Beyond income: Professional objectives and job satisfaction of farmers. An empirical study in France

Abstract

This study evaluates the diversity of farmers according to their professional goals and determines the factors, beyond income, that contribute to farmers' job satisfaction. From the job characterization approach and the goal setting theory, it broadens the modeling of job satisfaction including a pre-definition of professional goals with farmers. A questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data. Mixed socio-economic research methods were used to analyze the collected data, particularly a multiple factor analysis and an ordinal logistic regression model. The results show a positive correlation at a statistically significant level between the use of digital tools, the presence of a potential successor and the level of achievement of their objective and the farmer's job satisfaction. On the other hand, specialization, years of service on the farm, off-farm work, and the presentation of economic objectives as a primary professional objective of the farmer, are statistically significant and negatively correlated with the level of job satisfaction of farmers. Our study points out the diversity of work conception among farmers and discusses their job satisfaction and its implications for thinking decent work in agriculture.