IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-01208897.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Farm size and growth in field crop and dairy farms in France, Hungary and Slovenia

Author

Listed:
  • Zoltan Bakucs

    (Institute of Economics [Budapest] - Research Centre for Economic and Regional Studies - MTA - Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development - Corvinus University of Budapest)

  • Stefan Bojnec

    (Faculty of Management - University of Primorska)

  • Imre Fertő

    (Institute of Economics [Budapest] - Research Centre for Economic and Regional Studies - MTA - Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development - Corvinus University of Budapest)

  • Laure Latruffe

    (SMART-LERECO - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AGROCAMPUS OUEST)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between size and farm growth. The existing theories of the association between size and farm growth give mixed results by countries and over time. This paper pursues a twofold objective: on one hand, to test the validity of Gibrat's Law for French, Hungarian and Slovenian specialized dairy and crop farms during the pre- and post-accession period to the European Union membership. Dairy and crops farms are prevailing in the farming structure of these countries. Using Farm Accountancy Data Network datasets makes it necessary to avoid biases due to heterogeneous structures across the farming systems. Thus we use quantile regressions to control for farm size related heterogeneity in the samples. On the other hand, the main novelty of this paper is the comparative analysis of the relationship between farm size and farm growth between transition Hungarian and Slovenian and non-transition French farming sectors, characterized by rather different farm structures. The results reject the validity of Gibrat's Law for crop farms in Hungary and to a lesser extent in France, and for French and Slovenian dairy farms. We provide evidence that smaller farms grew faster than larger ones over the studied period 2001-2007 for France, 2001-2008 for Hungary, and 2004-2008 for Slovenia. Conversely, the results for Slovenia suggest that the rate of growth of crop farms in terms of its land is independent from its size.

