POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR PRODUCTIVITY OF LAND-REFORM IN BULGARIA

This paper analyses the possible outcome for productivity of the post-1991 land reform in Bulgaria. Critical determinants are the proportion of land-owners who attempt to create family farms, the pace of creation of new private producer cooperatives or farming companies, the relationship between farm size and productivity and the variables which strengthen or weaken this relationship. The discussion suggests that even after land reform the major share of land and output will remain on a relatively small number of larger farms, and, provided appropriate market incentives exist, the expected gains in technical efficiency from a less polarized farm structure will be reinforced by other factors including labour market, credit and technical change. Productivity in Bulgarian agriculture has the capacity to increase as a result of the land reform. Thus with the same resources there could be an increase in output, relieving worries about security of food supplies.