Search
Search Results
-
Determinants of consumers’ purchase intention for local organic food in Urban Sri Lanka
70-78Views:307Organic food marketing has currently become one of the most developing markets around the world, including Sri Lanka. Thus, the main aim of this study was to recognize the determinants of the purchase intention for local organic food among urban Sri Lankans. A consumer survey was conducted covering capital cities of six urban districts in Sri Lanka; Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Rathnapura using a sample of 600 consumers, from December 2016 to May 2018. Out of the 600 consumers, only 114 were purchasing organic food by that time, and those 114 consumers were chosen as the sample for this study. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and multiple linear regressions were used as data analysis techniques. According to the results, majority of the respondents belongs to the 31-45 year age category. While most respondents had an education up to GCE Advanced Level, significant percentages of respondents were educated up to graduate and post-graduate levels. Also, most of the respondents received a monthly total income in between Sri Lankan Rupees 85,001 and 162,000 (approximately US dollars 473 – 900). Although one-fourth of the consumers are purchasing organic food at that time, a higher number is willing to buy them in future. As per the principal component analysis, health and environment consciousness, certification of organic food, marketing aspects of organic food, common parameters of organic food, awareness on the value of organic food, and market availability of organic food were the extracted determinants. The results of multiple linear regressions revealed that market availability, common parameters of organic food, and health and environment consciousness are the dominating variables of the purchase intention of organic food consumers. Thus, expanding the market conditions for organic food, establishing a better marketing system, conducting effective food awareness programs, and value addition for organic food are the identified timely essential recommendations.
JEL CODE: Q13, Q19
-
Low-carbon innovation policy with the use of biorenewables in the transport sector until 2030
45-52Views:163The topic of the present study deals with the changes and future trends of the European Union’s climate policy. In addition, it studies the manner in which Hungary’s transport sector contributes to the success of the above. The general opinion of Hungarian climate policy is that the country has no need of any substantial climate policy measures, since it will be able to reach its emission reduction targets anyway. This is mostly true, because the basis year for the long term goals is around the middle/end of the 1980’s, when Hungary’s pollution indices were entirely different than today due to former large-scale industrial production. With the termination of these inefficient energy systems, Hungary has basically been “performing well” since the change in political system without taking any specific steps in the interest of doing so. The analysis of the commitments for the 2020-2030 climate policy planning period, which defined emissions commitments compared to 2005 GHG emissions levels, has also garnered similar political reactions in recent years. Thus, it is not the issue of decreasing GHG emissions but the degree to which possible emissions can be increased stemming from the conditions and characteristics of economic growth that is important from the aspect of economic policy. In 2005, the Hungarian transport sector’s emissions amounted to 11 million tons, which is equal to 1.2% of total EU emissions, meaning it does not significantly influence total transport emissions. However, the stakes are still high for developing a low GHG emission transport system, since that will decide whether Hungary can avoid those negative development tendencies that have plagued the majority of Western European transport systems. Can Budapest avoid the scourge of perpetual smog and traffic jams? Can it avert the immeasurable accumulation of externalities on the capital city’s public bypass roads caused by having road transport conduct goods shipping?
JEL classification: Q58
-
Role of innovations and knowledge – infrastructure and institutions
7-10Views:242There is a well known saying: Research converts money into knowledge, innovation converts knowledge into money. The knowledge-based economy has four pillars: innovation, education, the economic and institutional regime, and information infrastructure. Transformation towards a knowledge-based economy will necessarily shift the proportion and growth of national income derived from knowledge-based industries, the percentage of the workforce employed in knowledge-based jobs and the ratio of firms using technology to innovate. Progress towards a knowledge-based economy will be driven by four elements: human capital development, knowledge generation and exploitation (R&D), knowledge infrastructure. Increased investment in these four areas will certainly have an impact. National experience, however, suggests that an incremental approach will not work. Nations that have achieved accelerated growth in outputs and capabilities have acted decisively, targeting investments in areas of strategic opportunity. The organizational and infrastructural improvement of research requires supranational cooperation and the promotion of the free movement of knowledge. Therefore, the EU decision on the establishment of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which ensures that the GDP proportion for research and development (R&D) shall achieve 3% stipulated by member states in the long run, is particularly welcome.
