Arbeitspapier

On structural change, the social stress of a farming population, and the political economy of farm support

A rationale for providing support to the farm sector in the course of economic development and structural change is a growing gap between the incomes of nonagricultural workers and the incomes of farmers. Drawing on a model that enables us to analyze the level of social stress experienced by farmers as employment shifts from the farm sector to other sectors, we find that even without an increasing gap between the incomes of non-agricultural workers and the incomes of farmers, support to farmers might be needed/can be justified. This result arises because under well-specified conditions, when the size of the farm population decreases, those who remain in farming experience increasing aggregate social stress. The increase is nonlinear: it is modest when the outflow from the farm sector is relatively small or when it is large, and it becomes more significant when the outflow is moderate. This finding can inform policymakers who seek to alleviate the social stress of the farming population as to the timing and intensity of that intervention.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: University of Tübingen Working Papers in Economics and Finance ; No. 110

Classification
Wirtschaft
Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
Agricultural Policy; Food Policy
Subject
Structural change
Occupational migration
Aggregate social stress
Support for farmers

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Stark, Oded
Fałkowski, Jan
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
University of Tübingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences
(where)
Tübingen
(when)
2018

DOI
doi:10.15496/publikation-25808
Handle
URN
urn:nbn:de:bsz:21-dspace-844182
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Stark, Oded
  • Fałkowski, Jan
  • University of Tübingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences

Time of origin

  • 2018

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