TOWARDS BETTER POLICY MONITORING: OPERATIONAL SURVEY RESULTS ON THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES IN MOLDOVA

Dmitry Zvyagintsev; Eugenia Lucașenco; Alexandru Ceban

doi:10.36004/nier.es.2024.2-09

Authors

Dmitry Zvyagintsev PhD, Policy Officer, FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3075-962X
Eugenia Lucașenco PhD, Scientific researcher, National Institute for Economic Research, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5032-7963
Alexandru Ceban Scientific researcher, National Institute for Economic Research, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3300-4054

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36004/nier.es.2024.2-09

Keywords:

: Policy monitoring, Policy evaluation instrument, Agricultural policy, Short-Term Efficiency, Subsidies

Abstract

Agricultural sector of Moldova is of particular importance in the context of the benefits and added value that in brings to the development of the national economy. Its proper development is conditioned, inclusively, on the public support allocated to farmers, via the subsidy program. The broad discussions on the efficiency of subsidies have been fueled by the necessity to evaluate their impact on the development of agri-food sector in particular and economy, in general. The aim of the paper is to present some of the theoretical and applied approaches for designing policy monitoring and evaluation system to assess short-term efficiency of subsidies in Moldova. The tool is based on a developed survey intended for beneficiaries of all categories of subsidies. The questionnaire is focused on financial data, as well as data related to land, personnel, investments, accountancy, exports, etc. The results of the first-time implementation of the survey present an increased efficiency in investments, profits, land productivity, labor productivity and mechanization. The survey represented itself as a useful tool for monitoring the short-term efficiency of subsides, capable to assess the specific impacts on the sector. At the same time, the paper presents a series of further improvement needed for a better operation of this monitoring and evaluation instruments in order to make it more functional, user-friendly, less time consuming, requiring a limited number of case studies for confirmation of the obtained results.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Agenția de Intervenție și Plăți pentru Agricultură (AIPA). (2025). NFDARE Annual Management Reports. www.aipa.gov.md

Brad, L., Popescu, G., Zaharia, A., Diaconeasa, M. C., & Mihai, D. (2018). Exploring the Road to Agricultural Sustainability by Assessing the EU Debt Influencing Factors. Sustainability, 10(7), 2465. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072465

Chen, Y., & Chen, M. (2019). Subsidies under uncertainty: Modeling of input- and output-oriented policies. Economic Modelling, 85, 39-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.05.005

Chirwa, E. W., & Dorward, A. R. (2012). Private sector participation in the farm input subsidy programme in Malawi, 2006/07 - 2011/12. Policy Brief 2. https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/16742/1/Chirwa%20and%20Dorward%202012%20Private%20Sector%20Policy%20Brief%20June%202012%20Final.pdf

Cimpoies, L. (2021). Agricultural support policy in Moldova: a key factor to agricultural development? Scientific papers. Series Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, 21(2), 169-176. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352762084_AGRICULTURAL_SUPPORT_POLICY_IN_MOLDOVA_A_KEY_FACTOR_TO_AGRICULTURAL_DEVELOPMENT

Cimpoies, L., & Sarbu, O. (2020). The economic impact of farm subsidies in Moldova’s agricultural sector development. Scientific Papers. Series Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, 20(2), 155-160. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342889212_The_economic_impact_of_farm_subsidies_in_Moldova's_agricultural_sector_development

Colen, L., Gomez y Paloma, S., Latacz-Lohmann, U., Lefebvre, M., Préget, R., & Thoyer, S. (2016). Economic Experiments as a Tool for Agricultural Policy Evaluation: Insights from the European CAP. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 64(4), 667-694. https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12107

Daugbjerg, C., Tranter, R., Jones, P., Little, J., Costa, L., Knapp, T., Sottomayor, M., & Swinbank, A. (2005). The visibility of agricultural subsidies and market illusions in the Common Agricultural Policy: Some evidence from farmers’ views in Germany, Portugal and the United Kingdom. European Journal of Political Research, 44(6), 749-766. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00246.x

Dombrovschi, I. (2020). Efficiency of subsidies allocation to agricultural enterprises in the Republic of Moldova. Economy and Sociology, 1, 53-63. https://doi.org/10.36004/nier.es.2020.1-05

Dorward, A., Chirwa, E., Boughton, D., Crawford, E., Thomas, J., Slater, R., Kelly, V., & Tsoka, M. (2008). Towards 'Smart' Subsidies in Agriculture? Lessons from Recent Experience in Malawi. Natural Resource Perspectives 116. Overseas Development Institute. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/93191/NRP116.pdf

