Post-Communist Transition in Bulgaria - Implications for Development of Agricultural Specialization and Farming Structures

Abstract

This paper incorporates a new inter-disciplinary methodology of the New Institutional and Transaction Costs Economics, and examines pace, factors and modes for post-communist agricultural specialization and farming structures development in Bulgaria. Firstly, it outlines the framework for analysis of economic specialization in transitional agriculture. Next, it presents the specific Bulgarian model for farming transformation characterizing with restitution of farmland in real borders and original locations, physical distribution of assets of ancient public farms into individual shares, rapid liberalization of markets and prices, and lack of public support to agriculture. Third, it specify factors for evolution of new farm structures and specialization such as badly specified and enforced property rights; big institutional, market and behavioral uncertainty; high assets specificity and dependency; lack of managerial experience; low incentives for long-term investment; ineffective public interventions etc. Next, it demonstrates how these factors affect organization and specialization of farming in the country explaining the evolution of a huge subsistence and part-time farming, production cooperation at a large scale, unprecedented concentration of resources in few business farms, widespread use of informal and integrated modes etc. Fifth, it analyzes the impact of transition on farm structures and agricultural specialization through changes in structure and share of agricultural GDP and employment, and distribution of activities between different types of farms. Finally, it clarifies efficiency of and extend of specialization in dominating large business farms, production cooperatives, and numerous small-scale unregistered farms.