Etre et avoir. Patrimoine versus capital : le cas de l'agriculture

The legal organization of the farm may be viewed as the relative movement of two institutions: the firm (ensuring the growth of a capital) and the family (presiding over a patrimony designed to secure its long-term survival). An analysis of the farm lease legal regulations, of the policy with regard to farm structure and farm entry, and of the operating principles of the CAP, reveals the emergence of a capital rationality in contrast to the pre-existing patrimonial logic, accompanied by the submission of the firm to a patrimonial finality. This research brings out the lack of consistency characterizing the concept of patrimony in economic analysis, echoing its individualizing reduction at the level of legal concept.