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Beyond the Black Box: Towards a Systems Theory of Farming Family and Family Farm

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  • Pietrzak Michał

    (PhD, DSc, ProfTit, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Institute of Economics and Finance, Department of Economics and Organisation of Enterprises; ul. Nowoursynowska 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Ziętara Wojciech

    (PhD, DSc, ProfTit, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics National Research Institute, Department of Economics of Agricultural and Horticultural Holdings; ul. Świętokrzyska 20, 00-002 Warsaw, Poland)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the need for a view of a family farm that is complementary to neoclassical economics and outline the framework concepts on which the future systems theory of family farms could be based. The article is a conceptual overview. The paper presents the development of economics and organization of farms. It was emphasized that in addition to the analytical approach, which today fits into the neoclassical mainstream of economic thought, the organic approach, which is related to the contemporary systems approach, was also important in the discipline. The authors presented two trends considered to be the foundation of the target theory of family farms: systems thinking and new institutional economics. An outline of the concept of a new approach to family farms is presented as a systemic whole connecting the family and its household involved in agricultural production, with the possibility of reducing internal transaction costs (agency costs) being an important attribute of this whole. Family farms still remain the predominant form of agricultural activity in Poland, Europe, and other continents. The family nature of the entities creates their specificity both in terms of goals and behaviors, which is difficult to reduce to the neoclassical model of firm, which seeks to maximize profits. What is needed is a holistic, systems approach complementary to the predominant neoclassical approach, considering close relations between the family and the agricultural production unit.

Suggested Citation

  • Pietrzak Michał & Ziętara Wojciech, 2022. "Beyond the Black Box: Towards a Systems Theory of Farming Family and Family Farm," Zagadnienia Ekonomiki Rolnej / Problems of Agricultural Economics, Sciendo, vol. 370(1), pages 42-86, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:zerpae:v:370:y:2022:i:1:p:42-86:n:1
    DOI: 10.30858/zer/143079
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pollak, Robert A, 1985. "A Transaction Cost Approach to Families and Households," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 581-608, June.
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    4. Hailu, Atakelty & Veeman, Terrence S., 2001. "Alternative methods for environmentally adjusted productivity analysis," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 25(2-3), pages 211-218, September.
    5. François J Dessart & Jesús Barreiro-Hurlé & René van Bavel, 2019. "Behavioural factors affecting the adoption of sustainable farming practices: a policy-oriented review," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(3), pages 417-471.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    family farm; systems thinking; system dynamics; new institutional economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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