Recruitment in agriculture in Iceland and effects distance from Reykjavík (Translated by Webmaster)

Abstract

A continuous decline in the number of farmers and a weakening of rural communities in Iceland has been a problem for those who like a dispersed population. Net new entries in the sheep and cattle farming of Iceland is the focal point of the present study, i.e. the relationship between the net new entry and several other factors: distance from the capital city, age, sex, national origin, agricultural branch, and location. Due to a well-known relationship between land price and distance from a city centre (Thunen, 1966) the role of distance in new entry will be highlighted. A panel data sample from 2000–2009, covering all farms in Iceland, was used and it returned close to 35,000 observations. Logit models were implemented, both a standard and a panel data fixed-effect version. The results suggest that the probability for a net new entry in the different branches increases by every kilometre from Reykjavík, reaches its maximum at a distance of 220 kilometres and decreases thereafter. Furthermore, the probability of a net new entry is higher in sheep farming than in cattle, higher for women than for men, higher on the south coast than on the north coast, and higher for younger than older people. Exit in agriculture was analysed as well and, unexpectedly, it was found to be more likely for young individuals than for middle-aged people.