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Diversity in Peasant Economic Behavior: Transmigrant Households in South Sumatra, Indonesia
Author(s) -
Leinbach Thomas R.,
Bowen John T.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
geographical analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.773
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1538-4632
pISSN - 0016-7363
DOI - 10.1111/j.1538-4632.1992.tb00271.x
Subject(s) - peasant , diversification (marketing strategy) , diversity (politics) , agriculture , economics , human capital , demographic economics , entrepreneurship , spouse , economic geography , labour economics , geography , economic growth , business , sociology , archaeology , finance , marketing , anthropology
An important facet of peasant economics is the diversification of household labor among farm and off‐farm activities. Using a sample of South Sumatran transmigrant households the diversification of household labor among various remunerative activities was analyzed. Employment diversity was related to three sets of theoretically based factors: demographic, human capital, and agricultural. Results from a discriminant analysis model reveal that the demographic set of variables is most powerful in distinguishing households with different levels of employment diversity. The ratio of consumers to workers in a household is particularly important. However, measures of entrepreneurship and on‐farm agricultural intensity are also useful in explaining diversity behavior. Throughout our analysis we find evidence that the role of the spouse as an income producer is especially critical in the household employment diversification process.