-
PERCEPTIONS, PROFITABILITY AND DETERMINANTS OF GRANULATED CASSAVA PACKAGING IN KUMASI METROPOLIS, GHANA
Views:156Packaging does not only protect a product but also provides directions for using the product, as well as relevant information about its content and nutritional value. This study was undertaken to assess Granulated Cassava (Gari) sellers’ perception, profitability and determinants of packaging in Ashanti Region. The study area was purposively selected because of the active participation and contribution of marketing activities. A structured questionnaire was administered in the form of interview to obtain primary data from the respondents. Data was generated using binary and multinomial logit regression model and Garret ranking technique. The results showed that there is 0.11% difference in the gross margin of both ventures which is also statistically significant at 1%. Years of education, legal requirement, and durability of the packaging material and cost of packaging material were the significant factors that influence sellers’ choice of packaging. Lack of technical know-how, cost of capital equipment and lack of knowledge on packaging equipment and/or material were the most limiting constraints affecting Gari packaging. The study recommends that investors should invest in the Gari packaging business since it has a relatively higher rate of returns as compared to the unpackaged one.
-
Integration Efforts in Agriculture
91-96Views:136The economic and political transition brought many challenges for the Hungarian agricultural sector. The break-up of large agricultural holdings had serious negative impacts on food production and on the export of agricultural products. Capital intensive profit-seeking intermediaries dominate the trading of agricultural goods that has injurious effects in terms of downward pressure on production prices and an increase in consumer prices. Cooperatives have a key role in effectively tackling the common challenges that small-scale producers have to face. More vertical integration along the food chain could contribute to providing rural employment and to an increase in living standards in rural areas. This study reviews the development, the specific features and the driving forces of modern cooperatives in Central Europe in general, and in Hungary in particular. The focus is on the integrator role of cooperatives and their future role in our globalised world.
JEL Classification: Q10, Q13
-
Economic aspects of an agricultural innovation – precision crop production
51-57Views:191Innovation in agriculture ensures the wide-spread use of the latest, up-to-date technology. Such new technology is precision farming in crop production, which serves as a validation of the criteria of environmental and economic sustainability. The economic applicability of precision crop production depends on several factors.Among them the following aspects must be emphasized: the size of the farm, the characteristics of the production structure, the current input-output prices and their tendencies, the investment needed for transitioning to precision technology and its capital source, the level of professional knowledge and the managerial attitudes of the farm. I have examined the economic relations between potential savings in chemicals on EU level. It has been found that after switching to precision farming, the active ingredient use for fertilizers can be reduced by 340 thousand tons at the same expected yield level in an optimistic scenario in the EU-27, while the savings in pesticide use can be 30 thousand tons (calculating with the current dose-level). If approximately 30% of the crop producing and mixed farms over 16 ESU adopt this new technology, this will diminish environmental loads by up to 10-35%. The majority of farms characterized by greater output and size can be based on their own equipment but it might as well be presumed that smaller farms can turn to precision farming not based on their own investment. They can buy the technical service from providers, they can establish producer cooperation, for example in the frame of machinery rings. At a certain farm size and farming intensity precision crop production is a real, environmentally friendly farming strategy, with the help of which the farm can reach earnings that cover at least the economic conditions of simple reproduction.
-
Profitability of cassava production in the Ashanti region of Ghana
66-69Views:670Cassava is a crop that is massively produced and consumed in Ghana even though it is produced by subsistence farmers. The aim of this study is to analyse the cost and returns of cassava farmers. Farmers profitability was accessed using the gross margin, net present value and the benefit cost ratio. SWOT analysis was conducted to access challenges faced by cassava farmers. Data was collected by personal interview from fifty (50) cassava growing farmers in the Sekyere East District of the Ashanti Region, Ghana. The Costs and returns analysis show gross margin of USD 22.75 per acre. It was concluded that cassava is cultivated for both consumption and revenue. Even though there is low investment of capital in cassava production, it helps farmers to make use of available resources (personal savings, land and labour) which would have been idle. Further should compare profitability of crops that compete for use of famers land.
