The role of family life‐cycle events on persistent and transient inefficiencies in less favoured areas
研究了家庭生命周期事件（如继承和退休）如何影响苏格兰欠发达地区牛羊农场的持续性和暂时性低效率，发现计划继承的农场效率更高，而临近退休的农场效率更低，为英国脱欧后的农业政策制定提供参考。
Abstract Family farms dominate less favoured areas (LFAs) within Europe, and family life‐cycle conditions, such as succession and retirement, affects how these farms adapt to changing circumstances. Past studies of on‐farm technical efficiency have not directly addressed these conditions, but they may explain why some farms are more efficient than others, especially as the farm family model dominates most farming systems. Motivated by the UK's withdrawal from the EU and the debate around establishing replacement support policies, we apply a multi‐step model to measure both transient and persistent inefficiencies using a panel of LFA cattle and sheep farms in Scotland over the period 2003–2020. We find a greater prevalence of persistent compared to transient inefficiency, which suggests that structural problems still exist. Farms with planned succession are found to have higher persistent efficiencies, whereas farmers nearing retirement have lower levels. Other factors, such as dependence on subsidy, off‐farm activity and classification as severely disadvantaged tend to compound these lower efficiencies. We argue that life‐cycle conditions should not be ignored in studies of farm technical efficiency. Within the scope of framing a new agricultural policy for UK administrations, these results inform the debate on support for LFAs, as well as the promotion of support towards generational renewal to ease transition across farm family life‐cycle events.