Seeing subsidies like a farmer: emerging subsidy cultures in Hungary

Simplistic understandings of farmer motivations could undermine the environmental potential of the common agricultural policy

“…There is also evidence that skewed political perspectives cause damage not only of omission but of commission. Subsidies, and the narratives that underpin them, can alter farmers' own perceptions and work practices over time (Kovacs, 2019); an example of 'adaptive preferences' that shape themselves toand positively reinforceavailable options (Elster, 1983;Sen, 2001). In this way, a productivist ethos has to some extent been imposed on farmers by decades of production-oriented payments (Burton, 2004a;Erjavec and Erjavec, 2015;Wilson, 2001).…”

“…However, recent reviews and meta-analyses suggest that European farmer decision-making is far more nuanced and diverse than this policy rationale implies (Bartkowski and Bartke, 2018;Brown et al, 2019;van Vliet et al, 2015). Failure to account for the array of farmer motivations may result in poorly-targeted incentives, reduced farmer uptake over time, and even distortions of those motivations if they encourage subsidy dependence over intrinsic determination (Herzon and Mikk, 2007;Kovacs, 2019).…”

Politics and the environment in Eastern Europe

“…Without the strong influence of state policies and subsidies on the daily decisions of farmers' businesses such a scenario of development is highly likely. If, in the course of joining the EU, the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture initiates the intense integration of Serbian agriculture with the Common Agricultural Policy, this will lead to an enormous influx of EU subsidies, where farmers' sense of autonomy and control might be limited or traded for subsidies (see Krasznai-Kovacs, 2019). Subsequent crowding-out of personal incentives, local motors of development and accumulated knowledge will become a justifiable concern along with the disappearance of the village social fabric.…”

The Influence of Factors on the Costs of Different Types of Loans in Business of Agricultural Farms and Medium-Sized Agricultural Enterprises

“…Overall crediting, which follows the entire system of agricultural production in a country, is based on a full appreciation of the credit risk (Kanazir, 2023), which must be respected especially if the decisions of the state leadership are aimed at achieving real agricultural development (Kumari & Garg, 2023), because based on such an observation, the development of agricultural farms and the realization of their real benefits can be established (Kovacs, 2021).…”