TRANSITION AND AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES IN BULGARIA

Abstract

One general characteristic of Eastern European countries (EEC) countries is that at the early stage of transition from a central-planned to a market economy the majority of land was returned to the rural population, which resulted in large numbers of relatively small and dispersed land plots. Geographical proximity and the similar institutional model of these countries identify common development constraints: generally small farm sizes, unclear cooperative legislation or inappropriate taxation policies, individualism and general unwillingness by the farmers to collaborate, absence of value chain activities and entrepreneurial spirit. This paper is purposed towards identifying, analyzing and evaluating the causes of economic and social changes in the development of agricultural cooperatives in Bulgaria in the past two decades.