Managing labor on dairy farms: A resource-based perspective with evidence from case studies

Labor management practices in agriculture are a marginally and fragmentally researched subject with limited theoretical background in agricultural economics. The resource-based theory is proposed as a framework to analyze labor management on farms and its application discussed with evidence of six case studies. In-depth interviews with farm managers, supervisors, and non-supervisory employees provide data to illustrate the provisions of the resource-based theory. The theory requires heterogeneity, immobility, value, rareness, inimitability, and non-substitutability for resources to contribute to sustained competitive advantage. The human resource system of the case farms satisfies these conditions and hence qualifies as a source of competitive advantage.