Structuur in beweging : het landbouwstructuurbeleid in Nederland 1945 - 1985

This study was carried out with a view to gaining insight into the political decisionmaking process with respect to the agricultural structure policy in the Netherlands in the period 1945-1985. The main focus of the study was the question what combination of forces formed the basis of the content and development of the policy. The study area was limited to the agricultural structure policy in a narrow sense, i.e. the adjustment policy aimed at structural changes promoting the application of technical innovations. The study took the form of case studies about the following subjects:
1. the six-year-plan drawn up within the Ministry of Agriculture in 1947 but not pub
lished;
2. the multi-annual plan for land consolidation published in 1958;
3. the creation of the Development and Reconstruction Fund for Agriculture in 1963 and the implementation of the fund's farm termination schemes in the sixties;
4. the EG agricultural structure policy, in particular the implementation of Directive 72/159/EG and Directive 72/160/EG in the Netherlands.
The study also deals with the subsidization and financing of land consolidation projects, especially the decision-making about the size of the subsidies as a component of policy formulation. The study is concluded with a reflection on the relevance of economic theory to the issue of the optimal policy choice and with a number of conclusions regarding the content and development of the agricultural structure policy in a narrow sense.