Agricultural Inter-Sectoral Linkages and Its Contribution to Economic Growth in the Transition Countries

This study estimates an econometric model that incorporates the linkages among agriculture, manufacturing, service and trade sectors using a vector error correction model for Poland and Romania. Three cointegrating vectors for Poland and one for Romania confirm that the different sectors in the Poland and Romania moved together over the sample period, and for this reason, their growth rates are interdependent. The long-run relationship of industrial, service and trade sectors to agricultural sector were established, and the results show that the industrial sector in Poland contributes positively to the agricultural sector while the growing service sector shows mixed results. The results of Romania indicate that the industrial sector is detrimental to agriculture however, the service sector contributes positively. The short-run results show that the service sector is the most significant sector in the Polish economy and it contributes positively to all other sectors. However, growth in the industrial sector affects the other two sectors negatively. A similar effect is observed in the Romanian economy; however, the results are not significant. As expected, the role of agriculture in the short-run is not significant to the other sectors, but it made a positive impact on the industrial sector in Romania. JEL Classifications: P20; O41; C32