Monitoring Incomes of Agricultural Households within the EU's Information System--New Needs and New Methods.

Until recently, the official indicators of agricultural income available to Common Agricultural Policy decision makers related solely to the incomes from agricultural activity. To cater for an increased interest in the overall income of agricultural households, the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) has developed a measure of the aggregate disposable income of agricultural households in each Member State. In devising the underlying methodology, important issues have had to be confronted that pose questions about the fundamental aims of the CAP. Early results carry implications for the way that agricultural policy is viewed and point to the need for complementary microeconomic data. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.