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Market power analysis in Mongolian wheat industry
71-76Views:241Mongolia has been in transition from a planned economy to a market economy for more than 20 years. In many sectors of the economy, it is necessary to define which market mechanisms exist. Grain occupies important economic sector in Mongolian economy. The current state of the wheat market has been studied based on NEIO research methods. In this study, the data for years from 2000 to 2017 and from 2007 to 2017 about wheat and wheat seed sector were taken through 6 indicators. We estimated the supply and demand functions for wheat and wheat seed. Using these functions, we defined market behavior, cost function, price elasticities, and market equilibrium. The capacity setting for product prices of wheat producers is weak, and this market is likely free-style competition.
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Public Work - an International Outlook
125-132Views:210Labour market policy includes active and passive labour market programmes, aiming to solve different problems. Active labour market programmes assist the unemployed to find jobs and thus return to the labour market. Passive labour market programmes assist the unemployed by providing various kinds of aid, easing social tensions. Public work can be considered to be an active labour market programme, assisting people who receive social care with income based on public beneficial work. Consequently, public work is justified by some on the basis that it is purported to have some kind of moral foundation, as well as because it supposedly shows results within a short time. Yet, the rationale behind using public work programmes to fight unemployment is contested. Detractors see them as being rather costly, questioning their success and arguing that their overall results are uncertain, especially in the long run. In short, there are in fact pros and cons to using public work, with opinions being rather divisive. This study summarises these pros and cons, analysing the relevant international and Hungarian literatures in the context of active labour market programmes.
JEL Classification: I38
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On tests for long memory process behavior of international tourism market: Thailand and India
95-99Views:147In our research we examine the behaviour of both Thailand’s and India’s international tourism market by using long-memory analysis. The international tourism market of Thailand combined with seven groups such as East Asia, Europe, The Americas, South Asia, Oceania, Middle East and Africa. Similarly, the international tourism market of India combined with nine countries: USA, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Sri Lanka. Moreover, three statistical tests for long-memory process such as R/S test, Modified R/S test and GPH-test are employed to study these markets. The empirical findings in general provide more support for long memory process in international tourism market of Thailand and evidence for short-term dependence in international tourism market of India. Therefore, the policy makers of each country should understand the behaviour of long memory process in international tourism market before launching any stimulating campaign to this industry.
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On tests for long-term dependence: India’s international tourism market
77-81Views:121There have been growing interest in studying behavior of long memory process in tourism market. In this research examine the behavior of India’s international tourism market based on long-memory analysis. The international tourism market of India combined with nine countries: USA, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Sri Lanka. Moreover, three statistical tests for longmemory process such as R/S test, Modified R/S test and GPH-test are employed to test in these market. The empirical findings in general provide more support for no long memory process or no long-term dependence in international tourism market of India.
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On tests for long-term dependence: India ’s international tourism market
109-113Views:137There have been growing interest in studying behavior of long memory process in tourism market. In this research examine the behavior of India’s international tourism market based on long-memory analysis. The international tourism market of India combined with nine countries: USA, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Sri Lanka. Moreover, three statistical tests for longmemory process such as R/S test, Modified R/S test and GPH-test are employed to test in these market. The empirical findings in general provide more support for no long memory process or no long-term dependence in international tourism market of India.
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Effect of Quality Assurance Deficit on Market Competitiveness for Export Commodities and Household Income in Nigeria
103-108Views:122The Nigerian’s agricultural sub-sector contributes about 37 percent of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs about 65 per cent of the adult labour force. It is thus the major source of food and fibre for the nation. However, there are increasing concerns about the quality and level of safety of many of the agricultural export commodities, particularly in the European markets due to the composition of high level of unauthorized pesticides. This is a major challenge to the level of market competitiveness for these commodities in the international markets. This study therefore examined the effect of quality assurance deficit on market competitiveness and household income levels. Trends in Nigeria’s agricultural export trade between 1980 and 2014 were examined and emphasis was placed on cowpea, dried maize, melon seeds and palm oil. Descriptive and qualitative statistical methods were used to analyze the data. Quantitative statistics included the use of econometric models. Results indicated that there was an increase in the general price level of the commodities at the international market over time. The aggregate market demand for each of them dropped sharply in the last one decade even when the market price per unit increased steadily. This negatively affected the households’ average income level as returns on sales of export commodities declined. Huge quantities of the commodities were then forced to be sold at the local markets at cheaper prices. This development negatively affects the consumptions patterns of the exporters as they now have reduced disposable income. Appropriate agencies of government need to be awake to their responsibilities of assessing and certifying the quality of the Nigerian agricultural commodities before exporting them abroad. This will help to further boost the level of consumer confidence in these export commodities especially at the international markets.
