As a consequence of the recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy the agricultural sector throughout the EU is undergoing a process of major structural change. The removal of direct payments and price support policies are expected to change farmers' behaviour and force them to reconsider...

The decoupling of direct payments from production, introduced in the recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is expected to make production decisions more market-oriented and farmers more productive. However, ex-post analyses of the productivity of farms have yet to uncover any...