The income effect of CAP subsidies: implications of distributional leakages for transfer efficiency in Italy

Abstract

Enhancing farm income level is one of the main purpose of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The ability to reach such a goal can be measured in terms of transfer efficiency, that is affected by the presence of distributive leakages through the agro-food system. The present work aims to shed light on the income distributional effects of the main forms of CAP subsidies in Italy over the period 2008–2014: single payment scheme, coupled payment and second pillar aids. To this aim, an Arellano–Bond linear dynamic panel-data estimation (based on a database provided by the Italian FADN) is performed. Results show that all the main types of CAP support have a significant income effect, even though some relevant differences occur between decoupled and coupled components of direct payments received by Italian farmers as a consequence of distributional leakages.