JEL Classification: Q13
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Swot analysis and identification of the needs, potential and development strategies of the fruit and vegetable sector in Montenegro
15-20Views:195Fruit and vegetable production in Montenegro benefits from naturally favourable conditions in terms of climate, soil and water resources. Such conditions enable high quality fruit, vegetables and vines to be grown, and fruit and vegetable production and viticulture have a long tradition as well as the cultivation of a wide assortment of produce. A significant number of Montenegrin households therefore deal with horticultural and wine production, although on a small-scale. Along with the global market trends, the level of domestic consumption, the expected evolution of the distribution system in Montenegro and the planned dynamic developments in the tourist sector, these natural conditions contribute to creating basic conditions for the development of the considered sector. Market opportunities are favourable and represent an additional contributing factor towards its development. In spite of the favourable climate for production in this sector and the supportive market opportunities, the real value of Montenegrin products at sector level is quite low. We conduct a SWOT analysis of the sector aimed to find out its potential as well as the needs of the sector. Our starting hypothesis is that the potential of this sector in Montenegro is greater than current activity/production, and that suitable strategies can provide higher results in this sector. The main outcome of this paper will be our suggestions for improvement within the sector. The SWOT analysis will be completed according to the PESTEL categorisation, after which Opportunities and Threats will be grouped into three major strategic categories: “New market trends”, “Sector financing” and “Structure and functioning of the value chain”. The SWOT analysis outcomes, when regarded alongside a review of global market trends and domestic production potential, lead to strategies for the improvement of the sector.
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Statistical and multi-criteria decision making analysis for consumer attitude and behavior: in case of Mongolian organic food market
31-38Views:465Nowadays, consumers have a full of knowledge on products and services, and their daily consumption of healthy and environmentally friendly products has been increasing. Therefore, businesses need to implement green marketing activities, so they need to be aware of environmental issues and consumer needs while maintaining financial sustainability and competitiveness. (Belz & Karstens, 2002). Examples are the rapid growth of organic food products, as consumers are concerned with their health and environmental issues in their day-to-day purchasing decisions. Over 20 years ago, in 1999, the market for organic food products sales was $ 15.2 billion, while sales in 2017 increased to $ 97 billion, indicating that the world's organic food market is growing rapidly. The organic food market is growing by $5 billion a year, and as of 2014, 172 countries have organic food farm land according to the “The World of Organic Agriculture”. Since the market for organic products is a new market for Mongolia, previous surveys in are relatively small. Therefore, this is aimed at conducting a study on behavioral approaches of consumers of organic food products in Ulaanbaatar. We have run statistical and multi-criteria decision making analysis based on given data of consumers. We also apply Harker’s techniques for complete and incomplete evaluation matrices which are defined from consumers decision making. Numerical examples are presented.
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Hungarian endeavours for the enhancement of economic relations in Southeast Asia focusing on a new partnership with Vietnam
5-12Views:256Beyond a brief review of the economic integration process among the states of the ASEAN region, the authors of the present study aimed to examine and analyze the main economic, social and political characteristics of the Hungaro-ASEAN relations. The importance of the topic of this research is underlined by the fact that the Hungarian government considers big importance to the improvement of the foreign economic relations with Asian economies. This intention was expressed by a new foreign economic strategy „Eastern opening” announced by the government in 2012, even though the foreign trade statistical figures did not justify its success by now.The authors believe that increasing opening towards Asia serves Hungarian economic interests. Therefore, it is a right and desirable direction to proceed, they consider that in the background of the modest results there might be the insufficient knowledge of the market mechanisms, the actors of the local supply chains and the potential partners. They believe that in order to make the Hungarian foreign economic endeavours in this direction more successful a more thorough examination of the local characteristics – including the actual demand arising at the targeted markets - is necessary. This opinion is prevalent to not only the Asian „Giants”, like China, India and Japan, but also to smaller states, like the ASEAN members, which – together - in terms of population and economic performance – reach the dimensions of an economic great power as well.
