ABSTRACT
Following mass collectivization in 1959 and 1960, the collectives formed did not necessarily follow the logic of economic optimal size. Separate small collectives in villages, such as in Pécsely, were formed on the basis of social, rather than economic considerations. Formation of larger units were initiated in 1960, on the argument of the advantages of 'economies of scale' (Donáth, 1980::407). The first mergers initiated aimed at better exploitation of machinery, buildings and equipment and better cost effectiveness of large scale production. These mergers were to some extent economically justified. That mergers did not stop but gathered momentum in the next decades, well beyond the pace justified by mechanical and technical progress, is another question to which we shall return in later chapters. But in the 1960s the merger of the three collectives into one in Pécsely was, on the initiative of external authorities, aimed at optimal collective farm size. This does not seem to have been the case with the later mergers (Chapter 9).
