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The empirical examination of changes related to value drivers in the effects of the 2007-2008 crisis
31-35Views:319The article brings into the focus the corporate value creation and the main value drivers. The first goal of the study is to classify the most relevant value drivers, and their function of the firms’ value. Further objective of this paper is to present the effects of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. This article demonstrates the following. The first part introduces the value chain and illustrates the primary and the support activities of the companies. The second section briefly presents the 2007-2008 global economic crisis, introducing its causes, events and financial aspects. The third empirical part of the paper analyses the database featuring data from 18 European countries, 10 sectors and 1553 firms in the period between 2004 and 2011. At the end, the fourth part contains conclusions. Based on the related literature reviewed and in the conducted empirical research it can be assessed that 2008 can be seen unambiguously as the year of the crisis. In this year, all independent variables had a negative effect on the dependent variable.
JEL code: P40
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Renewable energy resources in Hungary – solid biomass utilization in terms of necessity and opportunity
75-78Views:345In the 21st century a country’s success significantly depends on how it can solve the problems (supply safety, growing prices, climate change, etc.) induced by the application structure of the fossil energy sources with the means of energy saving, energy efficiency and the utilization of renewable energy resources. The utilization of renewable energy sources has positive effects on five key areas: environment protection, energy policies, fulfilment of EU expectations, agriculture and rural development and on the whole of the national economy. The bioenergy – beside fulfilling the national economic aims – it is putting up the value of the role of agriculture and rural development. The role of agriculture is multi-functional in the process. The agricultural sector has an important task in the area of bioenergy to ensure the proper quality and quantity of raw materials for the increase of bioenergy utilization. This also means new sales perspectives and opportunities for the producers. Above all this, the agricultural policy aims for the agriculture and the rural development segment to be the unambiguous winner of the new bioenergy sector and for most of the available profit to stay with the agricultural sector, with the rural players. For this reason encouraging the raw material production it wishes to encourage the producer their primary process and their local utilization. One of the fundamental objectives of the measures is that agriculture should go beyond the raw material production and take steps towards processing and utilization. The multifunctional role in the product chain might mean extra income and more added value for the producers and the active players in the process. The other objective is to promote the local utilization, the scatter of the environmentally friendly energy sources in rural areas, to change the energy is “lying on the ground unutilized” principle while local processing and promoting the utilization, to achieve a lower energy dependency and to optimize and disseminate cost efficient solutions. To realize all this means a great task and a huge challenge for the agricultural government as well as the rural societies and micro regions but might lead to a successful rural development. The range of the tools and measures to fulfil the aims might be very broad, from the regulating instruments to the various subsidies, coordination and dissemination tools. Part of the subsidy schemes are direct production-type of subsidies (the so called direct payments, for example the area based subsidies) and the other main forms are the investment-type subsidies which are for technology development, promotion of competitive production and local processing and for establishing a green energy industry. In the period of 2007-2013 the key elements of the development schemes were drafted in the frame of the New Hungary Rural Development Programme (ÚMVP) and the Environmental Energy Operational Program (KEOP). The available raw materials and the conditions are taken into consideration while designing the development schemes because a successful realization of a product chain means the assurance of the inputs and outputs. The starting point of determining the development direction is the principle of an operation which is sustainable and economical on the long run. In addition such developments are considered reasonable which are viable on medium and long term and bring numerous rural development, environmental and societal returns.