Furthermore, the integration of the ten Southeast Asian countries develops rapidly, which is coupled by their increasing weight in the world trade. The dynamic economic and social development in the ASEAN region – and in parallel with this the growing demands and purchasing power - may encourage the Hungarian ventures in theory. However, there are still very few Hungarian entrepreneurs, who are ready to enter the market in the region and able in long run to operate there successfully. It is a well-known fact that the since the regime has changed in Hungary, foreign trade became strongly concentrated towards the EU members.
The ASEAN countries – because of the geographic distance and by other reasons - definitely cannot mean an alternative of the EU market, however in a certain extent they can relieve this one-sided concentration and may provide additional opportunities for the Hungarian export of goods, and rather to the export of Hungarian services and know-how. The ratio of the ASEAN region within the entire Hungarian foreign trade turnover is small nowadays, furthermore – according to the statistical figures – this region is rather an import resource for Hungary than being an export market. This fact – just itself – is should not be considered as problem. When the amount of the import exceeds the amount of exports, that means that it is more worthwhile to do business with suppliers from there countries than with others. By and large all this is prevalent to the field of the agricultural trade as well: Hungary imports a range of commodities which cannot be produced by domestic farmers or in Europe (spices, tropical fruits, etc.). It is obvious that the ASEAN region cannot be the major market for the Hungarian agricultural export, not even in long run. However, there are still a lot of opportunities to enlarge the turnover of goods and services and enhance the co-operation in this geographic region. In the last chapter, the authors outlined an example in case of Vietnam – co-operation of joint public warehousing of agricultural commodities – which may be a good example for the promising potential opportunities. In contrast with the majority of the ASEAN countries, the Hungaro-Vietnamese political and economic relations had started much earlier than the regime was changed in Hungary. However, the potential advantages arose from this fact – the network of connections and the sympathy of Vietnamese professionals graduated in Hungary, the reputation and popularity of Hungarian agricultural products and technologies, the achievements of R&D in the field of agriculture – could not be utilized from Hungarian side. Vietnam, however still preserved its socialist political establishment, but in terms of its economic development strategy and economic policy has gradually been standing on the basis of market orientation. Vietnam, with its population of ninety million shows a rapid and successful development and it means good opportunities even for Hungarian entrepreneurs. It would be a mistake to leave these potentials unused.JEL Classification: F14, Q17, R11, N75
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Competetiveness of the Montenegrin fruit and vegetables sector and recommendtations for impovement
69-75Views:97A number of facts, primarily including high fragmentation at all levels, weak vertical integration, limited dimensions in comparison to competitors poor technological level and unbalanced quality/price ratio make the sector weak, low competitive and exposed to international competition, reducing its capacity to capture any existing market potential. Almost all opportunities are frozen by prevailing weaknesses and threat impacts are exacerbated by a largely prevailing number of weaknesses. High production unit cost appears to be a major constraint to local supply market competitiveness. This situation appears to be mainly caused by general low levels of productivity – provoked by not adequate and up-to-date cultivation practices, reduced levels of input use, utilisation of old and, therefore, less performing varieties, and also farm management shortcomings. High losses from reduced availability of post-harvest facilities and equipment add up to the problem. The improvement of the sector is not easy. In other words, there is a lot to do for the Montenegrin sector operators to increase sales: tackle imports and increase market shares in the domestic market and abroad. Based on our research, we suggest that the Montenegrin fruit and vegetable sector should primarily aim at substituting imports, increasing domestic consumption and developing exports to the region (CEFTA countries) primarily via promising market opportunities. Based on our analyses of the state of affairs of the sector, the competitiveness and the market potentials, the recommendations for improvement competitiveness are outlined.
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Price risk management using by a specified futures model
97-101Views:106The principal achievement of this paper is to introduce the operation of a specified ‘Futures’ model and it’s practice for decision makers of financial institutes through an example based on the price data’s of grain futures market from EU assessment 2004 to these days in Hungary. Based on a theoretical foundation, the calculation model was developed in order to assist short and long-term marketing decisions. The economical basis of the model is the combinative use of two market institutions: public warehousing and futures market. This electronically developed and working model ‘using excel background ‘allows all of the participants of the market: producers, consumers,banks and traders, to use this model in immediate calculations. In addition it helps in order to establish the own business strategy. The model can be used to analyze price influencing factors therefore; it can also be used for policy-making decisions for market participants as well as banks dealing with trade financing activity.
