Agricultural personnel and rural labour: How is their reproduction related?
Labour reproduction and improvement of its efficiency are the major determinants contributing to economic resilience of rural areas. The article aims to establish the relationship between the reproduction of agricultural personnel and rural labour force in Russia. Methodologically, the research relies on agricultural economics and theoretical propositions of labour reproduction. The author clarifies the concepts “agricultural personnel reproduction” and “rural labour reproduction”, and reveals differences in parameters and mechanisms of these processes. The methods of comparative, correlation and multiple regression analysis help estimate the factors in the corresponding reproduction based on the data obtained from Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System (UISIS) of Russia. The research confirms the hypothesis on the interdependence between the reproduction of labour in rural areas and agricultural personnel. The analysis points to a significant correlation between migration inflow of rural population and characteristics of agricultural sector in an area, as well as to the dependence of the agricultural enterprises demand for labour on the characteristics of an area where potential employees live. The findings prove that the reproduction of rural labour force is an important condition for sustainable reproduction of agricultural personnel. The value of the research results lies in economic mathematical justification of the measures to increase the efficiency of reproduction processes. Further studies in this field can hold the analysis of agricultural personnel reproduction based on municipal statistics.