Tied to the land: How resource redeployment and place identity shape each other in a small farm business
通过60年芬兰家庭农场案例，研究地方认同如何影响小型农场企业的资源重新部署决策，揭示情感和象征性依恋如何超越经济逻辑，推动跨代战略更新。
This paper examines the central role of place identity in shaping strategic decision-making in small farm business. Drawing on a 60-year longitudinal case study of a Finnish family farm, we explore how farm owners’ emotional and symbolic attachment to land influences, and is influenced by, resource redeployment over time. Place identity emerges not as a fixed attribute but as a dynamic construct that evolves through generational shifts, external pressures, and strategic adaptation. Our findings show that resource redeployment serves both economic and identity-related purposes. Decisions are not driven solely by profitability but are often delayed, negotiated, or reoriented to preserve continuity and meaning. In this context, land is more than a productive resource; it embodies memory, legacy, and collective identity. We contribute to the literature on rural entrepreneurship, small business strategy, and family firms by demonstrating how place identity acts as both an anchor and a driver of strategic renewal. The study offers a contextualized understanding of how deeply rooted emotional ties to place shape resource redeployment in ways that extend beyond economic logic, supporting business resilience across generations. • Small farm businesses face challenges redeploying resources to grow operations. • Place identity is crucial as it affects small farm businesses' resource decisions. • Place identity is shaped by geography, land use, history , and local economy . • Shift from agriculture to tourism shows how resource redeployment reshapes place identity. • Bonds between people and places are dynamic, shaping and reflecting shared identity.