Off-farm Employment Decisions Research Articles

Off-farm employment and household clean energy transition in rural China: A study based on a gender perspective

Although numerous studies in developing countries have increasingly focused on the important implications of off-farm employment for the success of rural energy transition, it is easy to ignore the fact that determining who to employ in off-farm sectors can impact household energy transition decisions differently. Based on the nationally representative data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2015 survey, this study tries to fill the gap and examines the interaction between off-farm employment decisions between couples and household clean energy consumption in rural China by providing a new view towards gender. The results show that two-paycheck households consume more clean energy than other household types. Off-farm employment of women is a key factor driving the household clean energy consumption to a higher level, and wage-employed wives contribute more to these decisions than self-employed ones.

Too Risky to Focus on Agriculture? An Empirical Study of China’s Agricultural Households’ Off-Farm Employment Decisions

This paper investigates China’s agricultural households and their individual members’ off-farm labor supply decision in response to farm production risks and a number of other factors (e.g., demographic characteristics, farm characteristics, and local market features). Whether and to what extent farming risks may affect farmers’ off-farm employment in China are rarely studied. Our paper provides an empirical study to demonstrate that agricultural production risks significantly impact off-farm labor supply in rural China. The impacts of associated variables on households off-farm labor supply decisions are quantified using a sample of large–scale nationwide household finance survey in 2010. The results suggest that off-farm employment serves as a risk adaption strategy for Chinese farmers. Policy suggestions on retaining farmers to focus on agricultural production are discussed.

Farm income variability and off-farm employment in Ireland

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the potential relationship between farm income variability and off-farm employment decisions in the short and medium term for the case of Irish farm operators. Design/methodology/approach Panel probit models of off-farm labour supply are estimated using Teagasc National Farm Survey data for Irish farms. The framework is based largely on standard expected utility but includes a constraint for recent employment history. Findings The analyses identifies some evidence of a positive association between farm income variability and off-farm employment in the medium term but no significant relationship in the short term. This suggests that off-farm employment is part of a wider portfolio decision but is not a strong solution to short-term farm income shocks. Practical implications European farmers increasingly face high income variability but financial risk management tools are not sufficiently developed or widely accessible to assist farmers in managing the associated risk. This deficiency can have negative implications for household economic welfare and future farm investments and hence the future farm income. Off-farm employment can form part of a wider medium-term portfolio strategy but more effective tools are also required for risk management particularly in dealing with short-term volatility and where off-farm employment is not a realistic endeavour given time constraints and/or demographics. Originality/value The estimation of farm income variability includes a detrending method thus reducing the likelihood of overestimating farm income variability for farms in deliberate expansion or decline. While previous research has typically focused on the short-term response of farmers to historical farm income variability, this research has distinguished between the short and medium term.

Characteristics and driving factors of rural livelihood transition in the east coastal region of China: A case study of suburban Shanghai

Based on data from 412 households, this study used the sustainable livelihoods approach to analyse changes in livelihood strategies and the relationship between those changes and rural household attitudes in an eastern coastal region of China. Focussing on household off-farm employment decisions and land transfer decisions, we classified the households into six types based on their livelihood strategies, namely, off-farm employment-oriented, balanced, off-farm, idle, professional, and conventional. The survey results indicate that two capital factors, age and education, and two mediating factors, wage and crop prices, are important influences of off-farm employment decisions, whereas factors such as policies and subsidies, machinery, activities organized by local agricultural cooperatives, and land rent substantially influence land transfer decisions. By analysing the characteristics, trends and driving factors of livelihood transitions, i.e., changes in rural household livelihood strategies, from 1993 to 2013, we explored the mechanisms of livelihood transitions. The results indicate that the proportion of conventional households decreased and the proportion of off-farm employment-oriented households and off-farm households increased. Agricultural production transformed from a system of scattered households (conventional and off-farm employment-oriented households) into broad-scale management households (professional and balanced households). These changes were the main characteristics of livelihood transitions under rapid industrialization combined with rapid urbanization in the Qingpu district. Rural livelihood transitions exhibited a stepped pattern, going through an initial stage, a self-organizing stage, and a government-led stage.

Migration, local off-farm employment, and agricultural production efficiency: evidence from China

This paper studies the effect of local off-farm employment and migration on the technical efficiency of rural households’ crop production using a five-year panel dataset from more than 2000 households in five Chinese provinces. While there is not much debate about the positive contribution of migration and local off-farm employment to China’s economy, there is increasing concern about the potential negative effects of moving labor away from agriculture on China’s future food security. This is a critical issue as maintaining self-sufficiency in grain production will be critical for China to feed its huge population in the future. Several papers have studied the impact of migration on production and have yielded ambiguous results. But the impact of migration on technical efficiency is rarely studied. Methodologically, we incorporate the correlated random-effects approach into the inefficiency analysis of the standard stochastic production frontier model to control for unobservable factors that are correlated with migration and off-farm employment decisions and technical efficiency. The most consistent result that emerged from our econometric analysis is that neither migration nor local off-farm employment has a negative effect on the technical efficiency of grain production, which does not support the widespread notion that vast-scale labor migration could negatively affect China’s future food security.

