Could small dairy farms in Switzerland compete with their French counterparts? A metafrontier analysis during 1990-2004

The objective of the paper is to investigate whether Swiss farms specialised in dairy (the prevailing production of the country), which are small in international standards, would have a survival potential if they had to compete more directly with EU farms. More specifically, we investigate whether Swiss dairy farms would be able to compete with their French counterparts (located in mountainous areas, but larger than Swiss ones) in a future made of increased globalisation and reduced borders. For this we evaluate which country, during the period 1990-2004, would have been more able to use efficiently a common hypothetical technology, and would have had a more productive (own) technology. Efficiency scores and technology ratios are calculated using the concept of metafrontier and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. Results indicate that Swiss farms would have been slightly less efficient on average with respect to the common frontier, and that they had a less productive technology, the productivity gap with France being however only 5 percent. Regression results suggest that the efficiency differential and the productivity gap between Swiss farms and French farms were mainly due to larger Swiss farms with lower labour per livestock unit and higher proportion of family labour.technical efficiency, technology gap, Data Envelopment Analysis, dairy farming, Switzerland, France, Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis, Q12, D24,

Short-term Marginal Costs in French Agriculture

Farm Management,

Farm performance and support in Central and Western Europe: A comparison of Hungary and France

The paper investigates the difference in technical efficiency and in productivity change, and the technology gaps, between French and Hungarian farms in the dairy and cereal, oilseeds and proteinseeds (COP) sectors during the period 2001-2004. The analyses are performed with national FADN data and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach under each country’s respective frontier and under a metafrontier. Results revealed that in both the dairy and the COP sectors, Hungarian farms’ technology was the more productive, despite a technological deterioration. This suggests technological advantages for large-scale (Hungarian) over small-scale (French) farming in these two sectors. These findings may also be explained by the higher policy support in France. Subsidies received by farms have indeed a stronger negative impact on technical efficiency for French farms than for Hungarian farms, and a negative impact on the ability to lead the technology only for French farms.technology gap, technical efficiency, Malmquist indices, subsidies, farms

CAP Direct Payments and Distributional Conflicts Over Rented Land within Corporate Farms in the New Member States

This paper aims to investigate whether distributional issues within corporate farms in the New Member States will be exacerbated by the introduction of the CAP direct payments. The paper focuses on the specific impact of the payments on the land rented to the corporate farms by private landowners. If the latter are not satisfied with the level of rent they receive, they have the option to end their rental contract and withdraw their land from the farm. Before the accession to the EU the landowners did not have strong incentives to withdraw, as the other available opportunities were not associated with higher returns on land ownership. However, this situation might change as the landowners can now cash the direct payments themselves, providing they keep their land in good agricultural and environmental condition. Propositions generated by a simple game, representing the negotiations between a corporate farm manager and an individual landowner about the level of the rent, suggests that the CAP direct payments might induce more rent renegotiations but that overall withdrawals will be infrequent. The results from a survey of landowners in corporate farms in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic seemed to corroborate these a priori expectations. The investigation of the determinants of landowners' intended behaviour showed that what seems to be important in the decision-making is the relationship between landowners and managers. Landowners who have frequent contacts and close relations with the farm are less likely to withdraw.CAP direct payments, corporate farms, distributional conflicts, game theory, landowners, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Labor constraints on choosing profitable products for part-time farmers in Swiss agriculture.

Based on a conceptual framework, we develop the hypothesis that part-time farmers invest in less profitable products than full-time farms, due to the necessary minimum labour requirements which entering and running profitable production processes require. Descriptive statistics for Swiss farms show some indications for this hypothesis, like a much lower total revenue and lower agricultural income of part-time farms, despite a comparable value of the farm’s assets. A regression analysis for the period 1996-2005 confirms that Swiss part-time farms tend to focus on products with low labour profitability. This may explain why part-time farming in Switzerland is less developed than in most other European countries, and raises the question whether part-time farming offers a solution for structural change process in small-structured agricultural systems affected by imperfections on factor markets.farms, part-time, profitability, Switzerland

The Determinants of Polish Farmers' Credit Interest Rates: Hedonic Price Analysis and Implications for Government Policy

Our micro-econometric analysis of agricultural credit market outcomes in Poland sheds new light on the relationship between contractual arrangements and interest rates. An innovative theoretical framework based on a hedonic market model is developed. We interpret the factors that influence interest rates as "quality" components of the credit contract. We use unique data including detailed information about Polish farmers' credit contracts. Both nominal interest rates and bank fees are considered. Results show that banks prefer liquid types of collateral, and care little about the loan's purpose. The effect of government subsidies on interest rates is small compared to the officially declared reduction of the nominal rate.agricultural finance, credit policy, hedonic regression, micro-econometrics, Poland, Agricultural and Food Policy, Financial Economics, Q12, Q14, P32,

Technical Efficiency and Productivity Change of Dairy Farms: A comparison of France and Hungary

The paper investigates the difference in technical efficiency, productivity and technology between French and Hungarian dairy farms, in 2001 and 2002, using Data Envelopment Analysis with separate and a common frontier. Results indicate that Hungarian farmers are more clustered to their own frontier than French farms are, but French farms are, on the other hand, more scale efficient. Both samples have increased their productivity between both years, with a higher technological change for Hungary. Comparing the technology of both countries reveals that Hungarian farms have a superior technology. Under a common hypothetical technology, Hungarian farms would be the leaders but French farms would nevertheless succeed in increasing their productivity as much as they do under their own frontier.Productivity Analysis,

Twenty years of land reforms in Central and Eastern Europe: state of play and outlook

The purpose of this article is to gain a perspective on the land reforms in the Central and Eastern European countries to show the extent to which the structure of agricultural production left by the socialist period has influenced the restructuring dynamics. In this context, the observed dual agricultural structure is seen as the result of a sticking point exacerbated by the agricultural transition’s land component.transition, land reforms, property rights, initial situation

Agricultural policies in France: from EU regulation to national design.

The present document presents the French way EU agricultural policies have been, are, and will be, implemented, considering not only the means but also financing resources and procedures to achieve the national agricultural goals. For a better understanding a review of the CAP foundations is firstly provided in order to address the historic issues of the evolution of European agricultural policies. Then, main agricultural highlights of the French situation are briefly depicted, in order to better frame the two head points that are the French translation of markets policy on the one hand and of rural development on the other hand. Both issues are policy-oriented and sketches of national underlying strategies are given whenever the available data were relevant enough.EU Agricultural Policies, France