Factors influencing farmer migration in Norway: a study based on survey results linked to financial data.

摘要

This paper studies what factors influence farmers to leave their farms, and how financial issues are linked with this behaviour. A data set is constructed by linking survey results with financial data, and the data set is analysed by multivariate statistical techniques. Our results indicate that, while existence and size of future farm production is important, there is also a difference between farmers who primarily have financial objectives for their farming and those who have more lifestyle oriented objectives. Everything else being equal, the latter group is more likely to stay on the farm. This could imply that, if preventing migration from rural to urban areas is a policy objective, production support schemes will be effective for some groups, but will be less effective for the group with lifestyle objectives. If this group is to be encouraged to stay in the countryside, policies directed at improving the general living conditions in the local community are likely to be more effective than specific support schemes related to agricultural production.