The decline of part-time farming in Europe: an empirical analysis of trends and determinants based on Eurostat panel data

This article studies the state of part-time farming in the European Union (EU) amidst recent developments in its agricultural structure. First, an in-depth descriptive analysis of the trends in farm other gainful activities (OGA) is delineated. Second, an econometric panel regression analysis employ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied economics 2022-09, Vol.54 (42), p.4812-4824
Main Authors: Shahzad, Muhammad Abid, Fischer, Christian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural production
Economic analysis
Economic theory
European Union
Eurostat panel data
Farm size
Farms
fractional probit model
Longitudinal studies
off-farm work
Other gainful activities
Panel data
Productivity
Specialization
Time use
Trends
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Summary:This article studies the state of part-time farming in the European Union (EU) amidst recent developments in its agricultural structure. First, an in-depth descriptive analysis of the trends in farm other gainful activities (OGA) is delineated. Second, an econometric panel regression analysis employing fractional probit model is conducted to investigate the relationship between the share of OGA and different farmer and farm characteristics. The analysis utilizes a balanced panel of 27 EU countries extracted from the Eurostat database between 2005 and 2016. The results show that OGA as main activity significantly decreased between 2005 and 2016, whereas the proportion of sole holder-managers with OGA as secondary activity slightly increased. OGA are explained by economic needs and are mostly related to farm size and farm types with lower economic farm productivity. The main OGA are mainly related to farmer characteristics (e.g. age and gender). Secondary OGA are explained by farm specialization. These trends may continue into the future which may bring an even fewer number of larger, more specialized, and more professional farms that have little time to engage in other activities than their core business of farming.
ISSN:0003-6846
1466-4283
DOI:10.1080/00036846.2022.2036687