The influence of farming collectives on income per annual work unit (AWU) is investigated by means of regressions for three types of farms with animal husbandry. The effects are relatively small, and turn out differently for the three farm types. Whereas the effect is negative for the dairy...

As the most intensive form of partnership in agriculture, farming collectives (FCs) place high demands on their participants. Based on a census of Swiss farming collectives, three success indicators are formed. The first and second describe interpersonal and economic success respectively, whilst...

The integration of core labour standards into the WTO has been demanded mostly on ei-ther humanitarian or fair trade grounds. While both reasons can be justified theoretically, the case for integration remains unclear. Whereas the humanitarian integration of core la-bour standards is a question...

The paper simulates a factor productivity increase in the Swiss dairy sector. As a result, the raw milk price is noticeably supported. The analysis is carried out with a general equilibrium model.

In the present contribution we assess the total factor productivity (TFP) change in the period 1999- 2008 of Swiss dairy farms located in the mountain region using the Malmquist productivity index. We furthermore analyze the robustness of the results of this assessment to the effect of the type...

This paper presents the first empirical evidence on farm household risk balancing behavior, i.e., making strategic off-farm decisions in response to changes in expected business risk. Firstly, using survey data combined with Flemish FADN data, we construct a psychometric household risk balancing...

This paper addresses the allocation of joint cost among enterprises – also called ‘production branches’ or ‘activities’ – and presents an approach based on maximum entropy and standard costs from farm-management literature as allocation factors. The approach allows us to discard the...

This paper investigates the determinants of nitrogen surplus and of its two components – nitrogen intensity and nitrogen-inefficiency – at farm level in Swiss agriculture. Our analysis is based on a cross-section of 210 farms from the year 2010. The nitrogen balance of each farm is estimated...

This paper presents the first empirical evidence on household risk balancing behavior, i.e., strategic off-farm decisions in response to changes in expected business risk. Using Swiss FADN data, we estimate a fixed effects seemingly unrelated regression model to analyze how farm households...

Promoting both the environmental and economic performance of Swiss agriculture is one of the core objectives of Swiss agricultural policy. In the present paper we identify the synergies and trade-offs in the promotion of these two dimensions of corporate sustainable performance for Swiss dairy...