Synthesizing Knowledge about Structural Change in Agriculture: The Integration of Disciplines and Aggregation Levels

Abstract

It is common sense that it needs social and economic perspectives to understand structural changes in agriculture. The current study asserts that, likewise, the integration of the farm level (micro), the sectoral level (meso), and the societal level (macro) are needed to gain insight into the system of agricultural structures. Following a review of the literature, these three levels were integrated in a cycle in which the interdependencies between different units of analysis were evaluated. The study concludes that it enhances the understanding of structural change on each level if the other levels are also taken into account. It therefore contributes not only to the literature on agriculture, but also to the discussion about the rationale of an analytical meso-level between the analysis on micro- and macro-levels.