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Aim: The aim is to provide an economic analysis of the extent to which the area size and economic size of small farms below 5 ha helped productivity development for survival in the EU-10 after joining the EU (period 2005‒2016). Methods: Based on Eurostat data, a special database was established. The indices approach was used to analyze productivity development. Dynamics of capacity variables (number, utilized agricultural area, and standard output) and productivity indicators (average farm size, area productivity, and total productivity) were calculated. The distance of the EU-10 averages from the EU-15 was measured. Ten specialist farm types were observed in the following categories: below 2 ha, 2.0‒4.9 ha, below 5 ha, below 2,000 EUR, below 2 ha and 2,000 EUR, and below 5 ha and below 2,000 EUR. Results: EU-10: a) The decline in the number of very small specialist farms was below the average; b) The dynamics of both area and total productivity of specialist farms exceeded EU-15 averages; c) In subsistence farms, the economic
size was more supportive of increasing productivity, while in semi-subsistence farms, the area size was more supportive of increasing productivity; d) Small specialist semi-subsistence farms with an output below 2,000 EUR contributed more to convergence; e) The gap of specialist subsistence farms below 2,000 EUR between the EU-10 and EU-15, both in total and area productivity, increased. Conclusions: Farms below 5 ha in the EU-10 increased productivity, more so in specialist semi-subsistence farms, supporting
convergence. Poland has achieved outstanding growth in convergence related to small specialist farms, both in terms of area and economic size. The dynamics of indicators for specialist semi-subsistence farms contributed to convergence in Poland, Hungary, and Romania.
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- Csaba Forgacs, GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY ADVANTAGES OF SPECIALIZED FARMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES IN 2005–2013 , Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia: Vol. 16 No. 1 (2017)
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