DETERMINANTS OF FARM INCOME IN THE EUROPEAN UNION IN NEW AND OLD MEMBER STATES. A REGIONAL STUDY

Abstract

The aim of the article was to identify the determinants of income of representative farms at the level of European Union regions. For this purpose, FADN data was used for the years 2004-2017. Due to varied conditions of agricultural development, EU regions were divided into groups according to seniority of members. Income was examined using basic panel regression and quantile panel regression models using the extended Cobb-Douglas formula. Apart from the basic input of production factors (labour, capital and land), the impact of subsidies as well as production and financial management strategies in the farms were also investigated. It was found that farm income in so-called new member states were more sensitive to growing specialization, direct payments and capital expenditure, while, in the so-called old EU, there was a relatively high elasticity of income in relation to the labour factor. On the other hand, income was negatively affected by an increase in the level of financial leverage. The results of the quantile regression model show that, with increasing farm income, the role of labour and land factors decreases, while the significance of the capital factor remains relatively constant.