PARTICIPATION OF FARM OWNERS IN FARM AND OFF-FARM WORK INCLUDING THE OPTION OF FULL-TIME OFF-FARM WORK

The option of working full-time off the farm is generally neglected in farmers' time allocation studies. In this paper, a generalised multin omial logit model, in which the choices are working only on the farm, allocating the time between farm and off-farm work, or working only of f-farm, is estimated using Israeli data. The results show that the exp lanatory variables have significantly different effects on utility for off-farm workers who also work on the farm versus those who do not. T here seem to be incentives to work full time rather than part time off the farm. These conclusions cannot be reached if farm owners who do n ot work on the farm are excluded from the estimation. The conclusions imply that policy intended to encourage pluriactivity could instead re sult in increased specialisation in full-time farm work or full-time o ff-farm work if it does not target the right incentives.