Underlying motivational factors of farmers when acquiring arable land
The area of arable land is decreasing every year as a result of expanding cities or road networks, a fact affecting the farmers’ business possibilities. The farms in Sweden are simultaneously getting fewer but larger in size, the higher survival rate among the larger farms indicating that growing...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | sueco Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2020
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15860/ |
| _version_ | 1855572650320986112 |
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| author | Kreutz, Emilia Peterson, Ellinor |
| author_browse | Kreutz, Emilia Peterson, Ellinor |
| author_facet | Kreutz, Emilia Peterson, Ellinor |
| author_sort | Kreutz, Emilia |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | The area of arable land is decreasing every year as a result of expanding cities or road
networks, a fact affecting the farmers’ business possibilities. The farms in Sweden are
simultaneously getting fewer but larger in size, the higher survival rate among the larger
farms indicating that growing means surviving. Furthermore, the price of arable land in
Sweden has drastically increased over the past ten years, with Östergötland being one of the
highest priced areas. However, recent literature regarding the acquisition of arable land
discusses how theory focusing on monetary values fails to recognise farmers’ behaviour and
values. Instead, recent literature suggests that non-pecuniary attributes, along with economic
factors, influence farmers’ decision-making in different contexts.
The present study was designed to determine the underlying motivational factors of farmers
when acquiring arable land. The study contributes to the field by deriving from existing
literature, such as the net present value, hedonic pricing and behavioural aspects, and
criticizing its inadequacy. By doing so, the present study aims to create a more holistic picture
of the matter. The study is based on Means-End Chain theory (MEC), a framework for
describing and linking peoples’ values to their behaviour. The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation
Technique (ZMET) was used, a qualitative method previously never applied in this context,
providing a new perspective and generating a unique result. The method enabled the farmers
themselves to control what aspects were highlighted during the interviews and forced them
deeper into their reasoning process. The cause-effect relationships between elements elicited
were then coded and illustrated in a Hierarchal Value Map (HVM), constituting the result of
present study.
The main findings indicate how farmers’ underlying motivational factors cannot be
characterized as either financial or non-financial when acquiring arable land. Rather, financial
and non-financial factors are in this context closely linked. The most prominent value
pronounced during the interviews was “Profitability”, closely followed by “Happiness” and
“Well-being”. The interviewed farmers acquired the arable land essentially based on location,
to increase farm size and to enable continued operation. These attributes were found to
increased revenue and improve efficiency as well as the work situation. Using ZMET in the
study was considered vital to assess the respondents’ reasoning processes and thereby the indepth
information governing the result. To conclude, the result of the present study shows that
there is a complex set of factors that motivates farmers in their decision to acquire arable land. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU15860 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Swedish Inglés |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU158602020-07-18T01:01:28Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15860/ Underlying motivational factors of farmers when acquiring arable land Kreutz, Emilia Peterson, Ellinor Economics and management The area of arable land is decreasing every year as a result of expanding cities or road networks, a fact affecting the farmers’ business possibilities. The farms in Sweden are simultaneously getting fewer but larger in size, the higher survival rate among the larger farms indicating that growing means surviving. Furthermore, the price of arable land in Sweden has drastically increased over the past ten years, with Östergötland being one of the highest priced areas. However, recent literature regarding the acquisition of arable land discusses how theory focusing on monetary values fails to recognise farmers’ behaviour and values. Instead, recent literature suggests that non-pecuniary attributes, along with economic factors, influence farmers’ decision-making in different contexts. The present study was designed to determine the underlying motivational factors of farmers when acquiring arable land. The study contributes to the field by deriving from existing literature, such as the net present value, hedonic pricing and behavioural aspects, and criticizing its inadequacy. By doing so, the present study aims to create a more holistic picture of the matter. The study is based on Means-End Chain theory (MEC), a framework for describing and linking peoples’ values to their behaviour. The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) was used, a qualitative method previously never applied in this context, providing a new perspective and generating a unique result. The method enabled the farmers