JEL. CODE: Q13, Q19
-
Economic results of Croatian farms
53-58Views:106The objective of the paper is to provide an overview of the situation and performance of Croatian farms. Croatian farmers rarely keep business books and therefore farm level business data are deficient. Croatian accession to the European Union in 2013 brought numerous innovations to agricultural sector. One is introduction of Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) which aims to determine the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on national agriculture of EU member states. The sample of Croatian FADN comprises 1,250 commercial farms. The paper brings results of agricultural sector financial analysis for the period 2011-2013. Total farm output decreased, but since the stronger decrease trend occurred in total inputs, this led to positive trend of gross and net farm income in the year 2013. Positive results are also shown at efficiency and productivity of Croatian farms. In the years 2011 and 2012 farms operated below the efficiency level while in 2013 efficiency increased above the efficiency level. In the observed period there was a 70% increase in productivity. The analysis shows that the most efficient farms are those in vegetables and flowers type. It also has the highest debt ratio due to their capital intensiveness. The vegetable and floriculture farms have the largest gross farm income in all three analysed years, but with a large drop in 2013, while the farms in type pigs and poultry have largest increase of gross farm income in last observed year.
-
Exploitation of relations among the players of the mutton product cycle
129-134Views:113The continuous weakening of Hungarian sheep sector and its low effectiveness in terms of value added have posed crucial problems in recent years.The focal problem has been partially caused by economic and market problems.Among these issues, mostly the poor mutton supply chain gives rise to difficulties; therefore the present study seeks to reveal the factors/input variables which predominantly influence the generation of value added. We have constructed a model for the mutton product cycle to represent the relations of phases but mutton trade is not included.The most significant aim of our investigation was to identify the volume of value added generated during processing in various phases of the product cycle and the change of which inputs affected this volume. The received findings suggested that in case of capital uniformity the output of processing was mostly influenced by sheep progeny on the bottom level of the mutton product cycle.
-
Problems with the application of conventional financial ratios in corporate risk measurement
5-12Views:173One of the enterprises’ biggest fears is a potential bankruptcy situation. This is the reason there are a lot of people who try to anticipate it. To be aware of the actual and expected future situation of a company is in the interest of all those who are related. This topic has come to the fore after the economic and financial crisis of 2008. Companies, their creditors and internal stakeholders should be aware of the liquidity and solvency situation of a given company, because its deterioration can cause serious problems for all of them. During the financial analysis of companies, the problem of liquidity indicators showing bad signals can often be experienced, although there is no visible sign of difficulty in their operation. In other cases, the situation is just the opposite, i.e. liquidity ratios are adequate, but still, the business faces payment issues. How could it happen? The purpose of this study is to present indicators which can measure more accurately and reliably the actual liquidity position of a company.
-
Determinants of Mongolian Economic Growth
61-66Views:259Mongolia is the second largest landlocked country, which has unique economic condition. This paper aims to examine Mongolian economic growth from 2000 until 2016 and identify its determinants. The growth was studied based on the growth rate of National Domestic Product. Initially, 20 macroeconomic variables are chosen and tested for the economic growth determinators such as; unemployment rate, human capital index, import growth, inflation rate, export growth, and interest rate, etc. The results showed that the growth rate of dollar exchange, inflation rate, and the growth rate of export were the main factors (81.4%). Mongolian GDP per capita and poverty rate were compared with other Asian lower-middle-economies, which are classified in the same classification as Mongolia. An increment of average salary was adjusted by the inflation rate, which showed the purchasing power declined in 2015. Statistics of Central Bank of Mongolia, Central Intelligence Agency, World Bank’s statistics, and the statistics from National Statistics Office of Mongolia are used for the research.
