Analyzing strategic entrepreneurial choices in agriculture—Empirical evidence from Germany

Abstract

Entrepreneurship in agriculture is a phenomenon that is growing in importance with the changing framework conditions for agricultural production and has led to heterogeneity in farm business development paths. To understand this phenomenon better, a classification scheme for strategic entrepreneurial choices in agriculture is developed for family farmers. The choices that are scrutinized are reduction, continuation, expansion, diversification, and the dual strategy of expansion and diversification. Each farmer is uniquely assigned to one of these choice classes according to their implemented entrepreneurial activities. Determinants influencing these choices are investigated with a multinomial logit model. The data are derived from a quantitative survey among German farmers (N = 745). Strong effects are observable within the area of personal factors; creativity and risk affinity benefit entrepreneurial strategies connected with diversification. Farmers with a third‐level education qualification are less likely to follow expansion strategies, and those with off‐farm employment and risk‐averse farmers mainly choose a reduction strategy. Family involvement, especially the farmer's spouse, proves to have stabilizing and even enhancing effects on certain strategies. Implications for policymakers and actors within the agricultural sector can thus be derived.

The understanding of the agriculturally shaped environment - from the theoretical construct to an applied indicator of sustainable development

“…This indicates a pronounced difference in contact with agriculture, which has been repeatedly shown in the literature: In Germany, men are predominantly employed in agricultural occupations, which means that their contact with agriculture is, on average, more intensive than that of women (e.g. Graskemper et al, 2021;Kuntke et al, 2022). In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in particular, the difference between the proportion of men and women employed in agriculture is even greater than the national average (Deutscher Bauernverband e.V., 2019.…”

The Impact of Risk Aversion and Migrant Work Experience on Farmers’ Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China

“…Risk attitudes have implications for both the survival strategies and the scale that farmers choose when starting a business. The higher the affinity for risk, the more likely it is that an entrepreneurial strategy of expansion and diversification is more likely to be adopted [53]. Personal traits such as trust, patience, and individualism are also important factors that affect entrepreneurship [54], and we can use experimental methods to study other personal traits as well.…”

Tracing Farmers’ Entrepreneurship and Communication Skills Using a Bibliometric Approach

“…Sustainability Switzerland Journal made a significant contribution to the literature on farmers' entrepreneurship, while the Journal of Rural Studies was the one contributing significantly to research publications on farmers' communication skills. In their study entitled Analyzing Strategic Entrepreneurial Choices in Agriculture -Empirical Evidence from Germany, Graskemper et al (2021) were among the authors who made substantial contributions to the literature on farmers' entrepreneurship. However, Svensson et al (2020) United States contributed significantly.…”

“…)Graskemper et al (2021) with the article entitled Analyzing Strategic Entrepreneurial Choices in Agriculture -Empirical Evidence from Germany; (2) Alessa, Zaabi, and Diab (2018) with the article entitled Impact of Environmental Factors in Financing Agriculture Entrepreneurs; (3) Dias, Rodrigues, and Ferreira (2019b) with the article entitled What's New in The Research on Agricultural Entrepreneurship? ; (4) Uduji et al (2019) with the article entitled The Impact of E-wallet on Informal Farm Entrepreneurship Development in Rural Nigeria; (5) Kangogo et al (2020) with the article entitled Determinants of Farm Resilience to Climate Change: The Role of Farmer Entrepreneurship and Value Chain Collaborations; (6) (McElwee and Smith, (2014) with the article entitled Researching Rural Enterprise; (7) Hassink, Grin, and Hulsink (2013) with the article entitled Multifunctional Agriculture Meets Health Care: Applying the Multi -Level Transition Sciences Perspective to Care Farming in the Netherlands; (8) Ohe (2022) with the article entitled Investigating Farmer's Identity and Efficiency of Tourism -Oriented Farm Diversification; (9) Ratten (2023) with the article entitled Digital Platforms and Transformational Entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 Crisis; and (10) Ranjan (2015) with the article entitled Rural Entrepreneurism and Developmental Outcomes Under Climate Change Threats.…”