Suggested Citation

  • Zoltan Bakucs & Stefan Bojnec & Imre Fertő & Laure Latruffe, 2013. "Farm size and growth in field crop and dairy farms in France, Hungary and Slovenia," Post-Print hal-01208897, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01208897
    DOI: 10.5424/sjar/2013114-3994
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01208897
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-01208897/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5424/sjar/2013114-3994?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Goddard & David McMillan & John Wilson, 2006. "Do firm sizes and profit rates converge? Evidence on Gibrat's Law and the persistence of profits in the long run," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 267-278.
    2. Christoph R. Weiss, 1999. "Farm Growth and Survival: Econometric Evidence for Individual Farms in Upper Austria," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(1), pages 103-116.
    3. Daniel A. Summer & Christopher A. Wolf, 2002. "Diversification, Vertical Integration, and the Regional Pattern of Dairy Farm Size," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 24(2), pages 442-457.
    4. Richard Harris & Mary Trainor, 2005. "Plant‐Level Analysis Using The Ard: Another Look At Gibrat'S Law," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(3), pages 492-518, July.
    5. Goddard, John & Wilson, John & Blandon, Peter, 2002. "Panel tests of Gibrat's Law for Japanese manufacturing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 415-433, March.
    6. Cornelis Gardebroek & Kedir N. Turi & Jo H.M. Wijnands, 2010. "Growth dynamics of dairy processing firms in the European Union," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(3‐4), pages 285-291, May.
    7. Marian Rizov & Erik Mathijs, 2003. "Farm Survival and Growth in Transition Economies: Theory and Empirical Evidence from Hungary," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 227-242.
    8. Christopher A. Wolf & Daniel A. Sumner, 2001. "Are Farm Size Distributions Bimodal? Evidence from Kernel Density Estimates of Dairy Farm Size Distributions," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(1), pages 77-88.
    9. Teresa Serra & Barry K. Goodwin & Allen M. Featherstone, 2005. "Agricultural Policy Reform and Off‐farm Labour Decisions," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 271-285, July.
    10. Latruffe, Laure & Fogarasi, József & Desjeux, Yann, 2012. "Efficiency, productivity and technology comparison for farms in Central and Western Europe: The case of field crop and dairy farming in Hungary and France," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 264-278.
    11. Daniel Shapiro & Ray D. Bollman & Philip Ehrensaft, 1987. "Farm Size and Growth in Canada," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 69(2), pages 477-483.
    12. Andrea Zimmermann & Thomas Heckelei, 2012. "Structural Change of European Dairy Farms – A Cross-Regional Analysis," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 576-603, September.
    13. Magali Aubert & Philippe Perrier‐Cornet, 2009. "Is there a future for small farms in developed countries? Evidence from the French case," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(s1), pages 797-806, November.
    14. Laurent Piet & Laure Latruffe & Chantal Le Mouël & Yann Desjeux, 2012. "How do agricultural policies influence farm size inequality? The example of France," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 39(1), pages 5-28, February.
    15. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    16. Ann-Marie Ward & Donal G. McKillop, 2005. "The Law of Proportionate Effect: The Growth of the UK Credit Union Movement at National and Regional Level," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(9-10), pages 1827-1859.
    17. Francesca Lotti & Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2003. "Does Gibrat's Law hold among young, small firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 213-235, August.
    18. Upton, Martin & Haworth, Simon, 1987. "The Growth of Farms," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 14(4), pages 351-366.
    19. Philip Garcia & Susan E. Offutt & Steven T. Sonka, 1987. "Size Distribution and Growth in a Sample of Illinois Cash Grain Farms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 69(2), pages 471-476.
    20. Ann‐Marie Ward & Donal G. McKillop, 2005. "The Law of Proportionate Effect: The Growth of the UK Credit Union Movement at National and Regional Level," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(9‐10), pages 1827-1859, November.
    21. Laurent Piet & Laure Latruffe & Chantal Le Mouël & Yann Desjeux, 2012. "How do agricultural policies influence farm size inequality? The example of France," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 39(1), pages 5-28, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Schorr, A. & Lips, M., 2018. "Influence of milk yield on profitability a quantile regression analysis," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277000, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Paul Allanson & Kalina Kasprzyk & Andrew P. Barnes, 2017. "Income Mobility and Income Inequality in Scottish Agriculture," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 471-493, June.
    3. Feher, Andrea & Stanciu, Sorin & Iancu, Tiberiu & Adamov, Tabita Cornelia & Ciolac, Ramona Mariana & Pascalau, Raul & Banes, Adrian & Raicov, Miroslav & Gosa, Vasile, 2022. "Design of the macroeconomic evolution of Romania's agriculture 2020–2040," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    4. Garcia-Alvarez-Coque, J.-M. & Gharsi, O. & Martinez-Gomez, V. & Roig-Tierno, N., 2018. "Determinant Factors of High Performing Agricultural Regions," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277456, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Zahra Ardakani & Fabio Bartolini & Gianluca Brunori, 2020. "New Evaluation of Small Farms: Implication for an Analysis of Food Security," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, March.
