The evolution of farm size: an exploratory study by configural frequency analysis

Investment support measures in agriculture can have differentiated effects on the strategic reorganisation and the performance of farms. In this paper, we study the patterns of technical change of a sample of farms in the Lombardy region, Italy, that invested in structural modernisation benefiting from the financial incentives provided under the measure 121. We find evidence relating the modernisation of farms under the umbrella of the measure 121 to limited positive changes in farmland and more substantial positive changes in other inputs. The results are not conclusive regarding a causal relationship between the measure 121 and the structural change of farms. Nonetheless, the paper describes a situation in which patterns of farmland reduction are relatively less frequent in farms that make use of this policy instrument.