Problem of the dual structure of farms in European transition economies

Abstract

This paper deals with the dual farm structure, with a closer focus on the transitional economies of the EU. There are characterized and analyzed the factors which have a significant impact on both small family farms and the large agricultural enterprises. The part of the analysis is also the demonstration of these factors in transition economies, where the changes manifest themselves most strongly in present agribusiness. Assumptions of the development for agriculture in the early transition period significantly differed from the subsequent actual development of this sector in transition economies. Present a very diverse structure of agricultural holdings in individual economies involves extremes. Significantly different is the size of farms and their organizations. These differences are documented on the example of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. An important role in terms of farm size play returns of scale and flexibility. The determinants of flexibility are demonstrated by the small ­Polish family farms.

Keywords

• agribusiness
• competitiveness
• dual structure
• flexibility
• structural change
• transition economies