THE RELATIONSHIP OF MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICY TO AGRICULTURE IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND POLAND IN THE YEARS 1991-2008

In the paper we present the role of dominating economic policy options and the macroeconomic environment in creating the economic situation of agriculture. The methodological assumptions and measurement methods of the changing economic policy options are first discussed. The empirical research results confirm the thesis that transformations which occur in the farming sector should be viewed against the background of changes in the macroeconomic environment. It is noticed that, in spite of numerous attempts made in many countries to find more effective methods of stimulating the agricultural development, interventionism remains one of the key mechanisms of exerting influence. Convergences in the directions of economic policy and agricultural policy did not remove existing disproportions in the size of retransfers to the agriculture. Hence the significance of structural differentiations in agriculture and of the macroeconomic situation is maintained. The paper also shows the nature of such changes in the macroeconomic environment, particularly in the labour market and the money market, which can be favourable for stable growth and development of agriculture.