Managing Labor on Dairy Farms: A Resource-Based Perspectivewith Evidence from Case Studies

摘要

Labor management practices in agriculture are a marginally and fragmentallyresearched subject with limited theoretical background in agricultural economics.The resource-based theory is proposed as a framework to analyze labormanagement on farms and its application discussed with evidence of six casestudies. In-depth interviews with farm managers, supervisors, and non-supervisoryemployees provide data to illustrate the provisions of the resource-based theory.The theory requires heterogeneity, immobility, value, rareness, inimitability, andnon-substitutability for resources to contribute to sustained competitive advantage.The human resource system of the case farms satisfies these conditions and hencequalifies as a source of competitive advantage.