Productivity and Efficiency of Small and Large Farms in Transition: Evidence from Moldova

Transition to market-oriented agriculture has been characterized in all the CIS countries by a massive shift from large-scale "agricultural enterprises" to small family farms. The comparative efficiency of these two categories of farms is thus a topical issue for agriculture in transition counties. This article uses national agricultural statistics for Moldova for 1990-2006 and cross-section data from three farm surveys conducted in 2000-2003 to analyze the productivity of small individual farms and large corporate farms in Moldova. Partial land and labor productivity, total factor productivity, and technical efficiency scores are calculated for farms of different organizational forms. This evidence has a direct bearing on the issue of comparative performance of large and small farms.