Herzfeld, T., Lucaşenco, E., & Zvyagintsev, D. (2022). Agricultural policy development in Moldova over one decade: recent estimates and an outlook towards EU accession. Economy and Sociology, 2, 7-21. https://doi.org/10.36004/nier.es.2022.2-01

Heyl, K., Ekardt, F., Sund, L., & Roos, P. (2022). Potentials and Limitations of Subsidies in Sustainability Governance: The Example of Agriculture. Sustainability, 14(23), 15859. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315859

Houari, M., Fayçal, M., & Guellil, M. (2023). The effect of subsidies on thechnical efficiency of Algerian agricultural sector: Using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) Approach. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2670680/v1

Kusek, J. Z., & Rist, R. C. (2004). Ten Steps Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System. The World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f87d81cf-54e9-5a35-ab9e-dc24fc61f85a/content

Latruffe, L., Bravo-Ureta, B. E., Carpentier, A., Desjeux, Y., & Moreira, V. H. (2017). Subsidies and Technical Efficiency in Agriculture: Evidence from European Dairy Farms. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 99(3), 783-799. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26155898

Li, C., Sha, Z., Sun, X., & Jiao, Y. (2022). The Effectiveness Assessment of Agricultural Subsidy Policies on Food Security: Evidence from China’s Poverty-Stricken Villages. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 13797. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192113797

Lucasenco, E. (2021, October 15-16). Public support to agricultural producers in the Republic of Moldova - trends and recommendations. In: Creșterea economică în condițiile globalizării = Economic growth in the conditions of globalization: conferinţa internaţională ştiinţifico-practică (15th Edition, Vol. 1, pp. 368-374). Institutul Național de Cercetări Economice. Chișinău: INCE. https://ibn.idsi.md/vizualizare_articol/156796

Mazancová, K., Martinát, S., Pícha, K., & Navrátil, J. (2025). Perceived and “Real” Importance of Subsidies for Agricultural Enterprises in Post-Communist EU Countries. SAGE Open, 15(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251324756

Meyer, R., Zander, R., & Fritsche, H. (2011). Subsidies as An Instrument in Agriculture Finance: A Review. Joint Discussion Paper. World Bank, BMZ, FAO, GIZ, IFAD, and UNCDF. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235942005_Subsidies_as_An_Instrument_in_Agriculture_Finance_A_Review

Minviel, J., & De Witte, K. (2017). The influence of public subsidies on farm technical efficiency: A robust conditional nonparametric approach. European Journal of Operational Research, 259(3), 1112-1120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2016.11.014

Möllers, J., Herzfeld, T., Arapi-Gjini, A. & Batereanu, L. (2022). An analysis of farm support measures in the Republic of Moldova. Discussion Paper 199. Halle (Saale), Germany: IAMO. https://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/documents/dp199.pdf

Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. (2017). Law on the principles of subsidies in the development of agriculture and rural environment: no. 276 from 16.12.2016. Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, 67-71, art. 93. https://www.legis.md/cautare/getResults?doc_id=125183&lang=ro

Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. (2023). Law on the subsidies in agriculture and rural areas: no. 71 from 31.03.2023. Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, 134-137, art. 209. https://www.legis.md/cautare/getResults?doc_id=136602&lang=ro

Sha, Z., Ren, D., Li, C., & Wang, Z. (2024). Agricultural subsidies on common prosperity: Evidence from the Chinese social survey. International Review of Economics & Finance, 91, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2023.12.006

Shik, O., Stratan, A., Ignat, A., & Lucasenco, E. (2016, November 24). Evaluation of agricultural support in the Republic of Moldova. In: Agrarian economy and rural development - realities and perspectives for Romania (7th Edition, pp. 30-36). Bucharest, Romania. https://rses.ince.md/handle/123456789/291

Stratan, A., Lucasenco, E., & Ceban, A. (2018). Estimating the support for the agricultural sector in the Republic of Moldova. Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, 15(1), 83-91. https://ibn.idsi.md/ro/vizualizare_articol/213076

Tang, X., Wang, J., Zhang, B., & Zhang, L. (2017) Application of the DEA on the performance evaluation of the agricultural support policy in China. Agricultural Economics, 63(11), 510-523. https://doi.org/10.17221/120/2016-AGRICECON

Yang, Q., Zhang, P., Li, Y., Ning, J., & Chu, N. (2023). Does the Policy of Decoupled Subsidies Improve the Agricultural Economic Resilience? – Evidence from China’s Main Corn Producing Regions. Sustainability, 15(13), 10164. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310164