Gender, Educational Attainment, and Farm Outcomes in New Zealand

Philip Brown
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Philip Brown: Manaaki Whenua—Landcare Research, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

Land, 2019, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Empirical studies of farm outcomes that rely on survey data often find important roles for education and gender. However, relatively few studies consider either field of study or gender of the decision maker (as opposed to gender of the survey respondent). This paper evaluates how the field of education and gender of decision makers correlate with profitability, farm management, future intentions, risk and norms, and adoption of novel technologies in New Zealand, explicitly accounting for the fact that many farming households make decisions jointly. Findings show that post-secondary education in a relevant field is a strong predictor of farm outcomes such as adoption of best management practices, plans to convert or intensify land use, risk tolerance, and adoption of novel technologies. Male sole decision makers (vis-à-vis joint decision makers) are more likely to have adopted best management practices and to have greater risk tolerance while female sole decision makers have adopted fewer novel technologies. These results have important implications for policy makers and extension officers who wish to encourage the uptake of best management practices and who wish to better understand future land-use change.

Keywords: survey research; gender; academic field; best management practices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:18-:d:197535

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