農業経営継承に関する研究動向と論点

理論的見取り図の提示

抄録

This paper provides an overview of the problems of farm transfer in Japan, considering the M&A in farm businesses. Rather than conducting a detailed analysis of the actual situation, we investigate past research trends to identify important issues regarding farm transfers and provide our views. We discuss how the problems have been evolving and their solutions based on farm business innovations and changes in the structure of agriculture ; we draw a sketch to recognize the problems of farm transfer theoretically.

Research on farm transfer has been active since the 1990s, with the recognition that difficulty in securing successors arose in the backward type of agricultural structure. In the 2000s, research became more elaborate. The main research themes were diversification of farm transfer and business management to deal with the system’s vulnerability for intergenerational transfers, including securing a successor. Most of the studies during this period analyzed advanced problems but their distinction from backward problems was not clear.

The reason for emphasizing advanced types of problems is that they cannot be solved by agricultural structural reforms. The essence of the problem is an important question, and, in this paper, we take an approach that focuses on transaction costs. When the succession of farm business in the family fails, an organizational solution by developing a small farm into a corporate farm or a market solution by farm succession to a non-related person or M&A is implemented. However, organizing costs and transaction costs hinder alternative farm transfers. Assuming the family businesses’ development series and considering the choice of abandoning and closing farm businesses, this paper describes the overall composition of solving the farm transfer problems.