Factors Affecting Agricultural Employment in Bulgaria

N. MALAMOVA

Abstract: The paper presents the results of an analysis of the factors that determine employment trends in Bulgarian agriculture. Have been analyzed processes, applying pressure for change in agricultural employment. Have been assessed the impact of the policy of subsidizing. The impact of regional differences on agricultural employment was investigated by descriptive statistical analysis of regional divergence (by statistical regions and districts) to: share of agriculture in GDP, population density per 1 sq. km, unemployment ratio, structure of agricultural holdings size of UAA. There has been some correlation analysis of factors, including subsidies under the CAP, determine employment trends in agriculture. In rural areas, agriculture and agricultural policy processes, which exert pressure for change in agricultural employment in several directions and temporal perspectives: the stabilization of agricultural employment and the present level in the short terms, reduction of employment in the long term, unfavorable changes in the attractiveness of agricultural employment, negative effect of agricultural subsidies on the sub-sectors employment in agriculture, large regional variations (in the conditions of Common Agricultural Policy also) in the dynamics of agricultural employment. The small physical size of the majority of subsistence farms (71.6% of the population surveyed), low level of mechanization (only 9.7% of farmers surveyed said they have a tractor) and the low share of agricultural income in total income household population surveyed (44.4%) are prerequisites for the poor efficiency of agricultural production and reduce the attractiveness of agricultural employment. Subsistence farms have the less able to provide employment to working age members of surveyed households - approximately 30% of them are without jobs, and others 31.3% have only part-time work. Therefore, households in rural areas have a large unexploited labor resource. Much of the surveyed households do not have a clear idea of potential changes in labor input on the farm. The largest share of the surveyed households with uncertain prospects of farm labor input are located in the area with the largest amount of subsidies per one farm. This means that high subsidies do not always correspond with clear investment plans of the beneficiaries.

Keywords: employment in agriculture; factors; perspectives; problems; trends

Date published: 2018-03-21