Transition from Collective Farms to Individual Tenures in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

AbstractLand reform played an integral role in the overall agrarian reforms in all Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). This reform began during the early 1990s and it served as a crucial precondition for the restructuring of both the collective and state farms. Land property rights were transferred either from collective farms or from the state to private agents as part of many land reform measures. This happened despite the fact that land ownership remained prohibited in some areas. Although the reforms across all CEECs resulted in a greater number of individual tenures, there were significant discrepancies in the extent of the shift as observed throughout the different farming specializations and the regions in the CEECs. This chapter gives a comparative analysis of land reform and the implications of the shift from collective to individual tenures within the CEECs.