Governance of land supply in Bulgarian farms - modes, factors, post-transition evolution

Hrabrin Bachev ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: There has been enormous development in land supply governance in Bulgarian farms during the last two decades. However, due to insufficient (statistical, official, etc.) information and traditional inadequate (Neo-classical economics, Agency theory, etc.) approaches, there is no complete knowledge of dominating modes and driving factors of land governance. This chapter fills the gap and identifies dominating modes and factors of land supply in Bulgarian farms. Interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics methodology is incorporated, and original new representative data from the managers of farms of different types and locations is analyzed. The study found that rent and lease contracts are the most common forms of farmland supply, followed by ownership mode and joint cultivation. The importance of different governance modes, forms of supply contracts, the intensity of transactions, types of partners, and kinds of land rent and price varies considerably depending on the juridical type, size, specialization, and geographical and ecological locations of holdings. The main factors for the governance choice are frequency, uncertainty, asset specificity of transactions, and professional experience of farm managers. The amount of transaction costs for finding needed lands and natural resources is among the critical factors strongly restricting the development of many Bulgarian farms, particularly of sole traders and cooperatives, farms with large sizes, holdings specialized in permanent crops and mix crops, those located in plain regions, protected zones, and near big cities, and enterprises in North-east, North-central, and South-central regions of the country. Most problems and costs for land (purchase, rent, and lease) deals of farms are consequences of the lack of available lands, high prices, great fragmentation of land plots, and needs for deals with numerous (co)owners. A comparative analysis with a similar study demonstrated enormous modernization in land supply and overall governance of farms in the last two decades.

Keywords: land supply; farms; governance; modes; factors; transaction costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 Q12 Q13 Q15 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
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