JEL Classification: H0, H30, H6, H70
-
Structured commodity finance
77-83Views:173Over the past years, the financial stock market – providing the capital demand that is the result of stockpiling and the characteristic strong seasonality observed in the agricultural sector – has increasingly grown and become more “used” by market participants. Its size had reached an annual value of 200 billion HUF, of which agricultural products had received the largest proportion through the various market participants (producers, integrators, traders, feed producers, mills). In the meantime, this market had become part of the competition between the commercial banks that are the largest financers of the sector, due to which the financing credit institutions had undertaken increasing risk levels, with respect to both degree of financing and the VAT financing related to stockholding. The practice of commodity financing by banks display a rather varied picture at present. Considering the exceptional degree of fall in prices and the actions of companies totally disregarding business ethics in 2008, it seems necessary to reveal the full scope of risks inherent in commodity financing. The primary aim of such an exercise is to ensure the prudent operation of refinancing activities for commercial banks. The inherent risks in trade financing – as has been proven by the experiences of previous years – are not found primarily in the goods themselves, but rather at the actual storage facility and also emerge in relation to clients, as well as the inadequate and ineffective risk management of price volatility by the financers. Therefore, the establishment of banking risk management and risk prevention techniques, including the development of new financing procedures become indispensable, minimizing all types of risks that had emerged in previous years.
-
Demand and supply of labor market: A case of UAE
145-153Views:212United Arab Emirates (UAE) witnessed a progress of growth booming since its establishment, which as result puched all economic componets to indicated a active movement in term of employment and capital investment as well. This steady economic growth has been marked by an increase in the income by the country’s citizens, both national as well as the foreign residents This paper to axamine the supply and demand of labor market in UAE. The technique used to source the data is a secondary resource and methodology employed in descriptive and analytical. The study found that, the diversification of the economy, and enhance the role of private sector increased the demand for labor as well as increased the diversification for nationalities in the country. From other side, because of diversification strategy, the foreigners labor have more numbers in total employment structure.
JEL CODE: O12
-
Opportunities and obstacles of areabased partnerships in rural Hungary – main features of the operations of leader local action groups based on a nationwide survey
109-117Views:166Based on the results of our questionnaire survey, our study presents the major operational features of LEADER LAGs established in Hungary in the second half of 2007. Our national survey indicated that most of the partnerships established do not have experience in the implementation of community-based rural development programmes and there are no traditions and practices for development cooperation, which may cause problems as the success of programme implementation highly depends on the preparedness of local society, on the cooperation of local people. The survey indicates that the development of areas covered by LAGs is hindered by so-called soft factors characterizing human resources (rural people and communities). Therefore human resources are not only factors of the rural economy but areas for development as well. Having examined the tasks of LAGs,it can be established that they deem it to be their principal task to grant support funds.Inouropinion, performance of this task is obviously necessary but far from sufficient to fulfil their catalyst role expected in local developments. For this purpose, it is essential for action groups to play a proactive role in organizing and thereby increase the capacity of local communities, a prerequisite for implementing a LEADER programme. In accordance with the basic principle of subsidiarity, rural development should be implemented locally, managed by local communities, and decisions should be made at local levels in a decentralized manner. At the same time, the survey points out that LAGs operate under strong government influence and control, leading to the conclusion that the Hungarian practice of the LEADER programme is characterized by decentralization without subsidiarity. In the present structure, the activities of LAGs are predominantly financed from central resources.Administration is the primary goal of their financing, which restricts their effective and efficient operations, thereby the successful implementation of the LEADER programme. It is unquestionable that LAGs need to be centrally financed since their operation is fundamental for programme implementation, but this requires more than acting in their present role of distributing resources. In order for action groups to fulfil their real roles to boost local developments, they need to recognize their mission; and from the financing and regulatory side, they must be enabled to complete the tasks expected from them and their function.
