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Demand for Seasonal Wage Labour in Agriculture: What Does Family Farming Hide?

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  • Aurélie Darpeix
  • Céline Bignebat
  • Philippe Perrier-Cornet

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="jage12019-abs-0001"> This article draws on the agricultural household literature to understand the dynamics of wage labour on farms in a context of family farming. The recent evolution towards an increased use of seasonal wage labour motivates the original distinction of three types of labour: family labour, permanent-wage labour and seasonal-wage labour. Considering the two wage labour types and hiring cost for seasonal workers, our empirical results based on 2000 French data on fruit and vegetable farms suggest that the choice between hiring permanent or seasonal wage labour is not only determined by the seasonality of the activity. Indeed, the characteristics of the local labour market also affect the trade-off between permanent and seasonal wage labour. This result provides insights on the substitutability of the two labour types, especially when the local labour market is tight. Moreover, the substitution of seasonal-wage labour for permanent-wage labour can occur in the agricultural sector as a mean of increasing flexibility as well as reducing costs and commitments. Finally, family labour is found to substitute for wage labour and more specifically for seasonal-wage labour.

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  • Aurélie Darpeix & Céline Bignebat & Philippe Perrier-Cornet, 2014. "Demand for Seasonal Wage Labour in Agriculture: What Does Family Farming Hide?," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 257-272, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jageco:v:65:y:2014:i:1:p:257-272
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    Cited by:

    1. Davidova, Sophia & Thomson, Kenneth J, 2014. "Family Farming in the Enlarged EU: Concepts, challenges and prospects," 142nd Seminar, May 29-30, 2014, Budapest, Hungary 170155, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Maró, Zalán Márk & Borda, Áron József & Balogh, Jeremiás Máté, 2024. "Challenges and Trends in Agricultural Employment: The Case of Hungary," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 16(4), December.
    3. repec:zbw:iamodp:274820 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Kloss, Mathias & Petrick, Martin, 2014. "The productivity of family and hired labour in EU arable farming," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 183041, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Celine Bignebat & Pierre-Marie Bosc & Philippe Perrier-Cornet, 2015. "Exploring structural transformation: a labour-based analysis of the evolution of French agricultural holdings 2000-2010," Post-Print hal-02740105, HAL.
    6. Garcia, Luis & Laepple, Doris & Dillon, Emma & Thorne, Fiona, 2020. "The role of hired labor in transient and persistent technical efficiency on Irish dairy farms," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304395, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Celine Bignebat & Pierre-Marie Bosc & Philippe Perrier-Cornet, 2015. "A labour-based approach to the analysis of structural transformation: application to French agricultural holdings 2000," Post-Print hal-02744159, HAL.
    8. Yagi, Hironori & Hayashi, Tsuneo, 2021. "Working conditions and labor flexibility in non-family farms: weather-based labor management by Japanese paddy rice corporations," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 24(2), February.
    9. Esther Laske & Sandrine Michel, 2022. "What contribution of agroecology to job creation in sub-Saharan Africa? The case of horticulture in the Niayes, Senegal," Post-Print hal-03766499, HAL.
    10. Céline Bignebat & Fatima El Hadad‐Gauthier, 2021. "Integration in export marketing channels and farms' labor force composition: Female agricultural workers in the Moroccan vegetable sector," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 515-530, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

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