Migration, Local Off-Farm Employment, and Agricultural Production Efficiency: Evidence from China

This paper studies the effect of local off-farm employment and migration on rural households’ technical efficiency of crop production using a five-year panel dataset from more than 2,000 households in five Chinese provinces. While there is not much debate about the positive contribution of migration and local off-farm employment to China’s economy, there is an increasing concern about the potential negative effects of moving labor away from agriculture on China’s future food security. This is a critical issue as maintaining self-sufficiency in grain production will be critical for China to feed its huge population in the future. Several papers have studied the impact of migration on production and yield with mixed results. But the impact of migration on technical efficiency is rarely studied. Methodologically, we incorporate the correlated random-effects approach into the standard stochastic production frontier model to control for unobservable that are correlated with migration and off-farm employment decisions and technical efficiency. The most consistent result that emerged from our econometric analysis is that neither migration nor local off-farm employment has a negative effect on the technical efficiency of grain production, which does not support the widespread notion that vast-scale labor migration could negatively affect China’s future food security.

People, Land, and Context: Multilevel Determinants of Off-farm Employment in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

This paper investigates the factors that motivate decisions of settler colonists to engage in off-farm employment (OFE) in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon (NEA). Overall, OFE, as a type of population mobility, may increasingly become a dominant demographic factor in rural frontier regions. Although OFE decisions are primarily a matter of individual choice, factors associated with the farm household and the local community also play key roles in this decision-making. This paper applies a multilevel conceptual framework and uses a multinomial, multilevel statistical model to study OFE in the NEA in 1999 as a result of factors at the individual, farm household, and community levels. The results show important differences between OFE participation choices in personal characteristics, human capital, farm household life cycle, land use, land management, farm environmental conditions, transportation accessibility, community size, and structure of local labor markets. The paper also identifies the effects of policy-relevant variables on choices to engage in OFE in local community, other rural, or urban areas of destination.

Multiple job holdings among dairy farm families in New York and Ontario

Previous empirical studies of multiple job holding have tended to focus on the characteristics of those obtaining off-farm employment and the factors affecting the hours supplied to those obtaining off-farm activities. None of these studies have explicitly addressed the reasons behind the decision to seek off-farm employment. Neither have they been able to examine in-depth the important issue of how this major component of the farm sector responds to alternative policies, since most studies have used cross-sectional data for a given region. A comparison between countries would permit the analysis of how multiple job holding responds to differing government policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for and factors affecting multiple job holdings of dairy farm families in neighboring regions of two counties, United States and Canada. The bordering regions of New York and Ontario have similar geographic conditions but significantly different farm support and social service policies. The results indicate the importance of farm income on why people work off the farm and provide evidence of multiple job holding as a flexible mechanism for coping with changes in the economic environment facing the household. For operators, the driving characteristics influencing off-farm labor participation is the farm's financial position. The supply-managed milk marketing system ensures higher and more stable returns for Ontario dairy farm labor. In contrast, it is family demographics, educational level and social support policy that appears to largely influence spousal off-farm employment decisions. Free medical care in Ontario lowers the reservation wage for household members. The effect of these farm and social support policies on the relative returns to labor in agriculture and non-farm employment explains the lower participation rate and hours supplied in off-farm work by both operators, and hours supplied in off-farm work by both operators and spouses in Ontario dairy farm household.

Multiple job holdings among dairy farm families in New York and Ontario

Abstract Previous empirical studies of multiple job holding have tended to focus on the characteristics of those obtaining off-farm employment and the factors affecting the hours supplied to those obtaining off-farm activities. None of these studies have explicitly addressed the reasons behind the decision to seek off-farm employment. Neither have they been able to examine in-depth the important issue of how this major component of the farm sector responds to alternative policies, since most studies have used cross-sectional data for a given region. A comparison between countries would permit the analysis of how multiple job holding responds to differing government policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for and factors affecting multiple job holdings of dairy farm families in neighboring regions of two counties, United States and Canada. The bordering regions of New York and Ontario have similar geographic conditions but significantly different farm support and social service policies. The results indicate the importance of farm income on why people work off the farm and provide evidence of multiple job holding as a flexible mechanism for coping with changes in the economic environment facing the household. For operators, the driving characteristics influencing off-farm labor participation is the farm's financial position. The supply-managed milk marketing system ensures higher and more stable returns for Ontario dairy farm labor. In contrast, it is family demographics, educational level and social support policy that appears to largely influence spousal off-farm employment decisions. Free medical care in Ontario lowers the reservation wage for household members. The effect of these farm and social support policies on the relative returns to labor in agriculture and non-farm employment explains the lower participation rate and hours supplied in off-farm work by both operators, and hours supplied in off-farm work by both operators and spouses in Ontario dairy farm household.

Off-Farm Employment Decisions by Massachusetts Farm Households

The off-farm labor participation and supply decisions of Massachusetts farm families were estimated in a model which allows for joint decisions. The hypothesis of joint off-farm participation decisions by operators and spouses was rejected. However, there was some evidence that the hours supplied by the farm operator was dependent upon the decision by the spouse to work off-farm. Farm operators were found to respond to both family and farm characteristics in making participation and supply decisions. Spouses respond to the characteristics of the farm and family in participation decisions while family characteristics determined hours worked by the spouse.