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Abstract
Agricultural employment in industrialized countries has been steadily decreasing despite
important levels of farm subsidies. We argue that one explanation to this puzzle is the positive
impact of subsidies on the education levels of farmers’ children. If farmers are credit
constrained, they may underinvest in their children’s education. By increasing farmers’
revenues, subsidies increase investment in education. If more educated children are less willing
to become farmers, one long term effect of subsidies is to reduce labor supply in the agricultural
sector. We provide a theoretical model and some empirical evidence supporting this argument.