Determinants of the Establishment of Women-Owned Agricultural Entities: Evidence from Municipal Panel Data in the Republic of Srpska
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Abstract
This paper examines the determinants of the establishment of women-owned agricultural entities in the Republic of Srpska. The analysis uses municipal-level panel data for 2015-2024 and employs conditional fixed-effects Poisson panel specifications with municipality-clustered robust standard errors and estimated female population as an exposure term. The broader dataset covers 63 municipalities, while the preferred specification is estimated on 434 municipality-year observations from 47 municipalities. The results indicate that the effect of grants allocated to women through the agricultural payment agency on the rate of newly registered women-owned agricultural holdings depends on the municipality’s level of development. Grants have a significantly stronger positive effect in highly underdeveloped and underdeveloped municipalities than in developed municipalities, but no significant effect in medium-developed municipalities. Female unemployment is negative and statistically significant in the preferred Poisson specifications, suggesting that weaker local labor market conditions are associated with lower rates of newly registered women-owned agricultural holdings. Descriptive evidence also shows that the share of support allocated to women in total agricultural payment agency support increased from 5.45% in 2014 to 7.50% in 2024, although it remains relatively modest. The findings suggest that public support matters, but that its effectiveness depends on local development conditions.
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