EVOLUTION OF THE ECONOMIC RESULTS AND THE STRUCTURE OF FARMS: AN ANALYSIS THROUGH THE BOOK-KEEPING DATA IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ITALY

The latest orientations of the CAP have had remarkable and wide-spread effects on the whole agri-food sector. It has deeply influenced the entrepreneurs' choices, with reference both to the production techniques and to the business organization. The changes have had inevitable reflexes on the economic results of the firms, thus determining adaptations regarding both the structure and the amount of inputs. In this paper, an analysis of the book-keeping results of agricultural enterprises of Northern and Central Italy is carried out. We try to underline and analyze the evolution of the economic results and the main structural and organizational elements in the firms. The accountancy data of a group of firms located in the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany regions, referred to the period 1994-2000, are taken into consideration. These firms seems to adequately represent the main type of farming: field crops, fruit-growing, wine-growing, husbandry. The study is aimed at underlining the influence of the EU payments on the profitability and the changes in the value distribution between the various input suppliers.