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Trends on the Artificial Fertilizer Market and in Fertilizers Use in Hungary
5-12Views:267The fertilizer market in Hungary is rather concentrated, which has a strong influence on the price of the fertilizer. Our domestic fertilizer use is primarily determined by that of nitrogen. The use of phosphorus is also significant but the trends in the use of potassium do not match the total quantities applied in individual years. Consequently, it can be concluded that the majority of farmers still focus on the application of nitrogen and also apply phosphorus but either neglect or do not pay enough attention to potassium fertilization. The changes in fertilizer prices between 2006 and 2017 can be broken down into two periods. Until 2012 a very important and dynamic increase was observed as a result of which the prices of N, P and K fertilizers increased by 80-120%, 160% and about 120%, respectively. This was followed by a downturn in the market and in relation to 2012 prices there were 20-30/ decreases experienced until 2017 but the rate of this lagged behind the prices in other European countries. Owing to this trend the prices of N, P and K have increased by 60%, 100% and 80%, respectively, over the past ten years. The correlation between fertilizer application and the prices of fertilizers in any given year is low but there is a positive one observed between fertilizer application and the fertilizer prices in the preceding year. This means supposedly that farmers mostly buy the fertilizers they wish to apply not in the current but in the preceding year and store them until these are applied. There is a strong correlation seen between fertilizer prices and the prices of corn and wheat, which means that fertilizer traders also keep tabs on economic results and also increase fertilizer prices under the influence of higher prices. Furthermore, it can be claimed that there is no correlation between crude oil prices on the world market and domestic N fertilizer prices. This is an important factor since the primary base material of N fertilizers is natural gas and their production involves considerable energy costs as well. It can be seen, however, that this is not what determines our domestic fertilizer prices, which can be explained by the fact that the price calculations by the determining actors on the Hungarian fertilizer market is not based on costs but on the demand.
JEL Classification: Q13
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Historic landmarks in the development of Agricultural Land Market in Poland after the year 1989
41-44Views:158For a number of decades in the second half of the XXth century, agricultural land has been divided in Poland between three sectors: family, state owned and cooperative farms, with a dominating share of private, individual farmers in land use. As a result, ownership structure of agricultural land in Poland is quite unique among the former socialist Central and East European countries. Until the year1989, when the transformation to a market economy was initiated, the land market in Poland was almost non-existent. The State Land Fund(SLF), an institution created in 1944 was fordecades a substitute to land market. Originally, the Fund was responsible for the implementation of the land reform. After nationalization or confiscation of real estates, state farms have been established on a larger part of agricultural land under Fund’s management. Therest has been divided between formerfarm workers and small farmers owing less than 5 hectares of land.
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Romanian insurance business trends and the International crisis effects on it
17-20Views:113Is it interesting a 2 billion euro insurance market for the “old” Europe? “Not very much” one may say considering this figure represents no more than 16% of the insurance turn-over in the case of the most recent entry in the Romanian market, Groupama.The answer is still not as simple as that because “interesting” in business terms is not only about today, but very much about tomorrow. By the end of 2007 it was obvious that the Romanian insurance market is far from calming down. Not only that for the time being change is still the main real constant in use, but figures show that the market environment becomes more challenging than ever these days. The market situation showed that this allegation it was by that time more likely to be true than ever.
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Exploring the value of brands on the montenegrin bottled spring water market
39-41Views:141The branding strategy is based on future goals relating to clients, aimed at increasing awareness of the brand, creating a positive brand image and establishing a preference for the brand and ensuing brand loyalty. A brand is a very important factor for competitiveness and establishes a leadership position in the market, given the major impact that this form of intellectual property has on the perception of consumers and the success of innovative products on the market. The bottled water market has increased by about 35% in the last five years on the global level, dictated by young consumers who are becoming increasingly aware of the significance of proper nutrition in maintaining health. The research presents qualitative information on the market value of bottled water brands, the general characteristics of retailers, as well as on their target customers. The main task of this paper is to confirm the usefulness of marketing research in modern business as well as to present the benefits of brand value measurement to current or future brand owners. It is to be hoped that the results presented in this paper may serve as a good basis for upgrading marketing activities, based on a better understanding of target customers and their particular needs, through better communication for the purpose of stronger corporate branding.
