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Nexus of non-farm enterprises and rural households’ livelihood: evidence from Nigeria
Views:98Agricultural sector in Nigeria is faced with diverse challenges that threaten the survival of rural households who constitute a significant proportion of the country’s population, thereby forcing them to diversify into alternative occupations outside farming. This study assessed the contributions of non-farm enterprises to livelihood of rural households in Osun State, Nigeria. The quantitative data were elicited from120 rural households’ heads across the state. The data collected analysis appropriate statistics. Results revealed that majority of rural households were involved in multiple non-farm enterprises and provide full-time employment for majority. Many were favourably disposed to contribution of non-farm enterprises to their households’ livelihood. Majority indicated that non-farm enterprises contributed moderately to their households’ livelihood. Income from non-farm enterprises, association membership and age were significantly correlated with the contribution of non-farm enterprises to rural households’ livelihood. It was concluded that non-farm enterprises play significant roles in sustaining the livelihood of rural households in the study area
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Analysis of economic issues relating to the dairy sector, with emphasis on price transmission
61-70Views:145The dramatic decline in consumption after 1990 was an important problem during the analysis of the sector. Even today, consumption is still below the degree that was before the political change, and significantly lags behind the EU level.The importance of this topic is emphasized by the fact that surplus milk could be marketed through the increased domestic consumption; this would create a more stable and calculable situation for farmers. Therefore, I considered it important to reveal what factors and by what shares influence the consumption of milk and dairy products. The relationship, time series and cross-sectional analysis based on national and international databases demonstrate the relationship between the consumption of milk and dairy products and the other determining factors of consumption in Hungary and in the EU-25 through diagrams. I draw the conclusion that there is a medium correlation between the development of the economy, the higher income level and the consumption of milk and dairy products. Just before our EU accession, the dairy sector was one of the most critical industries of Hungarian agriculture, which is why I chose this for my analysis. I regard as a new scientific result the econometric analysis of the asymmetric market conditions in the price transmission approach within our dairy sector between 1995 and 2003. I confirmed and quantified that the market is under an oligopoly and defined the direction of price adjustment. Furthermore, I regard as a new result in the price transmission analysis (also published in the article published with Dr. József Tóth), that the three possible dimensions (elasticity, a symmetry relations,lag) are analysed simultaneously.Therefore,a more sophisticated picture is given on price transmission. The theoretical advantages and disadvantages are verified by an example of a vertical coordination based on the horizontal cooperation in the dairy sector (Alföldi Tej Ltd).
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Responsible behaviour or business? Social responsibility (CSR) in sport management
83-90Views:495CSR has become increasingly important in today’s business world and managers must consider not only the economic results of their decisions but also the legal, ethical, moral, and social impact and repercussions of each of their decisions. Some multinational companies’ CSR activities even clearly represent applicability of CSR in sport management. The aim of this study was to do a critical comparative analysis, present the changes, alterations in the traditional company philosophy, objectsystem; then to define the concept of CSR, its importance in sport, finally to analyze some of the top 20 World Food & Beverage Companies’ (Coca-Cola, Danone, Nestle) CSR activities in sport management. Similarly to the whole economics – beside traditional theoretical tendencies, parallel to them and not developing them – a new kind of company theory concerning the long-term balance problems of the natural environment and society is being formed. Although the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is prominent in some of the current discussions and investigations about the role of business in society, the concept – integrate social and environmental aspects in their business activity – is not new. According to the websites and sustainability reports of the international parent companies and domestic subsidiaries, we can say, that the companies show similarity at several points with regard to social responsibility within the field of sport management. However we must emphasize that we can find in the domestic practice fewer examples. In this case probably the media plays important role, which prefer the news of scandals such as CSR-related initiatives. In the public the companies’ CSR activities are even less known. Finally we can establish, that about the sport sponsorship the parent companies we have more information, their reports and websites are more transparency. In contracts, in the case of subsidiaries we can meet deficiencies.
