Probability of generational agricultural succession explained through a holistic structural equations model in Costa Rica

Abstract

Most of the quantitative studies only analyse socioeconomic variables, leaving aside psychological aspects or generational integration related factors. This approach has exhibited low explicative power of the problem. The main objective of this investigation is to obtain the weight that the socioeconomic, psychological and generational integration process variables have over agricultural succession through structural equations. The data was obtained from 126 horticulture farms from Zarcero, Costa Rica. The results indicate that the generational integration process is the determining factor of generational succession, which is accurately explained through the psychological factors exposed by the theory of planned behaviour. The socioeconomic variables add little to the understanding of the problem. These results demonstrate that regardless of the socioeconomic conditions, the key determining factor is the integration of the sons/daughters in the farm activities.