    6. Guiomar, N. & Godinho, S. & Pinto-Correia, T. & Almeida, M. & Bartolini, F. & Bezák, P. & Biró, M. & Bjørkhaug, H. & Bojnec, Š. & Brunori, G. & Corazzin, M. & Czekaj, M. & Davidova, S. & Kania, J. & K, 2018. "Typology and distribution of small farms in Europe: Towards a better picture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 784-798.
    7. Giannakis, Elias & Bruggeman, Adriana & Zoumides, Christos, 2016. "Determinants of agricultural labour productivity across the European regions," 149th Seminar, October 27-28, 2016, Rennes, France 244899, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Popovici Veronica & Toma Andreea Raluca, 2018. "Convergence of Romanian and European Union Agriculture – Evolution and Prospective Assessment," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(1), pages 239-247, July.
    9. Mansoor Maitah & Ahmed Murjan & Helena Rezbov & Mustofa Jehar, 2016. "Economic Analysis of Olive Oil Production Costs as Influenced by Farm Size in Syrian Coastal Region," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(1), pages 154-162.
    10. Levi, Loic & Chavas, Jean-Paul, 2018. "How Does Eliminating Quotas Affect Firm Investment? Evidence from Dairy Farms," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273831, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fertő, Imre & Bakucs, Lajos Zoltán, 2008. "Érvényes-e a Gibrat-törvény a magyar mezőgazdaságban? [Is Gibrat s law valid for Hungarian agriculture?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 25-38.
    2. Lajos Zoltán Bakucs & Imre Fertő, 2009. "The growth of family farms in Hungary," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(s1), pages 789-795, November.
    3. Yuval Dolev & Ayal Kimhi, 2010. "Do family farms really converge to a uniform size? The role of unobserved farm efficiency ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(1), pages 119-136, January.
    4. Saint-Cyr, Legrand D. F., 2017. "Farm heterogeneity and agricultural policy impacts on size dynamics: evidence from France," Working Papers 258013, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    5. Kersting, Stefan & Hüttel, Silke & Odening, Martin, 2016. "Industry dynamics under production constraints — The case of the EU dairy sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 135-151.
    6. Ostapchuk, Igor & Gagalyuk, Taras & Curtiss, Jarmila, 2021. "Post-acquisition integration and growth of farms: the case of Ukrainian agroholdings," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 24(4), April.
    7. Kimhi, Ayal & Tzur, Nitzan, 2011. "Long-Run Trends in the Farm Size Distribution in Israel: The Role of Part-Time Farming," Discussion Papers 99217, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
    8. Ayal Kimhi & Nitzan Tzur-Ilan, 2021. "Structural Changes in Israeli Family Farms: Long-Run Trends in the Farm Size Distribution and the Role of Part-Time Farming," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Legrand D. F. Saint‐Cyr, 2022. "Heterogeneous farm‐size dynamics and impacts of subsidies from agricultural policy: Evidence from France," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 893-923, September.
    10. Landi, Chiara & Stefani, Gianluca & Rocchi, Benedetto & Lombardi, Ginevra V. & Giampaolo, Sabina, 2013. "Determinants of Structural Change in the agricultural sector: An Empirical Analysis of Farm Exit in Tuscany," 2013 Second Congress, June 6-7, 2013, Parma, Italy 149893, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    11. Zier, Patrick, 2013. "Econometric impact assessment of the Common Agricultural Policy in East German agriculture," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 71, number 71.
    12. Boere, Esther & Peerlings, Jack & Reinhard, Stijn & Heijman, Wim, 2014. "The dynamics of dairy land use change with respect to the milk quota regime," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182710, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Dolev, Yuval & Kimhi, Ayal, 2008. "Does Farm Size Really Converge? The Role of Unobserved Farm Efficiency," Discussion Papers 45778, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
    14. Chiara Landi & Gianluca Stefani & Benedetto Rocchi & Ginevra Virginia Lombardi & Sabina Giampaolo, 2016. "Regional Differentiation and Farm Exit: A Hierarchical Model for Tuscany," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 208-230, February.
    15. Kostov, Philip & Patton, Myles & Moss, Joan E. & McErlean, Seamus, 2005. "Does Gibrat's Law Hold Amongst Dairy Farmers in Northern Ireland?," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24775, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Alexander Gocht & Norbert Röder & Sebastian Neuenfeldt & Hugo Storm & Thomas Heckelei, 2012. "Modelling farm structural change: A feasibility study for ex-post modelling utilizing FADN and FSS data in Germany and developing an ex-ante forecast module for the CAPRI farm type layer baseline," JRC Research Reports JRC75524, Joint Research Centre.
    17. Kersting, Stefan & Hüttel, Silke & Odening, Martin, 2015. "Structural change in agriculture under capacity constraints: An equilibrium approach," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 140, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    18. Marie Dervillé & Gilles Allaire & Élise Maigné & Éric Cahuzac, 2017. "Internal and contextual drivers of dairy restructuring: evidence from French mountainous areas and post†quota prospects," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 48(1), pages 91-103, January.
    19. Brenes Muñoz, Thelma & Lakner, Sebastian & Brümmer, Bernhard, 2012. "Economic growth of farms: An empirical analysis on organic farming," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126756, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Sherzod B. Akhundjanov & Tatiana Drugova, 2022. "On the growth process of US agricultural land," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1727-1740, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01208897. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.