THE IMPACT OF BORROWING CONSTRAINTS ON FARM HOUSEHOLDS - A LIFE-CYCLE APPROACH

摘要

This paper examines the potential impact of borrowing constraints on farm households. Using an adaptation of a life-cycle model of the farm household, two types of borrowing constraints are investigated. The first type of constraint, restrictions on the ratio of total debt to farm value added, reflects the possibility that financial institutions restrict lending on the basis of current farm profitability. The second type, restrictions on the debt to asset ratio, reflects the possibility that loans must be secured against assets. These two versions of the model are analysed and then simulated for a set of Dutch dairy farms. From the results it was found that, whilst the impact of such constraints does not appear to be affected by farm size, the proportion of land owned was a factor in determining which far ms were likely to be borrowing-constrained.