On the dynamics of agricultural labour input and their impact on productivity and income: an empirical study of Swiss family farms

The labour employment trends of 2003 Swiss FADN farms between 2004 and 2009 are studied, differentiating between the use of on- and off-farm family labour, employees, and contracting services accomplished by and for third parties. By means of a correlation and data envelopment analysis, the relationships between changes in labour input, farm size, productivity and income are empirically explored. With the aid of a cluster analysis 7 major strategies to adjust labour input are revealed whereas slightly over half of the farms in the period under consideration leave labour input at a constant level. Although some of the clusters differ substantially in terms of growth in both labour productivity and income, differences in total factor productivity are not significant