Intergenerational Succession on Family Farms: Evidence from Survey Data

This study examines family farms and characteristics affecting farm succession. Based on a farm survey, three aspects of succession are analysed in the paper: the probability of family succession; the likelihood of having a successor designated; and the timing of succession. Large and specialised farms are more likely to be transferred within the family and to have appointed a successor. The number of family members, as well as the experience of farm operator, is also significantly related to the succession behaviour. The probabilities of succession, and of having a successor, first increase with age and then decline again. Furthermore, timing of succession is delayed as the farm holder ages, suggesting most farm operators? succession plans to be inconsistent over time. In addition, we find a significant interrelationship between the different aspects of succession indicating that decisions on family succession, the designation of a successor, as well as the timing of succession, are not separable.

[1]  Matt Lobley,et al.  AGEING AND SUCCESSION ON FAMILY FARMS: The Impact on Decision-making and Land Use , 1992 .

[2]  David N. Laband,et al.  Occupational Inheritance in Agriculture , 1983 .

[3]  R. Gasson,et al.  THE FARM AS A FAMILY BUSINESS: A REVIEW , 1988 .

[4]  A. Kimhi.  Is Part‐Time Farming Really a Step in the Way Out of Agricultural? , 2000 .

[5]  C. Weiß.  Farm Growth and Survival: Econometric Evidence for Individual Farms in Upper Austria , 1999 .

[6]  M. Boehlje,et al.  Strategies for the Creation and Transfer of the Farm Estate , 1972 .

[7]  C. Weiß.  Do they come back again? The symmetry and reversibility of off-farm employment , 1997 .

[8]  Andrew Errington,et al.  The Farm Family Business , 1993 .

[9]  Laurence J. Kotlikoff,et al.  The Family as an Incomplete Annuities Market , 1979, Journal of Political Economy.

[10]  L. Tauer.  Use of Life Insurance to Fund the Farm Purchase from Heirs , 1985 .

[11]  Kenneth I. Wolpin,et al.  Specific Experience, Household Structure and Intergenerational Transfers: Farm Family Land and Labor Arrangements in Developing Countries , 1984 .

[12]  Ayal Kimhi,et al.  Family farm dynamics in Canada and Israel: the case of farm exits , 1999 .

[13]  P. Perrier-Cornet,et al.  FARM TRANSFER AND FARM ENTRY IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY , 1993 .

[14]  R. López,et al.  Retirement and Succession Considerations of Maryland Farmers: Preliminary Evidence from a Household Survey , 1995 .

[15]  Ayal Kimhi,et al.  Intergenerational Succession In Israeli Family Farms , 2001 .

[16]  A. Kimhi.  Optimal Timing of Farm Transferal From Parent to Child , 1994 .

[17]  A. Kimhi,et al.  Old age security and inter-generational transfer of family farms , 1999 .

[18]  C. Weiß,et al.  Family and non-family succession in the Upper-Austrian farm sector , 2000, Cahiers d'Economie et sociologie rurales.

[19]  Malcolm Hill,et al.  The Panel Study of Income Dynamics , 1991 .

[20]  P. Schmidt,et al.  Limited-Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics. , 1984 .

[21]  M. Pfeffer.  Part-time farming and the stability of family farms in the Federal Republic of Germany1 , 1989 .