thia C. Hennessy & Tahir Rehman, 2008. "Assessing the Impact of the ‘Decoupling’ Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on Irish Farmers’ Off‐farm Labour Market Participation Decisions," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 41-56, February.
    16. Lass, Daniel A. & Findeis, Jill L. & Hallberg, Milton C., 1989. "Off-Farm Employment Decisions By Massachusetts Farm Households," Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 18(2), pages 1-11, October.
    17. Thia Hennessy & Fiona Thorne, 2005. "How Decoupled Are Decoupled Payments? The Evidence from Ireland," Working Papers 0501, Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc.
    18. Hisham El-Osta & Ashok Mishra & Mary Ahearn, 2004. "Labor Supply by Farm Operators Under “Decoupled” Farm Program Payments," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 367-385, August.
    19. Matshe, Innocent & Young, Trevor, 2004. "Off-farm labour allocation decisions in small-scale rural households in Zimbabwe," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 175-186, May.
    20. Barton H. Hamilton, 2000. "Does Entrepreneurship Pay? An Empirical Analysis of the Returns to Self-Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(3), pages 604-631, June.
    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. Tocco, Barbara & Davidova, Sophia & Bailey, Alastair, 2013. "The Impact of CAP Payments on the Exodus of Labour from Agriculture in Selected EU Member States," Working papers 160742, Factor Markets, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    2. Corsi, Alessandro & Salvioni, Cristina, 2017. "Once part-timer always part-timer? Causes for persistence in off farm work state of farmers," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 6(2), September.

    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. Peter Howley & Emma Dillon & Thia Hennessy, 2014. "It’s not all about the money: understanding farmers’ labor allocation choices," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(2), pages 261-271, June.
    2. Peter Howley & Trevor Donnellan & Kevin Hanrahan, 2009. "The 2003 CAP reform: Do decoupled payments affect agricultural production?," Working Papers 0901, Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc.
    3. Thia C. Hennessy & Tahir Rehman, 2008. "Assessing the Impact of the ‘Decoupling’ Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on Irish Farmers’ Off‐farm Labour Market Participation Decisions," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 41-56, February.
    4. Howley, Peter, 2015. "The Happy Farmer: The Effect Of Non-Pecuniary Benefits On Farmers’ Behavior," 89th Annual Conference, April 13-15, 2015, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 204289, Agricultural Economics Society.
    5. Bojnec, Stefan & Ferto, Imre, 2011. "Impact of Off-farm Income on Farm Efficiency in Slovenia," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114258, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Abdul-Salam, Yakubu & Roberts, Deborah, 2018. "Determinants of off-farm work and its effect on agricultural input intensity," 92nd Annual Conference, April 16-18, 2018, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 273486, Agricultural Economics Society.
    7. Pandit, Mahesh & Paudel, Krishna P. & Mishra, Ashok K., 2013. "Do Agricultural Subsidies Affect the Labor Allocation Decision? Comparing Parametric and Semiparametric Methods," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(1), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Mishra, Ashok K. & Paudel, Krishna P., 2008. "Policy Reform and Off-farm Labor Supply by Operators in the Delta Region: A," 2008 Annual Meeting, February 2-6, 2008, Dallas, Texas 6725, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    9. Chang, Yang-Ming & Huang, Biing-Wen & Chen, Yun-Ju, 2012. "Labor supply, income, and welfare of the farm household," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 427-437.
    10. Corsi, Alessandro & Salvioni, Cristina, 2017. "Once part-timer always part-timer? Causes for persistence in off farm work state of farmers," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 6(2), September.
    11. Tocco, Barbara & Bailey, Alastair & Davidova, Sophia & Raimondi, Valentina, 2015. "Women and Part-Time Farming: Understanding Labor Supply Decisions in Italian Farm Households," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211932, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Tocco, Barbara & Bailey, Alastair & Davidova, Sophia, 2013. "Determinants to Leave Agriculture and Change Occupational Sector: Evidence from an Enlarged EU," Working papers 155704, Factor Markets, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    13. Dierk Schmid & Swetlana Renner & Daniel Hoop, 2023. "Exploring within- and between-effects of the factors influencing off-farm work decisions in Switzerland," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 69(10), pages 416-425.
    14. Dupraz, Pierre & Latruffe, Laure, 2015. "Trends in family labour, hired labour and contract work on French field crop farms: The role of the Common Agricultural Policy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 104-118.
    15. Loughrey, Jason & Hennessy, Thia & Hanrahan, Kevin & Donnellan, Trevor & Raimondi, Valentina & Olper, Alessandro, 2013. "Determinants of Farm Labour Use: A Comparison between Ireland and Italy," 2013: Productivity and Its Impacts on Global Trade, June 2-4, 2013. Seville, Spain 152332, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    16. Bjornsen, Hild-Marte, 1999. "Off-farm labour decisions of Norwegian farm Households," ERSA conference papers ersa99pa025, European Regional Science Association.
    17. Donnellan, Trevor & Hennessy, Thia, 2012. "Defining a theoretical model of farm households’ labour allocation decisions," Factor Markets Working Papers 140, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    18. Peter Howley & Stephen Hynes & Cathal O'Donoghue, 2012. "Explaining the non-economic behaviour of farm foresters: The effect of productivist and lifestyle motivations," Working Papers 1203, Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc.
    19. Howley, Peter & Breen, James P. & Donoghue, Cathal O. & Hennessy, Thia, 2012. "Does the single farm payment affect farmers’ behaviour? A macro and micro analysis," International Journal of Agricultural Management, Institute of Agricultural Management, vol. 2(1), pages 1-8, October.
    20. Tocco, Barbara & Davidova, Sophia & Bailey, Alastair Creation-Date: 2012-02, "undated". "Key Issues in Agricultural Labour Markets: A Review of Major Studies and Project Reports on Agriculture and Rural Labour Markets," Factor Markets Working Papers 126, Centre for European Policy Studies.

    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:tea:wpaper:1202. 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: John Lennon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/reteaie.html .

    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.