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Risks and competitiveness in agriculture with emphasis on wine sector in Croatia
11-17Views:123International competitiveness, being a key objective of each economic entity, is at the same time significantly determined by the level of risk the entity is coping. Based on the assumption that risk management is directly linked to competitiveness in agribusiness, the scope of this paper is predominantly focused on the wine agribusiness in Croatia. The aim of this paper is to encompass available literature and transfer findings to interested parties, about risks and competitiveness in agriculture, with particular reference to the wine sector. Qualitative analysis of secondary data, descriptive i.e. monographic method, deductive method and comparison of available papers from the world and Croatia were applied in the paper. There are very few companies in general, however, that tend to use their abilities to manage risks as a source of competitive advantage. These companies go beyond compliance or cost-controlling defensive approaches and take a more aggressive stance toward risk. They have realized that their risk management capabilities can be leveraged as a source of competitive advantage (Elahi, 2013). Current literature showed that such companies indirectly exist within global agribusiness. Examples of such companies in the wine sector could be found in Old World and New World wine countries. In regards with the mentioned, further research in the wine sector that would more directly link competitiveness and risk management and benefits that could be drawn from such “linkage” is needed.
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Ownership Structures within Hungarian Family Businesses – Theories and Practice
35-40Views:221We can talk about family business if the notions of family, ownership and business are closely connected to each other, namely if the business is in the possession of the family, managed and controlled by the family members. A family owned company is a business where a family has the majority ownership and/or the majority management and at least one family member actively works in the firm, the family owns the business. The study contains the results of research on ownership structure of family owned businesses. The examined family businesses are interested in longterm preservation of values, thus succession of generations plays a key role in their case. They attaches great importance how the ownership structure develops. The methotology to know more about the ownership structure of family businesses 11 expert interviews were made between november 2016 and september 2017 with owners and next generations of family owned agri-food enterprises in Hungary. A case study has been prepared too in this topic with the participation of companies with different activities (production, service, trade). In order to classify the analysed companies six categories of ownership were developed. These are non-owner, emotional owner, partial owner, controlling owner, majority owner and exclusive/ sole owner. Each generation of the analysed FBs were classified to these categories. According to the results the analysed family owned companies even are sharing the property within family. There are only two interviewed companies whose case we can talk about exclusive/sole ownership.
JEL Classification: G32
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A disaggregated analysis of monetary policy effects on the agricultural sector in Nigeria
47-58Views:361This study provides a disaggregated analysis of the effects of monetary policy shocks on the agricultural sector in Nigeria from 1981Q1 to 2016Q4. The study utilized the generalized impulse responses and the normalized generalized forecast error variance decompositions from an underlying VAR model, which are order-invariant. The four monetary policy variables used in the study are interbank call rate, monetary policy rate, broad money supply and exchange rate; while the four agricultural sub-sectors investigated are crop production, forestry, fishing and livestock. The study also controlled for the general price level and other economic activities in the overall economy. The findings indicate that the aggregate agricultural sector and its various sub-sectors consistently responded negatively to unanticipated monetary tightening in most of the forecast horizon; while the immediate impact of monetary policy shocks is transmitted to the agricultural sector through the interest rate and money demand (credit) channels. The findings further indicate that apart from these two channels, the roles of monetary policy rate and exchange rate are non-negligible in the long-run. The role of money supply channel in spreading monetary policy shocks to the agricultural sector remained muted all through. The study concludes that the monetary authority should evolve interest rate, credit, and exchange rate policies that will promote the development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria.
JEL CODES: E52; N50; C22; N57
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The impact of boundary organizations on decision-making under uncertainty: A multi-agent simulation
13-16Views:114Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers have the capacity to take into account possibly conflicting information from distinct domains, such as science and economics.As the development of technology increases the temporal and spatial scopes of risks, decision-makers can no longer consider economic and scientific information separately but should encourage experts to work together. Boundary organizations, institutions that cross the gap between two different domains, are able to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side (Guston, 2001). By encouraging a flow of information across the boundaries, they permit an exchange to take place, while maintaining the authority of each domain (Cash et al., 2003; Clark et al., 2002). The goal is to simulate boundary organizations to assess their impact on the diffusion of experts’ opinions. The hypothesis tested is whether the existence of a boundary organization eases the decision-making process by reducing the number of opinions expressed. The methodology relies on a multi-agent system based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics (Deffuant et al., 2001) extended over two dimensions. The world is defined by two parameters: the uncertainty, that reflects the possible zone of discussion between experts, and the exchange, which represents the openness of discussions. Agents are described by credibility and conviction: the credibility represents how much other agents may be influenced by an agent, and the conviction represents the resistance of an agent to changing its position. Two kinds of agents are left free to interact, modifying their position in their domain (dimension) through one-to-one exchanges. Agents called borgs are introduced: open to trans-disciplinary discussion, they are able to exchange on both dimensions. The results show that the range of expressed opinions is significantly reduced, even at low levels of experts involved in the boundary organization.
