Spatial Analysis of Income Inequality in Agriculture

We investigate the spatial dimension of farm household income inequality as well as the importance of spatial considerations for its development over time using data for the period 1990-2009 on Swiss agriculture. To this end, Gini coefficients are estimated and non-parametric bootstrap is used to construct confidence intervals. We find significant differences between Gini coefficients across space, even though most cantons are characterized by homogeneous farm household income inequality. No significant change of Gini coefficients over time is found at the national level. In contrast, the analyses at the cantonal level show a heterogeneous development of income inequality. We find both increases and decreases in cantonal Gini coefficients.