-
A Value chain analysis of Sesame (Sesame Indicum L.) in South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia
Views:178Sesame is the main cash crop in Ethiopia and it is mainly produced in northern and southern part of the country especially South Omo Zone. In the zone sesame is highly produced, but it production is not known regionally and at a country level. So this study was aimed to research sesame value chain of the Zone. Simple descriptive statistics and value chain approach were employed for data analysis during this study. It attempts to deal with mapping and identifying sesame value chain actors and their roles, examines marketing channel, cost margin structure and assessing challenges and opportunities within the study area. The results of the study indicated that out 5589.3 quintals were supplied to markets for various actors and five alternative marketing channels were identified to transact the sesame product through intermediaries. The most important volume of sesame (4900.8 quintals) was marketed through channel V and the lowest volume in channel I. producers get the highest share in channel IV and the lowest in channel II. Barriers to entry traders into the market are that the capital requirement and therefore the wholesalers govern by volume transacted and internal control criteria within the market. Fertile land and high demand for the product were essential opportunity. Pests and disease, Low level of input utilization, Shortage of input supply and high price of inputs were the challenges of sesame production whereas lack of market information, price variability, delay of buyers, low bargaining power and poor product quality were the challenges sesame marketing.
-
Interrelation of Large-Scale Property Development Project and the Local Real Estate Market. Evidence from Hungary
37-46Views:179The Hungarian real estate market has gone through a widely fluctuating phase in the new millennium, which has not missed periods of surge, crisis-driven gloom and recovery. Amidst these conditions, an international developer engaged in a large-scale, long-timeframe residential property building project (Sasad Liget Residential Complex) in District XI of the Hungarian capital. The article examines the exposures and impacts of the development project to the external factors. The deployed quantitative statistical methods reveal that despite the considerable weight of the project, the in-market performance of SLRC has been the function of the general swings of the sector. Further, although the project generated higher demand than the bulk of other properties in the vicinity, its weight has not been enough to impact the property market of District XI at a statistically significant degree.
JEL Classification: E31, R31
-
Relationships between competitiveness in the Northern Great Plain and the organisational culture of local authorities
13-20Views:135One of the five basic factors in the Lengyel-type pyramid model – institutions and social capital – is essential in the economic growth of the region. Economic success however, does not only depend on participants in the economy, but on social factors such as the roles played by local authorities, including their functions, operation and organisational culture, all of which are crucial factors. Based on the results obtained regarding organisational culture it can be stated that performance orientation, dominant motivation based on calculated risk, forward planning and regular feedback are expected values at local authorities in all three counties. All local authorities emphasise the importance of the need for forecasting. Respondents find it important that organisations encourage and reward individual action and contributions as expected values. The degree of human orientation expected by local authorities reflects the fact that respect for colleagues and attention to their well-being should be at the highest level. Reinforcing these organisational culture values (dimensions) is the basis for the efficient and successful operation of organisations (local authorities). The study examines the organisational culture of local authorities in the Northern Great Plain, looking for any relationships it might have with the competitiveness of the region. This study is an element of the wider research into organisational culture. We used the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) survey, which had been successfully applied in the research programme In Competition with the World at the Corvinus University of Budapest. Koopman, Den Hartog, Konrad et al. (1999) examined the culture variables of 21 European countries in organisations. Based on Hungarian and international literature it can be stated that a similar survey of local authorities has not yet been conducted.
