This is the term that's "consagrado," as you request.

215,000 refs

Household Production and the Household Economy*
**The household economy describes the collective economic activities of households**. ... the household economy is called the household sector as distinct from ...
www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/research/workingpapers/wp00_01...

n his perceptive book, **The Household Economy**, the American writer Scott Burns (1977) ... **The household economy can be defined as the productive activities .conducted by households using household capital and the unpaid labour of their own members to process goods and provide services for their own use**. It includes the preparation of food and meals, laundry and house cleaning, child care, shopping, household repairs and maintenance, gardening and other household tasks. The production from the household economy is often called non-market production, but this can be misleading as all the types of goods and services produced can be obtained from the market economy as alternatives to being produced at home. Also, non-market household production is often defined to include voluntary work done for other households or community groups..
www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm1/fm37di.htm

**"Women and the Household Economy in the Preindustrial Period**
**Women’s participation in the household economy** was dependent ... of women’s roles in the household economy was actually one of flux, de- ...
muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_womens_history/v011/11.3hanawalt.pdf




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Note added at 3 hrs (2006-12-23 22:01:03 GMT)
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"Family economy" is the second choice: 115,000 refs. However, economists use "household economy."


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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2006-12-24 20:49:19 GMT)
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Looking at your context again, I would say:


"...most of them small and medium-sized properties operated on the basis of household economies."

"...most of them household-economy-based small and medium-sized properties"

I think the size of the property and the type of economy are separate concepts.



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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2006-12-24 20:58:56 GMT)
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Or better: "...most of them household-economy small and medium-sized..."In your context, this is a fancy way of saying "family-run," which wouldn't be wrong -- simply less "official."