Farm investment behaviour in the EU: an ex post analysis through panel data

Farm investment behaviour is the result of the complex interplay of several variables and is strictly connected to expectations by farmers. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of investment behaviour in EU farming systems, based on a panel analysis of 178 farm households in 6 EU countries. The analysis focuses in particular on the changes occurred between 2006 and 2009 in terms of stated intention to invest. The results confirm the role of major structural (location, farm size) and demographic (farmers age) variables in affecting farm investment as already known from the literature. However the panel analysis emphasises the changes in investment attitude occurred in the period 2006-2009, likely as a combined effect of the economic crisis and of the dynamics of agricultural costs and prices.