Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2010, 56(11):449-507 | DOI: 10.17221/40/2010-AGRICECON

Which characteristics of workers are important for employers in Northeast Germany?

Marcel GERDS
Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

The purpose of this study is to investigate the significance of different characteristics and competencies possessed by agricultural workers on the basis of assessment through agricultural managers in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Bivariate analysis should uncover relationships between farm attributes and the respective requirement profile. Using the elicitation technique approach, an open question was submitted to farms. Respondents were asked to name the important characteristics concerning agricultural workers. Frequency and order of mentions were used to identify the relevant characteristics. Specialised knowledge was seen as the most important characteristic of an employee, followed by the general interest in the vocation. A dominance of generic attributes was observed. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between the farm acreage and the importance of vocational characteristics. The more distinctive division of labour and specialisation in more large-scale farms can be seen as the reason for this occurrence.

Keywords: labour force, characteristics, competencies, elicitation technique, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Published: November 30, 2010  Show citation

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GERDS M. Which characteristics of workers are important for employers in Northeast Germany? Agric. Econ. - Czech. 2010;56(11):449-507. doi: 10.17221/40/2010-AGRICECON.
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