-
Willingness to pay for locally produced organic foods by urban consumers in Sri Lanka
15-22Views:402Organic food consumption is gradually increasing among Sri Lankan consumers due to an increased awareness on healthy food. Some consumers ready to pay more for organic food, but it varies according to many factors. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the urban consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for organically produced food in Sri Lanka. The specific objectives of the research were to investigate the socio-economic factors, the level of awareness on organic food, the present situation of buying, and the level of additional price ready to pay and analyze the impact of socio-economic factors on consumers’ willingness to pay. The research was conducted in urban Sri Lanka, covering capital cities of six urban districts of the country; Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Rathnapura. Data were collected from November 2016 to May 2018, from 600 consumers, by selecting 100 consumers per city. Data analyses employed were a descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression. Results revealed that, the most of the consumers were females, married, and with a comparatively higher level of education and monthly income. Most consumers had a significant level of awareness about organic food. A lesser proportion of consumers (24%) buys organic food at present, while the majority (52.4%) was willing to pay an extra price. Out of these consumers, the highest percentage (29.3%) prefers to pay 26% to 50% premium prices. As per the results of logistic regression, age, gender, monthly income, and education were the deciding factors for consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price for organic food. Results of this research are helpful for the development of production and marketing strategies and awareness programs for urban consumers on local organic food products.
JEL CODE: Q1, Q13
-
Impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food industry and rural livelihoods in Serbia
113-118Views:113Sixty-five per cent of the Serbian land area is agricultural and 55% of the population is rural.Agriculture share of GDP is more than 10% and about 47% of the rural labour force deals with agriculture. The aim of this work is to analyse the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the Serbian agro-food sector and rural communities. Measures introduced, mainly by public institutions, for relieving the consequences of the crisis are presented and discussed. Easily accessible yet high quality data from the central Office of Statistics in Serbia and specialized literature have been used. Impacts have been assessed by analyzing and discussing the trends of many socio-economic indicators. The crisis has had general impacts on the Serbian economy (low GDP growth, unemployment increase, price volatility, purchasing power decrease, etc.). Due to the crisis growth in agricultural production has been very low (0.1% in 2009). Agro-food exports decreased dramatically in 2008. About 9000 agricultural jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009. Reduced exports and lower domestic demand impacted negatively on agricultural commodity prices and agricultural household incomes.Access to credit became more difficult especially for small producers. However, agriculture is still a very important safety net. Agricultural employment share has increased both for men and women. The importance of agriculture is even higher if we consider the “grey agricultural economy”. To mitigate the crisis effects, the Government provided subsidies to rural people and will adopt the National Strategic Plan and Programme for Rural Development. Nevertheless, public institutions - in partnership with private, civil society and international organisations - should improve rural producers’ access to market information and credits and foster investments in rural areas including non-agricultural ones and those aiming at improving physical capital.
-
The most relevant factors and trends in energy cooperation between Kazakhstan and China, focused on renewable energy sources (RES)
Views:486This paper analyses the good political and legal environments, mutually beneficial strategic policy, along with level of economic development and growth, superior geographical conditions and cultural integration degree of the important effecting factors of the energy cooperation between Kazakhstan and China. By using the main points listed above this article refers to related trade and investment theories, and it’s divided into two aspects: Kazakhstan's export of Chinese energy products with time series data 1998-2014 and China's investment in Kazakhstan's energy sector with time series data 1998-2016 to construct the vector autoregressive model (VAR).We selected relevant variables and data to construct an econometric model from the perspectives of trade and investment to make an empirical analysis on the influencing factors of energy cooperation between Kazakhstan and China. Our results show that China's demand for large-scale market and for opening to the outside world as well as Kazakhstan’s great energy potential are the most important factors their cooperation. It can be stated that in our days Kazakh legislation is suitable for promoting the Chinese energy investments, but in the long run it would be beneficial to mobilize national capital especially in RES investments and research. In the end, we found the most important reserves in competitiveness of electricity and heat (both from fossil and renewable energy sources) are power grid consolidation and waste heat utilization in the short run.
JEL CODE: F14; Q43
-
Understanding the demand side and coordinating the supply side for connected goods and services
17-23Views:118This paper addresses the coordination and innovation issues needed for promoting value added at the rural and regional level. There are two sides to value added: the ability to meet consumer demand, and to identify least cost ways of supplying the demanded goods. Human and social capital plays an important role on both sides. At the municipality level the supply side issues are complex. First, because the production space has far more dimensions than for the single entrepreneur. Second, because the value of some goods and services produced depend on what other goods and services that is available. On the supply side networks are important to solve the coordination issues, while networks for identifying and understanding consumer preferences are important on the demand side. Participation in these two network types compete for the same scarce resource, the time of the inhabitants of a municipality. We address these issues in more detail. A major insight from our work is that in addition to the time conflict, innovation and new information may make it more difficult to maintain coordination networks.
