What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in Italy
Family farming plays a vital role in mountain areas. Its survival is related to multiple factors, including intrafamily farm succession. This study examined data on apple-producing family farms in an Italian Alpine valley, trying to identify which factors foster or discourage intrafamily succession...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Mountain Society
2015-05-01
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| Series: | Mountain Research and Development |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-14-00107.1 |
| _version_ | 1798044966877921280 |
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| author | Daniele Cavicchioli Danilo Bertoni Federico Tesser Dario Gianfranco Frisio |
| author_facet | Daniele Cavicchioli Danilo Bertoni Federico Tesser Dario Gianfranco Frisio |
| author_sort | Daniele Cavicchioli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Family farming plays a vital role in mountain areas. Its survival is related to multiple factors, including intrafamily farm succession. This study examined data on apple-producing family farms in an Italian Alpine valley, trying to identify which factors foster or discourage intrafamily succession and to what extent they do this, both at the farm level and from the potential successor's viewpoint. To do so, various farm, farmer, and individual characteristics were analyzed using probabilistic regression. We found that intrafamily succession was more likely when the farm was managed by a woman (+20%) with a high school diploma (+13%) who had at least 1 child with specialized education in agriculture (+27%) and when farm sales had increased in recent years (+25%). We also found that a child's willingness to take over the family farm decreases as the number of farm children increases and when the child is a female with a high school diploma; however, the likelihood that children will take over the family business rises as farmer education level and work experience increase. These findings, while mixed, suggest that women play a key role in keeping family farming alive in mountain areas, along with education of family members, improved marketability of agricultural products, and in general, competitiveness and profitability of the family farm. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:12:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-304c99342c864c3c982dbf7dfa17680b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0276-4741 1994-7151 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:12:54Z |
| publishDate | 2015-05-01 |
| publisher | International Mountain Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mountain Research and Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-304c99342c864c3c982dbf7dfa17680b2022-12-22T03:57:44ZengInternational Mountain SocietyMountain Research and Development0276-47411994-71512015-05-0135215216010.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-14-00107.1What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in ItalyDaniele Cavicchioli0Danilo Bertoni1Federico Tesser2Dario Gianfranco Frisio3Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods (DEMM), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy; daniele.cavicchioli@unimi.it, danielecavi@libero.itDepartment of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods (DEMM), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods (DEMM), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods (DEMM), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, ItalyFamily farming plays a vital role in mountain areas. Its survival is related to multiple factors, including intrafamily farm succession. This study examined data on apple-producing family farms in an Italian Alpine valley, trying to identify which factors foster or discourage intrafamily succession and to what extent they do this, both at the farm level and from the potential successor's viewpoint. To do so, various farm, farmer, and individual characteristics were analyzed using probabilistic regression. We found that intrafamily succession was more likely when the farm was managed by a woman (+20%) with a high school diploma (+13%) who had at least 1 child with specialized education in agriculture (+27%) and when farm sales had increased in recent years (+25%). We also found that a child's willingness to take over the family farm decreases as the number of farm children increases and when the child is a female with a high school diploma; however, the likelihood that children will take over the family business rises as farmer education level and work experience increase. These findings, while mixed, suggest that women play a key role in keeping family farming alive in mountain areas, along with education of family members, improved marketability of agricultural products, and in general, competitiveness and profitability of the family farm.http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-14-00107.1family farm successioneducationgendergenerational turnoverfarm survivalfamily farmingItaly |
| spellingShingle | Daniele Cavicchioli Danilo Bertoni Federico Tesser Dario Gianfranco Frisio What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in Italy Mountain Research and Development family farm succession education gender generational turnover farm survival family farming Italy |
| title | What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in Italy |
| title_full | What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in Italy |
| title_fullStr | What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in Italy |
| title_short | What Factors Encourage Intrafamily Farm Succession in Mountain Areas? Evidence From an Alpine Valley in Italy |
| title_sort | what factors encourage intrafamily farm succession in mountain areas evidence from an alpine valley in italy |
| topic | family farm succession education gender generational turnover farm survival family farming Italy |
| url | http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-14-00107.1 |
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