Exploring the distribution of direct payments of the Common Agricultural Policy

Direct payments are the most important expenditure of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). They are mostly spent on decoupled direct payments which are intended to be allocatively neutral. Increasing volumes of such transfers imply that distributive aspects of CAP expenditures become more important. This article looks at this issue by calculating various measures of concentration based on statistics on recipients of direct payments in EU27 in the period from 2000 to 2010. The findings are evaluated in the context of the objectives of the CAP and the reform proposals of the EU Commission from October 2011. It seems that country specific factors determine the concentration of direct payments and its change over time.