Using a panel of French crop farms, we test whether farmers' technical efficiency (TE) under conventional practices is a significant driver of the conversion to organic farming. We find that the probability of conversion depends on the TE preceding the conversion, but that the direction of the...

This paper investigates the differences in technical efficiency and productivity change, and the technology gaps, between French and Hungarian farms in the dairy and cereal, oilseed and protein crops (COP) sectors during the period 2001–2007. The analyses were performed with national Farm...

This paper investigates the determinants of agricultural land price in several regions in France over the period 1994-2011, using individual plot transaction data, with a particular emphasis on agricultural subsidies and nitrate zoning regulations. It found a positive but relatively small...

This paper investigates the relationship between CAP direct payments and managerial efficiency for French crop farms. Managerial efficiency scores are calculated using a four-step approach that allows to disentangle managerial inefficiency from other technical inefficiency components, notably...

Organic farming covers just 3.5% of the utilised agricultural area (UAA) in France (2011 Agence Bio figures). Sales statistics show that a mere 2.3% of the French food market came from organic farming in 2008. The French government’s Environment Forum (“Grenelle de...

Agricultural land fragmentation is widespread and may affect farmers’ decisions and impact farm performance, either negatively or positively. We investigated this impact for the western region of Brittany, France, in 2007. To do so, we regressed a set of performance indicators on a set of...

We investigate farm size inequality in France using agricultural censuses and farm structure surveys at the NUTS3 level (‘départements’) during the period 1970–2007. Using calculated Gini coefficients, we show that farm size inequality has not systematically increased in France. An...