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The analysis of agro-economic effects of household food wastage through the example of bread
9-18Views:432In our busy world, where numerous people starve and where the resources are restricted, it is a key issue to pay particular attention to the topic of prevention and decrease of food loss as well as food wastage.Wastage of food produced and delivered to the end user (customer) is an issue arising globally and nationally as well, which results in efficiency loss at economic level in any case. While the FAO study mentions food waste of the order of 1.3 billion tonnes on a world scale, then the annual quantity of food waste in Hungary is estimated at about 1.8 million tonnes, which contains the waste of every member of the chain from production to consumption. On the basis of the data published by the Hungarian Food Bank (2015), the amount of food waste caused by the population is 400 000 tonnes. In compliance with our objectives, inputs – expressed by non-financial and financial indicators – emerge during production are assigned to the quantity of wasted food. Applying the aforementioned method we would like to make customers realize how many resources (land, water, artificial fertilizer, pesticide, seed and gasoil) are utilized needlessly in food verticum by the end products – at present by different breads they throw out. As our calculations prove by 10% waste of breads the utilization of 5 300 hectares of wheat land and 660 hectares of rye land can be considered unnecessary. By 10% waste of breads the financial value of the utilized resources is altogether 3.25 million EUR. Out of this the financial value of utilized artificial fertilizer is 1.10 million EUR (34%), of utilized pesticide is 1.15 million EUR (35%), of utilized gasoil is 0.70 million EUR (22%) and of utilized seed is 0.30 million EUR (9%). Among different breads, white bread is purchased in the greatest volume by the Hungarian households, from which 121 900 tonnes are bought annually on an average. This quantity is equal to almost the 40% of the annual bread sell. If 10% of purchased white bread is thrown out, it results in useless utilization of 2 676 hectares of wheat land in food verticum. The quantity of utilized water arising form wastage is 15.8 million m3. Further losses emerge as regards material inputs: artificial fertilizer- to the value of 0.50 million EUR, pesticide- to the value of 0.58 million EUR, seed to the value of 0.15 million EUR and gasoil-loss to the value of circa 0.35 million EUR. Totally, material input to the value of 1.58 million EUR is owing to the Hungarian households in case of 10% white bread wastage.
JEL code: Q53
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Exploitation of relations among the players of the mutton product cycle
129-134Views:466The 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.
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Vertical price transmission analysis: the case of milk in the Slovak dairy sector
89-96Views:393Testing for nature price transmission and calculating elasticities of price transmission are important areas of research for providing insights into market efficiency issues. Symmetric or asymmetric price transmission has been the subject of considerable attention in agricultural economics. The concept of the price transmission is an important area of the research particularly in relation to the assessment of impact on the welfare of the vertical entities. The main goal of the paper is an analysis of the price transmission and its exploitation in case of price elasticity estimation in dairy sector. Work investigates vertical price transmission of milk in the Slovak agri-food chain. The research is based on Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) of the selected commodities at producer, processor and consumer level and the estimation of the parameters specified in the model. Moreover the paper determines the coefficient of elasticity of price transmission (EPT).
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Co-innovation: what are the success factors?
29-36Views:287The problem we address in this paper is that in projects focusing on public-private cooperation to stimulate innovation in the Netherlands, initiatives often lack continuation after the study-phase. We extracted possible influencing variables from business and (transaction) cost economic theorizing, stakeholder and capability theory. Moreover, we used measures for classifying projects with respect to financial interdependencies between participants. We supposed that project characteristics influence managerial behavior to continue or stop. We studied 28 projects (20 supply chain projects and 8 biological product development projects). Our aim was to explore the barriers and success factors for these co-innovation projects: innovation as a cooperative effort between public sector/research institute and private organization(s). We derived data from project descriptions and performed semi-structured interviews with project informants. Critical to success appears to be ex ante commitment of all parties. Goal congruence, both at a personal and a company level, and proportionality of sharing in project results are of decisive importance to establish such commitment. Estimations about financial project results should be made in an early stage; they should be used as a basis for negotiations on the (re)distribution of costs and benefits, especially if the value added is disproportionally distributed over the participants. Ideally, project teams of co-innovation projects should bring in complementary capabilities: technical, marketing, financial and organizational. Project governance should therefore be organized in such a way that the knowledge gaps are filled in before kick-off.
