Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture No. 1/05
Theoretical concepts for the analysis of non-farm rural employment
Judith Möllers and Gertrud Buchenrieder
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
Abstract
Employment diversification is one of the major livelihood strategies
in rural areas. This paper addresses theoretical concepts for the
analysis of non-farm rural employment (NFRE). The sustainable
livelihood framework depicts the context in which diversification
strategies evolve. The demand-pull/distress-push concept complements
this framework by offering a set of motives, which prompt households to
diversify. The driving forces of demand-pull and distress-push
processes are approached by two models. First, a welfare model is used
to explain the labor allocation processes induced by wage and income
incentives. It shows that benefits do not only arise for demand-pull
shifters, who take up better paid non-farm employment. Benefits occur
also for distress-push shifters, whose incentive to engage in low-paid
non-farm activities is to raise aggregate household income. For the
design and the analysis of empirical research we suggest to not only
consider the welfare model, but also a model borrowed from behavioral
science, along with the sustainable livelihood framework, and the
demand-pull/distress-push concept. The complexity of non-farm sector
dynamics is calling for a clarification and extension of the
theoretical concepts presently available. This paper summarizes
existing theories and introduces some new aspects in regard to modeling
NFRE and diversification. It is meant to serve as a basis for empirical
research as well as a thought-provoking impulse for policy makers,
particularly in regard to the importance that is given to non-farm
diversification in the ongoing rural development debate.
Keywords: non-farm employment, livelihood, push-pull, theoretical concepts
Vol. 44 (2005), No. 1: 19-36