Structural Change in Estonian Agriculture: from Command Economy to Privatisation

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of recent agrarian changes in the Baltic state of Estonia, which formally became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991 aft er half a century of communist rule. Following a summary of the structure of the agrarian economy during the state's independence between 1918 and 1940, the influences of collectivisation from the 1940s onwards are briefly examined. The effects on agriculture of the rapid transition towards a market economy since 1989 are then explored, focusing in particular on the issues of land privatisation, changes in productivity and the establishment of institutional structures. A final section considers the difficulties to be faced by the newly independent farmers of Estonia over the next decade.