Agricultural Policies and Structural Change in French Dairy Farms: A Nonstationary Markov Model. (1st April 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ben Arfa, Nejla; Daniel, Karine; Jacquet, Florence; Karantininis, Kostas
• Is Part Of: Canadian journal of agricultural economics. Volume 63:Number 1(2015:Mar.)
• Page Start: 19
• Page End: 42
• Publication Date: 2014-04-01
• Subjects: Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Canada -- Periodicals; Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; 338.1097105
• DOI: 10.1111/cjag.12036
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-3976

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>The aim of this paper is to gain an understanding into how agricultural policies have affected structural change in the French dairy sector. A nonstationary Markov model is estimated using a Generalized Cross Entropy approach. Results show that while the price of cow's milk encourages farm growth, direct payments and quota restriction favor small farms. The price signal is a key factor of structural change. As a result, higher milk prices may accelerate the trend toward the further growth of dairy farms. Settlement policy and technical change seem not to slow this trend.</p> </abstract>