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Labour market attributes of disabled people in Hungary
119-122Views:114Nowadays employment is an evergreen topic in Europe. The North Great Plain Region of Hungary is a typical rural area in Hungary, the unemployment rate is higher in this region as the national average, that’s why it is important, to give the possibility of job for the people living in rural areas. This paper focuses on the relationship between the disabled and the labour market in the North Great Plain Region of Hungary. On the basis of the 8/1983 Hungarian Law many kinds of supplies are provided by the State for people living with disabilities. It is very difficult to provide jobs for these people after their rehabilitation. Statistical figures show that the highest ratio of ‘people living with disabilities’ can be found in the North Great Plain Region of Hungary (30 per cent of the total number of ‘people living with disabilities’). The research focuses on special rehabilitation firms (they are specialised to employ disabled employers) and their employees. Two questionnaires for the above mentioned firms and their employees were created in order to gather information on their activities as well as relationship between the firms and its employees. Altogether 400 employees filled in the questionnaires. The current study shows the results of this survey. It can be stated that this paper shows the relationship between the employment and the types of enterprises, and disabled workers’ qualification level, the need for further education. According to the latest trends we analyse the attitude to the rehabilitation of people living with disabilities and how they will be able to work again not only in ‘rehabilitation firms’. After summarizing all claims of participants we can make an impression in this area and demonstrate the problems for the labour market generally.
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Structured commodity finance
77-83Views:250Over 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.
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Interrelation of Large-Scale Property Development Project and the Local Real Estate Market. Evidence from Hungary
37-46Views:203The 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
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Importance of the generic segment of thye plant protection products – the case of the Polish market
25-33Views:161Authors present results of the analysis of developments in the plant protection products industry, with a focus on its generic part. Authors concentrate on long-term changes of prices, volumes and values of generic pesticides launched into the market. There were two strategic groups of producers identified: research and development (R&D) and generic. The analyses conducted prove that there is a relationship between the amount of generic products on the market and their prices. It is also clear that the number of competitors significantly influences the speed and range of price erosion. Used as examples generic plant protection products were placed on the market with an average price 15% lower comparing to branded pesticides.
JEL code: M31
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TRENDS IN HONEY CONSUMPTION AND PURCHASING HABITS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Views:343Honey is a staple food of animal origin, with many beneficial properties, so the study of consumption and purchasing habits is an important issue. The main aim of our research is to present the market situation and conditions of the domestic beekeeping sector from the consumer's point of view. We considered it appropriate to present the beekeeping market because the European Union is the second largest honey producer in the world and Hungary is the largest honey producer in the EU. Thus, global and EU trade changes, market trends and changes in consumer habits are significant factors influencing the domestic situation. The market situation is presented through a review of the relevant domestic and foreign literature, and statistical databases (EU Member States' honey programmes, KSH, OMME, Statista databases and reports) are analysed. The research aims to find out the direction of honey consumption and purchasing patterns and trends in European honey consumption. We chose an online questionnaire survey method to assess consumption and purchasing habits in Hungary and present the results in comparison with similar Hungarian studies. To analyse the situation in Europe, we have collected and analysed relevant research reports, primary and secondary studies from several EU countries. Finally, the data from each country are compared, highlighting similarities and differences.
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TREND ANALYSIS OF UGANDA’S COFFEE SECTOR
Views:432Coffee (Coffea arabica and C. canephora) is an important commercial crop globally, and the second most traded global commodity by developing nations after oil. Uganda is among the top 10 coffee exporters worldwide, and second in Africa. The total export amounted to 301,366 tons of “green” coffee in 2021, forming the second-largest commodity export, and contributing about 12.4% to Uganda’s total formal exports. However, the country’s overall performance over time remains unclear given the fluctuations in production and export prices. This study aimed to evaluate the production and export trends of Uganda’s coffee sector by: (i) defining the overall direction of coffee production and export value, (ii) assessing the market variability, and (iii) evaluating the global cross-cutting issues regarding coffee production and export. Data was extracted from FAOSTAT and Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) databases. Trends were analysed using the Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Slope test, while market variability was analyzed using the fixed base index (FBI) and coefficient of variation. VOSviewer software was used to analyze literature from the Web of Science database to highlight cross-cutting issues. Results indicated a significant positive increase in coffee production and export value (p = 0.0001, Slope = 1736.67 tons and p = 0.001, Slope = 4.44 million USD) respectively. Among the top ten coffee producers, Uganda presented the third worst unstable coffee export value with a 20.1% coefficient of variation. Fairtrade, climate change, and certification were the most outstanding global cross-cutting issues. Market stabilization mechanisms should be developed through value addition by establishing coffee processing and roasting plants, as well as strategic governance and policy support to counter emerging global challenges such as climate change.
