Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
TheImportanceofImprovingIncentivesandEmploymentOpportunities…
---
---
---
---
---
---
-
wasessentiallyfrozeninthehandsofthelandholdingfamily,creatingapattern
ofintergenerationalsuccessionthatkeptfamiliesinfarming.Whilelargeestates
werenationalized,lessthanaquarteroffarmlandwasconvertedtolargescale
stateandcollectivefarms.Consequently,Polandretainedalargeruralpopulation
thatwasdominatedbysmallfamilyoperatedfarms.Thesefarmhouseholdswere
integratedintotheplannedeconomythroughtwomechanisms.Thefirstwas
productionquotasthatestablishedspecificfarmoutputtargetsandthesecondwas
throughoff-farmemployment-eitherinfactoriesthatwereestablishedinrural
areastotakeadvantageofsurplusfarmlabourorbyencouragingfarmhousehold
memberstocommutetoworkinnearbycities,whichcreatedarelativelyhigh
engagementoffarmhouseholdsinoff-farmemployment.
Followingthetransitionin1989,Polandfacedmajorupheavalinitssociety,
economyandlabourmarkets.Manystaterunenterprisesinurbanandrural
areas,includingthelargecollectiveandstatefarms,failed,creatinghighlevelsof
unemployment.Inruralareasoff-farmemploymentopportunitiescollapsedas
stateenterpriseswereclosedleavingseveralhundredthousandworkerswithno
alternativebuttobecomefulltimefarmersonasmallfarm.Polandbufferedpart
ofthelostearnedincomebyextendingtransferpaymentstolowincomeindividuals
andstrengtheningitspublicpensionplansinthe1990s(Keane,Prasad2002).
Relativelyrapidurbangrowthinthenexttwodecadesreplacedmanyofthelost
urbanjobs,buteconomicconditionsinruralPolanddidnotimproveasquickly,
resultinginhighlevelsofruralunemployment,andforhouseholdsonsmallprivate
farmsthelossofoff-farmincomeandanincreaseddependenceonfarmoutput
andtransferpayments.
Atthetimeoftransitionthefarmpopulationwasoveronequarterofthenatio-
nalpopulation,withthevastmajorityoffarmworkerslivingonverysmallprivate
farmsthatwereincapableofprovidingadequatehouseholdincomes.Inprinciple,
encouragingarapidfarmconsolidationatthistimeintoasmallernumberoflarger
moreproductivefarmsthatcouldprovideanadequatelevelofhouseholdincome
wouldhaveledtoagriculturemakingalargercontributiontoGDPandexports
andtobetterincomesfortheremainingfarmfamilies.However,thehighlevels
ofsurplusworkersacrossalllabourmarketsinPolandandtheinabilitytoabsorb
itrapidlyledtoadifferentdecision.
Instead,warehousingexcesslabouronsmallprivatefarmswasacost-effective
policyinatimeoflimitedbudgets,highlevelsofsurpluslabourandafocuson
stimulatingnationaleconomicgrowthbyfirstmodernizingtheurbanregions
(Swinnen,Dries,Macours2005).Relativetootherunemployedworkers,including
workersfromtheclosedstateandcooperativefarms,thoseonprivatefarmswere
relativelywelloff.Whiletheyhadlostmostoftheirearnedincomefromoff-farm
WieśiRolnictwo3(176)/2017
17
