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Abstract
Understanding the determinants of farm households’ social engagement patterns in rural
communities is important for public policy programs that seek to improve the well-being of
the rural population and promote rural sustainability. Within this context, this paper
examines the factors that influence both the participation in, and the number of hours
dedicated to, social, community and leisure activities among farm operators and their
spouse/partner in a region in the West of Ireland. The theoretical underpinnings of this
research are an extension of Becker’s (1965, 1974) and Gronau’s (1977) agricultural
household models, whereby households maximise utility subject to a set of constraints,
household income and time endowment. The study employs a time-use diary survey,
combined with an individual and household survey, to collect data from farm households in
counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. A Craggs double hurdle model is used to
estimate the predictors of time-use and the number of hours spent participating in a range of
off-farm activities.