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Croatian wine market, support policy and specific obstacles to wine exports
19-22Views:174In this paper, analysis of Croatian wine sector in period 2006-2013 is conducted through the record of wine production, exports and imports together with Government support measures. In the light of Croatian EU membership together with opening of EU wine market and global wine market, recommendations for further discussion of support measures for small and medium winemakers are given.
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Empirical research on corporate strategies in Hungarian dairy industry
169-179Views:199Corporate strategy has never been as important as it is nowadays. Markets are changing rapidly because of consumer demands, innovations, information flow and economic changes. Our paper concentrates on Hungarian dairy industry (hereinafter dairy) and four main objectives were defined to be analysed: (1) domestic dairy company features, (2) main strategic characteristics, (3) how companies’ strategy resonates on the consumer side and (4) companies’ financial background were analysed as well. A company database was made in order to prepare for the primary research and to understand better the nature of today’s market. B2B (26 companies) and B2C (503 people) surveys were used in order to gain primary data. In 2017 132 Hungarian companies were observed in milk processing, but 44% of the market participants are not present in dairy competition. It is a fairly fragmented market structure because 10-20% of the annual turnover is accumulated among the 80-90% of competitors. The factor analysis of the data proved that the dairy companies followed m strategies at the same time; and it is assumed that most of them are unconscious. Strategically, the majority of the dairy sector is not up-to-date and modern enough. SMEs sector management skills and strategic preparedness are considered to be out-of-date and insufficient. Strategic planning can possibly have an influence on financial results, which was only partly proved by the analysed criteria system. The production and use of own raw milk supplies might make companies experience financial benefits. Nearly 78% of the respondents would rather purchase goods made from own raw material. The willingness to pay a higher price for this was in average 5-15%.
JEL Code: L1, L66
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Smallholder Food Marketing Behaviour: Exploring the Role of Informal Credit and Traders in Stabilization of Food Crop Prices
67-82Views:132Many farmers in Africa sell their produce at low prices immediately after harvest because they need cash. They could solve temporary liquidity constraints by use of credit and store their produce to sell when prices are high. However, due to various reasons such many poor farmers have been excluded from formal financial services. In response, the informal financial market has expanded, but the question why informal credit has not facilitated storage to enable farmers benefit from intertemporal arbitrage opportunities remains largely unanswered. To answer this question, we investigate the role of informal credit markets and traders in stabilizing seasonal food crop prices. Our analysis is based on a household survey data, and in-depth interviews with key players in the informal credit market and grain traders in rural southwestern Uganda. We find that community-based self-help savings and credit associations provide credit for the majority (62%) of farmers. Informal credit still excludes the very poor and is not sufficient to enable farmers benefit from intertemporal arbitrage opportunities. Thus, poor farmers continue to ‘sell low and buy high’. The study also addresses a related fundamental aspect of food marketing: why is there no competition between traders bidding up prices after harvest and eliminating seasonal price fluctuations? We analyse traders’ costs and profit structure in the study area, and shed some light on imperfections in the grain market and the barriers that limit competition between traders. We find that grain trade is not highly competitive. High transaction costs and limited access to credit are the main barriers limiting competition. Supporting community-based self-help savings and credit associations to raise their portfolio can enable more farmers to borrow at the same time. Investing in infrastructure, organising and supporting small scale farmers to bulk their produce might lower transaction costs, promote competition and dampen price fluctuations.
JEL Classification: D53, O13, O16, Q12, Q13
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Poultry sector analysis in Albania
Views:325Meat production, in specific poultry meat is a very important product for protein and nutrition values for many consumers. With the urbanization of the population people’s diet is shifting towards meat overall, including processed poultry. This has increased the challenges of quality and control over the meat products. (RAIHAN AND MAHMUD, 2018) In general, poultry remains a problematic sector in Albania, with the most common issue being the quality and not the European Union standards and regulations. This paper analysis the egg and poultry products livestock and productions, importing and exporting trends on poultry products, and the potential of development of this sector in the single market of European Union by improving the sector. This study gives an overview in poultry subsector related to livestock and production, international trades, and their market trends. It highlights the supply chain in poultry that can be helpful for poultry businesses and government. It also provides valuable information regarding the impact of quality issues in international market, also the structure of the market for poultry is conducted. Also, the imports and exports on poultry subsector trends and comparison was conducted. The study also consisted of calculations of index number CPI, which indicates the changes in consumer purchasing power.
JEL code: D1
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