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Economics of GM crop cultivation
7-19Views:466Asynchronous approval of new GM crops across international jurisdictions is of growing concern due to its potential impact on global trade. Different countries have different authorisation procedures and, even if regulatory dossiers are submitted at the same time, approval is not given simultaneously (in some cases, delays can even amount to years). For instance, by mid-2009 over 40 transgenic events were approved or close to approval elsewhere but not yet approved – or not even submitted – in the EU.Yet, like some other jurisdictions,the EU also operates a zero-tolerance policy to even the smallest traces of nationally unapproved GM crops (so-called low-level presence). The resultant rejection of agricultural imports has already caused high economic losses and threatens to disrupt global agri-food supply chains. The risk that feed supplies could be affected by a low-level presence of non-EU approved GM material could be resolved if the EU allowed a tolerance for this, rather than operating a strict zero tolerance as now. The Commission has undertaken to come forward with a nonlegislative technical solution to address the difficulties created by a strict zero tolerance policy. To what extent this would be helpful will depend on the nature of the proposed solution.
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A comparison of the Hungarian mangalitza and dutch organic pork chains
73-76Views:307The aim of this paper is to present the Hungarian mangalitza pig and Dutch organic pig supply chains and, in interrogating the differences between the two sectors, to make suggestions for the efficient operation of the Hungarian mangalitza breeding sector. The information about the two was sourced by a depth interview and literature reviews. It is established that there are few similarities between the two segments. In both sectors, the pigs are kept outdoors in large paddocks, there are also National Associations: in Hungary, the Association of Mangalitza Breeders (NAMB), in The Netherlands, the Organic Pork Growers. They hold a general meeting every year, where they discuss issues such as volume, quality, price, marketing and the future challenges and opportunities. There is strong demand both for the mangalitza and also for Dutch organic pork products on foreign markets. The main difference between them is their information systems. In The Netherlands, information flows via FarmingNet, but in the mangalitza sector, no such system exists. Yet, such a system would represent a breaking point for the adequate flow of data and efficient production for the NAMB, because then, Hungarian farmers would be forced to supply data.
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The status of agricultural financing by commercial banks in Zimbabwe
45-56Views:608Agricultural finance is indispensable for enhancing productive capacity in both small-scale and commercial farming. This study sought to establish the current status of agricultural financing by 12 registered and operational commercial banks in Zimbabwe in the year 2019. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data. SPSS and NVivo were used for data analysis. All the commercial banks participated in agricultural financing with an average agricultural loan portfolio of 30%. However, their participation in agricultural lending is yet to reach the pre-land reform maximum of 91.3% attained in 1999. Land tenure and weather risks, as well as lack of collateral among farmers reduced the banks’ appetite for lending to the agricultural sector. The majority of the commercial banks offered value chain finance, invoice finance, overdraft facilities, and term loans to agricultural sector clients that mainly included; suppliers, medium-scale, and large-scale commercial farmers. The study established a mismatch in the demand and supply of loans in the medium to long term tenure range of 1 to more than 3 years. There was low demand for 1-3-year tenure loans according to the commercial banks, and a corresponding deficit in the supply of highly demanded longer-term loans of more than 3 years for capital expenditure (CAPEX). Therefore, government should aim to; stabilize currency; arrest hyperinflation; restore economic stability; address land tenure to ensure the bankability of the 99-year Lease; and create an environment that is conducive for investment in climate and weather resilience infrastructure. Local farmers should also invest in human and physical capital to improve their access to bank credit.
