Profile of the Italian farmer : The main entrepreneurial types

The aim of this work was to schematise the main strategic profiles found in Italian farming. In a scenario of widespread structural weakness in Italy's agricultural sector, we found a broad entrepreneurial area where farmers with a high risk of extinction work together with farmers who are able to allocate their family resources efficiently both within and outside their farms. In this context, it would be appropriate to implement a new framework of public intervention in the agricultural sector in Europe, which would consider the overall features belonging to the family's objective function in decision-making, such as the presence of work outside the farm. In Italy, the rationale of the farmers' decision-making process is chiefly consistent with the overall socio-economic environment surrounding the family, as confirmed by our econometric analysis. Although the income level of the different types introduced in the analysis is positively affected by the presence of public support, total aid appears unable to provide a stimulus for farmers, generating considerable farm revenue dependent of off-farm income for their survival.