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The relevance of sports financing
19-22Views:205According to estimations sports exploit approximately two percent of world GDP. In addition sports represent an important function in culture, socialization and also in education, act an outstanding role in economy, as well, though academic researchers cannot find positive relationship between sports financing and economic growth. Sports were originally civil actions, with non-profit nature, where they did not aspire to reach high returns, but fulfilment of sport itself. However returns can be realized and reinvested in sports. This paper tries to collect the different aspects of sports financing in order to highlight its relevance.
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Changing patterns in hotel room demand – case study of the Aquaticum Debrecen Thermal and Wellness Hotel
43-47Views:160Aquaticum Debrecen Thermal and Wellness Hotel is a very successful lodging property not only in Debrecen but also in the Northern Great Plain Region and in the Eastern part of Hungary and in point of fact in Hungary. In the past years Aquaticum Thermal and Wellness Hotel has been the leader in the region by revenue per available rooms (RevPAR). RevPAR indicates the overall performance of properties, accordingly it is the most commonly used statistical indicator in comparison to competitors in Hotel industry. In the past years, demand for Hotel rooms has changed. This changing has several signs. For instance the occupancy rate, the rate of domestic and foreign guests, the nationality of foreign guests, the time between booking and travelling, and many other demand patterns have changed. During the last year, the changing has been accelerated by the global economic crisis. Guests are waiting with their bookings hoping for better rates and last minute offers. The forecast of demand became much harder than ever before. These forecasts are basic ingredients of the revenue management systems, which systems are in use or will be in use by Hungarian Hotels. These systems are necessary to keep RevPAR at a higher level and to help Hotels to achieve better performance.
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An examination of the organizational culture at the policing
43-50Views:216The subject of this thesis is presentation of the examination related to the organizational culture of the Police, the special law enforcement body which guarantees internal order and public security. The police, at the same time, as armed law enforcement body ensure the order of the economy and its legal security. Security is not only important for the citizens and social organizations, but also for the profit and non-profit organizations. The Police carry out official work, but also provide services that presuppose two types of contact system and modes of management. There were a number of changes in the body of the Police over the past two decades (e.g. accession to the EU, accession to the Schengen area, integration of the Police and the Border Guards, outsourcing certain activities, regionalization of sponsorship activities), in which I have taken part as a manager of the developmental programs. These changes have not only affected the police organization and the approach of the employees, but also the organizational culture. The changes cannot be considered as closed: the Ministry of Interior, governing the Police, takes decisions on organizational changes, but also the managers at the Police play an important role in this process. Under „change” I do not necessarily understand a change in the structure, but also a change in the organizational culture to create support for the reform process, and the option to co-ordinate the diverse structures. The changes have obviously affected the thinking of the managers and the employees, as well as their relationship to the organization. The official duties, including the detection of the crimes (including agricultural and economic crimes), cannot be performed without the day-today cooperation with the bodies of the civil law enforcement, through which the Police may increase the effectiveness of detection of such crimes and thus the citizens’ subjective feeling of security. Therefore, the present thesis aims at the examination of the Police’s organizational culture and its management methods.
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THE EFFECT OF FARMER BUSINESS SCHOOL ON HOUSEHOLD WELFARE: EVIDENCE FROM COCOA FARMERS IN ATWIMA NWABIAGYA NORTH DISTRICT, GHANA
Views:52Farmer Business School (FBS) is an educational programme aimed at improving the knowledge and skills of farmers in various aspects of agriculture, including financial management and marketing. The purpose of the paper is to examine the effect of FBS on household welfare among cocoa producers in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of Ghana. Data was collected from a sample of 330 cocoa farmers, 200 of which participated in the FBS programme and 103 who did not. The study employed a range of statistical techniques to investigate the effect of FBS on cocoa growers, thus, independent samples t-test, binary probit model, Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance and perception index. The results of the study suggest that involvement in the FBS programme has a positive significant influence on household welfare. Cocoa farmers who participated in the programme experienced a significant increase in income and yield, as well as improved overall well-being against those who didn't take part. The research's findings offer evidence that FBS programmes can play a vital role in enhancing the welfare of farmers, particularly in developing nations where agricultural livelihoods play a crucial role in economic growth and poverty reduction. The study highlights the importance of investing in education and training programmes for farmers to improve their skills, knowledge, and overall well-being.