themselves to control what aspects were highlighted during the interviews and forced them deeper into their reasoning process. The cause-effect relationships between elements elicited were then coded and illustrated in a Hierarchal Value Map (HVM), constituting the result of present study. The main findings indicate how farmers’ underlying motivational factors cannot be characterized as either financial or non-financial when acquiring arable land. Rather, financial and non-financial factors are in this context closely linked. The most prominent value pronounced during the interviews was “Profitability”, closely followed by “Happiness” and “Well-being”. The interviewed farmers acquired the arable land essentially based on location, to increase farm size and to enable continued operation. These attributes were found to increased revenue and improve efficiency as well as the work situation. Using ZMET in the study was considered vital to assess the respondents’ reasoning processes and thereby the indepth information governing the result. To conclude, the result of the present study shows that there is a complex set of factors that motivates farmers in their decision to acquire arable land. Varje år minskar åkermarksarealen till följd av att städer och vägnät utvidgas, något som påverkar lantbrukares affärsmöjligheter. Samtidigt blir antalet lantbruksföretag i Sverige färre men större i storlek vilket visar på en tydlig överlevnadstrend bland större företag som indikerar att företag som växer är de som överlever. Åkermarkspriset har drastiskt ökat i Sverige under de senaste tio åren, med Östergötland som ett av de områdena med högst priser för åkermark. När lantbruksföretag investerar i ytterligare åkermark krävs en ökad lönsamhet för att klara de höga lån och räntekostnader som följer med investeringen, detta samtidigt som priserna för jordbruksråvaror minskar. Aktuell litteratur inom området föreslår att teorier som utgår från monetära värden misslyckas med att belysa lantbrukares beslutsfattande vid investeringar. Istället föreslås att ideella attribut, tillsammans med monetära värden, påverkar lantbrukares beslutsfattande. Denna studie utformades för att identifiera lantbrukares underliggande motivationsfaktorer vid investering i åkermark. Studien bidrar till forskningen genom att utgå från existerande litteratur beträffande nettonuvärdesberäkning, hedonisk prissättning och beteendevetenskap och kritisera den för dess otillräcklighet inom ämnet. Genom detta bidrar denna studie till att skapa en mer holistisk bild av ämnet. Vidare utgår studien från Means-End Chain (MEC) teorin, ett ramverk för att beskriva och länka samman människors värden och beteenden. Den kvalitativa metoden Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) som vidare tillämpades har tidigare inte använts i denna kontext. Detta medför att studien bidrar med ett nytt perspektiv och genom det ett unikt resultat. Metoden möjliggjorde vidare att lantbrukarna styrde samtalet under intervjun och själva fick belysa vilka aspekter som var viktiga för dem. De identifierade elementen från intervjuerna kodades sedan och illustrerades i en hierarkisk värdekarta (HVM) som följaktligen utgör studiens resultat. Studiens resultat indikerar att underliggande motivationsfaktorer hos lantbrukare inte kan kategoriseras som antingen monetära eller icke-monetära, eftersom de är tätt sammankopplade. Det mest framträdande värdet som nämndes under intervjuerna var “Lönsamhet”, följt av värdena “Lycka” och “Välbefinnande”. De intervjuade lantbrukarna valde framförallt att investera i ytterligare åkermark baserat på dess läge, fortsatt tillväxt och för att fortsatt kunna bedriva verksamheten - förknippat med ökade intäkter och effektivitet såväl som en förbättrad arbetssituation. Användandet av ZMET anses ha varit avgörande för studiens resultat eftersom metoden tillgängliggjorde en ökad förståelse för respondenternas resonemang och genom det en unik, djupgående information i frågan. Sammanfattningsvis tyder resultaten från studien på att det finns en komplex uppsättning av faktorer som påverkar och motiverar lantbrukare vid deras beslut att investera i åkermark. 2020-07-08 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf sv https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15860/1/kreutz_e_peterson_e_200607.pdf Kreutz, Emilia and Peterson, Ellinor, 2020. Underlying motivational factors of farmers when acquiring arable land : a study in the region of Östergötland, Sweden. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Economics <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-510.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-15860 eng |
| spellingShingle | Economics and management Kreutz, Emilia Peterson, Ellinor Underlying motivational factors of farmers when acquiring arable land |
| title | Underlying motivational factors of
farmers when acquiring arable land |
| title_full | Underlying motivational factors of
farmers when acquiring arable land |
| title_fullStr | Underlying motivational factors of
farmers when acquiring arable land |
| title_full_unstemmed | Underlying motivational factors of
farmers when acquiring arable land |
| title_short | Underlying motivational factors of
farmers when acquiring arable land |
| title_sort | underlying motivational factors of
farmers when acquiring arable land |
| topic | Economics and management |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15860/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15860/ |