THE ROLE OF PRO-INVESTMENT MECHANISMS OF THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY IN ASSET REPRODUCTION OF FARMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the role and importance of pro-investment mechanisms within the Common Agricultural Policy in the reproduction of farm assets in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The experimental material comprised unpublished microdata of farms originating from the FADN database of the European Commission (data source: EU-FADN – DG AGRI). The time frame covered the years 2004–2015. Among all the farms selected for analyses only those ensuring data continuity throughout the entire investigated period were used in the study. In each of the studied countries farms were divided into two groups: the group of beneficiaries of CAP pro-investment funds and the control group. For each farm the value of fixed assets was determined (excluding the value of land) and next the mean value for each group was calculated in an individual country. The study showed that in most investigated countries both farms being and those not being beneficiaries of CAP pro-investment mechanisms are capable of reproducing their fixed assets; nevertheless, it is the farms receiving financial support for their investments that show a capacity to increase the value of their fixed assets.