Use of the FADN for modelling relations between management and firm results at Belgian glasshouse holdings

In order to survive in a world of growing competition it can be expected that the
management abilities of the glasshouse growers will become more important (Taragola, N. & Van Lierde, D., 1998). These skills are not only significant at technical level but also commercial, financial and personnel management is becoming of growing importance at glasshouse holdings.Modelling relations between management and firm results needs the collection of a wide range of data at firm level. As filling out of questionnaires is not a favourite pastime of many farmers problems of data collection are mentioned by many researchers. Consequently research conclusions are often based on small samples leading to a low reliability of the results. Another obstacle is the problem dealing with the collection of financial data. For many researchers fiscal data are the only source of information; others do not dispose of financial data at all. An advantage of the use of the FADN in research models is the availability of a longitudinal set of indicators on firm structure, characteristics of the firm manager and his family and financial performance of the firm. The marginal cost for collecting additional data is relatively low. Also process-content interactions can be investigated. It may be clear that the use of the FADN for research purposes gives a lot of advantages. A stimulation of the use of FADN data in research models is not only advantageous for the researcher concerned but also for the FADN. The use of FADN data in research models is an opportunity to increase the value and the cost efficiency of the FADN. The concerted action of PACIOLI, bringing together scientists responsible for the development of FADN's and users of FADN data seems to be a step in the right direction.