Homo Economicus and the Shepherd: the Traditional Sheep Farmer Facing the Modernisation (or Intensification) of European Livestock

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Abstract The economic importance of sheep farming is somewhat reduced from a macroeconomic point of view and only makes up a small part of agrarian income and employment. The quantitative macroeconomic evidence shows that the activity of traditional sheep farming is not profitable enough, while the trends seem to be moving toward a reduction in the number of farms, in their concentration and in their intensification. The paper presents the research results with the focus on voactional motiations of farmer.