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Abstract
A
common
characteristic
of
rural
change
in
most
countries
has
been
the
net
flow
of
human
resources
from
the
farm
to
the
nonfarm
sector.
Off-farm
work
by
farm
family
members
has
been
identified
as
an
important
factor
influencing
this
flow
(Baumgartner;
Hathaway,
1960
and
1967;
Hathaway
and
Perkins,
1968a
and
1968b;
Kaldor
and
Edwards;
Perkins,
1973;
Perkins
and
Hathaway;
and
Szabo.)
The
purpose
of
this
paper
is
to
investigate
the
interrelationships
between
off-
farm
work
and
entry
to
and
exit
from
farming.
Data
are
drawn
from
a
longitudinal
micro
data
file
on
Canadian
farmers
from
the
1966,
1971,
and
1976
Censuses
of
Agriculture
(table
1).
The
data
are
ideally
suited
to
the
study
at
the
micro
level
of
the
impact
of
off-farm
work
on
the
movement
of
farmers
to
the
nonfarm
sector.
The
first
important
point
to
note
is
that
the
relatively
small
change
in
the
number
of
farmers
between
census
periods
is
comprised
of
a
surprisingly
large
rate
of
gross
entry
and
gross
exit.
From
1966
to
1971,
the
number
of
census
farm
operators
in
Canada
declined
by
64,397
(14.9
percent),
which
was
due
to
a
gross
exit
of
152,354
(35.4
percent
of
the
1966
number
of
operators)
and
a
gross
entry
of
87
,957
(which
was
24.0
percent
of
the
number
of
1971
operators)
(table
2).
Similarly,
the
net
change
in
the
1971
to
1976
period
was
a
decline
of
27
,527
(7
.5
percent)
which
was
due
to
a
gross
exit
of
129,922
(35.5
percent
of
the
1971
operators)
and
a
gross
entry
of
102,395
(30.3
percent
of
the
1966
operators).
Thus,
the
number
of
gross
entrants
and
gross
exiters
is
so
large
that
the
determinants
of
both
gross
entry
and
gross
exit
must
be
understood
in
order
to
comprehend
the
changes
at
the
urban-rural
interface.
The
analysis
of
this
paper
is
constrained
to
the
impact
of
off-farm
work.