KEY DETERMINANTS OF THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTORS IN LITHUANIA AND GERMANY: WHAT ROLE DO RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES PLAY?

The main objectives of the paper are to review the development of productivity indicators of the agricultural sectors in Lithuania and Germany and to discuss the role and potential contributions of the support measures in the Rural Development Programs. The paper will focus on sectorial productivity and profitability indicators included in the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) of rural development policy in the EU and carry out a comparative statistical analysis with policy support indicators over the period 2000 to 2011. The results of the analysis indicate that the impact of RDP funding on sectorial economic development is rather limited and other intervening factors play a much bigger role. Further case study analysis is required to examine the specific causal relationships between the main determinants of competitiveness and RDPs at regional level. This would create a better understanding of how specific regional factors can hinder or foster positive economic impacts of rural development measures on agricultural sectors in the EU.