Understanding farm entry and farm exit in Korea

摘要

In recent years, the Korean government has sought to encourage rural young people to enter farming and older farmers to leave it. The government‟s tool for promoting this intergenerational change has been agricultural structural adjustment policy, which includes farm entry policy, farm exit policy, competitiveness policy, and rural development policy. However, the number of young farmers has decreased and number of old farmers has increased. This research investigates why agricultural structural adjustment policy has failed, analyzing survey data on farm entry and exit using regression analysis, and with procedures enhanced by bootstrapping. The conclusions of the research are as follows. Agricultural structural adjustment policy does not induce young people to enter farming mainly because: 1) Rural young people have as little enthusiasm for farming as their urban counterparts; and 2) Competitiveness policy cancels the effects of farm entry policy. Meanwhile, agricultural structural adjustment policy has not induced old farmers to retire mainly because: 1) Older farmers are as reluctant to leave farming as younger ones; 2) Farm exit policy does not promote farm exit; and 3) Competitiveness policy and rural development policy, as well as farming conditions and farm exit barriers, cancel the effects of farm exit policy.