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Abstract
The connection between average sectoral income, occupational choice and structural change has so far only been described vaguely for sectors dominated by small enterprises. Taking agriculture as an example, we first develop a theoretical model in which we explain the decision to take over a farm with the average agricultural household income in the past years and the number of farms with the patterns of occupational choice. We then estimate a regression in which we explain occupational choices by the sectoral income situation and rate of farm decline by earlier occupational choices. The results demonstrate that a good income situation increases the number of occupational choices in favour for farming, and that occupational choices for farming in turn slow down the decline in farm numbers.