摘要：In recent decades, non-farm employment has become prevalent and an importantsource of income for Australian farm families. However, models identifying therelative signi.cance of the socioeconomic variables inˉuencing non-farm employ-ment participation rates have never been estimated in Australia. In this paper, abivariate probit model of non-farm employment participation rates was estimated,using information from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics(ABARE) 1994±1995 surveys. It was found that the participation decision of thefarm operator and spouse is likely to be jointly determined, that non-farmemployment participation increased at a declining rate with age among farmersand that university education enhances the participation rates particularly amongspouses. Participation rates were also higher among spouses with lower other incomeand with no dependent children.