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The connenction between global innovation index and economic well-being indexes
87-92Views:410We study the connection of innovation in 126 countries by different well-being indicators and whether there are differences among geographical regions with respect to innovation index score. We approach and define innovation based on Global Innovation Index (GII). The following well-being indicators were emphasized in the research: GDP per capita measured at purchasing power parity, unemployment rate, life expectancy, crude mortality rate, human development index (HDI). Innovation index score was downloaded from the joint publication of 2018 of Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO, HDI from the website of the UN while we obtained other well-being indicators from the database of the World Bank. Non-parametric hypothesis testing, post-hoc tests and linear regression were used in the study.
We concluded that there are differences among regions/continents based on GII. It is scarcely surprising that North America is the best performer followed by Europe (with significant differences among countries). Central and South Asia scored the next places with high standard deviation. The following regions with significant backwardness include North Africa, West Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean Area, Central and South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Regions lagging behind have lower standard deviation, that is, they are more homogeneous therefore there are no significant differences among countries in the particular region.
In the regression modelling of the Global Innovation Index, it was concluded that GDP per capita, life expectancy and human development index are significant explanatory indicators. In the multivariable regression analysis, HDI remained the only explanatory variable in the final model. It is due to the fact that there was significant multicollinearity among the explanatory variables and the HDI aggregates several non-economic indicators like GII.JEL Classification: B41, I31, O31, Q55
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Impact of CAP’s pillars on Romanian rural employment
75-80Views:129This paper aims to clarify the direction of change in rural employment on short- and medium term in Romania, while CAP regulations are being introduced and the global economic crisis emerges. First we put into evidence the decrease of the role of agriculture as buffer for unemployment and the poor contribution of non-agricultural activities to provide employment for rural residents.Then we analyse the main characteristics of the rural labour force. Finally we synthesize the opinions expressed by 33 consultants (working at the Offices for Agricultural Consultancy from different counties in Transylvania) about the estimated short term evolution of rural employment and the impact of CAP on Romanian rural areas.
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Portuguese agriculture and its role in multifunctional rural development
39-46Views:142Paper aims to demonstrate the ability or inability of Portuguese agriculture to respond to changing economic conditions as well as societal expectations and demands. The main question is to know how the CAP’s evolutions through a policy with a double emphasis – on market orientation and competitiveness and on sustainability.
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Country-specific determinants of horizontal and vertical intra-industry agri-food trade: the case of Bulgaria and Romania
69-75Views:119The article analyses patterns and country-specific determinants of agri-food trade of Bulgaria and Romania with the European Union. As literature focusing on agricultural aspects of the topic is limited, the paper seeks to contribute to the literature by providing up to date results and suggestions as well as by identifying the determinants of horizontal and vertical intra-industry trade of the Bulgaria and Romania after EU accession. Results suggest that intra-industry agri-food trade is mainly of vertical nature, referring to trade of different quality products. Results verify that determinants of horizontal and vertical IIT are similar and suggest that economic size and FDI are positively, while factor endowments and distance are negatively related to both sides of IIT. Results are mainly in line with the majority of empirical literature in the field.
JEL code: Empirical Studies of Trade – F14
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Composite indicators and sustainable development of regional agriculture applied to the Stavropol Territory in Russia
81-88Views:204The aim of this paper is to understand and evaluate agricultural sustainability in the Stavropol Territory by means of a composite indicator. In particular, the paper applies principal component analyses to calculate a composite sustainability index by integration of selected economic, social and environmental indicators. The results demonstrate the utility of analyzing several indicators in conjunction. The results also may indicate which variables influence development of regional agriculture. This information is important in order to design agricultural support policy and to implement an increase the sustainability of the agriculture sector.
JEL Code: O13, Q11
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