-
MBA education at Debrecen University Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development
79-86Views:210Debrecen is the capital of the Great Hungarian Plain, the centre of many institutions, organizations and business companies just in the heart of Europe. It has provided an ideal setting for higher education since 1538. With this past of more than 450 years, the University of Debrecen is the oldest higher educational institution in continuous operation in Hungary based in the same city. Higher education in agriculture began in 1868, when the National Higher School of Agriculture was formed in Debrecen. The University of Debrecen has more than 26 000 students, and more than 1700 instructors teach at the University, which has 13 faculties, 2 independent institutions, 20 doctoral schools and offers the widest choice of higher education. This outstanding intellectual centre, with a vast research and development capacity, has a growing importance in the economic and social development, cultural progress of the region. It devotes special attention to serving the needs of a knowledge based society more efficiently, and it strives to become the knowledge centre of the region, which also preserves traditions and values.
-
Assessing the financial viability of the floricultural industry in Ghana
119-126Views:165This study determines the financial viability of the floricultural industry in Ghana using both discounting and non-discounting investment appraisal methods. The feasibility analysis suggests that large-scale floricultural firms are more profitable particularly with the production of cut flowers. However, investors with limited capital can venture into small-scale production specifically cut flowers. The conclusion is that the floriculture industry is financially viable therefore investors are encouraged to expend their resources in the industry. We recommend that the government and stakeholders need to create institutional support to enable the already established firms to further develop and attract new investors in the sector.
JEL. Code: Q13
-
Analysis of the influential factors on gross value added in the Hungarian sheep sector
107-112Views:120The competitiveness of the Hungarian sheep sector has been in steady decline for some time now. Crucial has been the problem that the value added in the sector is not generated in Hungary, as most of the produced lambs in Hungary leave the country with an average weight of 21 kilograms, with slaughtering happening abroad.A model has been constructed for our investigations, which introduces the connections between the product cycle phases for mutton in Hungary. This model allows us to calculate the volume of gross value added generated within specific product cycle phases. We used Monte Carlo simulation for our examination, for which the Crystall ball software package was utilized, namely the OptQuest module, for optimization. First, we conducted an optimization of an experiment number of 500,000 for “Gross value added” in the case of the slaughterhouse. During the optimization, Easter, Christmas and August lamb ratio and ewe number, as well as progeny, were set as decision variables and examined as values of gross value added, the decision variables of which contribute to obtaining the best results. The gained decision variables were set in the model and a Monte Carlo simulation was run with an experiment number of 500,000, where only the values of the conditions were changed along the pre-set dispersion; the values of the decision variables were fixed. The most significant aim of our investigation was to identify the volume of gross value added generated during processing in various phases of the product chain and the change of which inputs affected this volume the most. The findings proved that, in the case of capital uniformity, the output of processing was most influenced by sheep progeny on the bottom level of the mutton product chain. This factor is followed by that of weight gain in the source material producing and fattening sub-modules, as well as the gross wage in starter lamb feed and meadow hay in the source material producing sub-modules. Contour plots helped to describe the connections between these factors. By using contour plots, the volume of gross value added might be forecast for various combinations of factors.
-
Structural change in Republika Srpska – small farms between subsistence orientation and modernization
51-58Views:108The paper aims to analyze the main barriers and opportunities for the modernization of the agricultural sector of Republika Srpska with a specific focus on the role of small farms.A particular attention has been given to specific elements related to the human, social, and institutional capital. Methodologically the work has been based on an extensive desk research, on the use of a field survey and on a number of personal interviews with national experts and professionals. Overall the investigation has also greatly benefited from the theoretical framework elaborated by R.Yin within the “case study methodology”.
Keywords
