ABSTRACT
The process of mass privatization and farm restructuring carried out in Moldova within a relatively short time-span between 1998 and 2000 led to the emergence of a dual agrarian structure. A limited number of relatively largescale private corporate farms, operating on leased land, now exists next to a large number of small-scale individual farms owning from 1 to 5 ha. An expected outcome of the post-privatization phase was that private landownership and secure property rights would promote an accelerated transfer of land from less efficient to more efficient producers or, more precisely, from passive landowners (such as pensioners) to energetic active operators. This, in turn, was expected to lead to a more efficient and competitive agricultural sector.