JEL Code: Q14
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Integration Efforts in Agriculture
91-96Views:322The 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
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Poultry sector analysis in Albania
Views:594Meat 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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Agri-environmental management and rural development: Hungary after EU accession
35-40Views:281In Hungary, similarly to developed countries, the share of agriculture in the GDP has declined. Even so, preparation of the sector’s long term strategy is crucial, as the role of agriculture exceeds the results represented in the GDP. Environmental and social functions of agriculture are revaluated in developed countries, and consumers at the end of the food chain actually govern the entire process. This is why information plays an increasingly important role, and gives signals (Verbeke, 2005) to the actors in the economy and society. This research area is diverse (including agricultural policy, environmental policy, rural development and sustainable development), and so I applied an interdisciplinary approach and conducted an integrated examination. The results show that in recent decades, the pressure of agriculture on the environment has been lower in Hungary than in the EU-15 and agri-environmental measures have taken hold in all types of land-use systems, even though they are more important in protected areas. Although this development provides a good basis for a long term strategy social capital has lost strength (Csath, 2002), so fostering the creation of internal and external rural networks – one instrument for this could be the Leader programme – is essential for sustainable rural development.
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GENDER-BASED FINANCIAL ACCESS IN LIBERIA'S FISHING INDUSTRY
Views:99One essential component of the competitive operation of the fishing industry is the availability of finance. Access to finance is an important issue, but women's access to finance is more critical than men's. The study's objective is to emphasize gendered experiences with financial need, access to and selection of financial services, and service providers among Liberian actors in the fish industry. The study collected and analyzed data using a cross-sectional design. The research used primary data collection methods. Workers in Liberia's artisanal fishing value chain, both men and women, were the main population of interest. Respondents were chosen for the study using a two-stage sampling technique. Purposive sample of counties and random sampling of respondents were the two components of the two-stage sampling strategy. For the study, 278 men and women fish actors were selected as respondents using the random sampling technique. This study employed quantitative methodologies for data collection. From the findings, access to financial products is generally limited for fish actors. Nonetheless, some financial services and products are exclusive to either gender. Commercial banks are more accessible to men than to women. Because of their low income and educational attainment, women have limited access to commercial banks.
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Diversification strategies and their impact on farm performance
57-61Views:337The objective of this study is to identify factors determining the economic performance of agricultural holdings in Italy, with specific attention to the impact of the adoption of on-farm diversification strategies, namely income diversification and product differentiation. The adoption of these kinds of strategies has been increasingly recognised as a viable business option in agriculture as they allow better allocation of farm resources and an increase in the quota of value added retained on farms and therefore not passed on to other agents operating at the end of the food supply chain. By using a panel of professional Italian farms over the time period of 2003-2009, we estimate random effect, ordinary least square and quantile regression models to estimate the impact of income diversification and product differentiation strategies on the levels of farm income per unit of labour income. Our findings show that scale economies are important positive determinants of farm economic performance. On the contrary, when the family play an important role in the farm business, economic performance is worse. Finally, we do not find evidence of a statistically significant impact of the adoption of income diversification and product differentiation strategies. This latter result may be interpreted as a signal that farms use these strategies as risk management tools rather than as income increasing ones.
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Police organization in the Republic of Croatia – problems in decision making
99-102Views:281During the last few years of my police work I had a chance to speak and share opinion with my work associates about the police system in Croatia. My colleagues sometimes shared my opinion and sometimes they did not about the quality of police organization. Everyone’s conclusion was that some sort of change in the police organization has to be made; organization of the police must follow and embrace modern standards in organization and conduct. Almost each person had the same opinion about police management and decision making. Their opinion was that management is not efficient; decision making is based on chain of command and not on finding good solutions; members of the management team do not have education or creativity to be qualified managers; form is more important than the quality of work.
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Disentangling the complexity of India ’s agricultural sector
35-42Views:278Agricultural policies in India directly impact the livelihoods of close to two thirds of India’s population. Through policies, the government manages food security, urban and rural poverty, energy, and infrastructure, among others. Given the current state of India’s governance, the connection between policy making and its results in society becomes a key issue for research. This paper presents a game for use as a research instrument. The game can facilitate research into the policy making process at various levels of the government in India. The design is intended to understand the complexity of the institutional arrangement that defines and implements agricultural policies. The game integrates with other games that simulate other aspects of the agricultural system in India. The paper presents the verification and validation cycles followed, and identifies further steps for field validation.
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An Agro-Food Waste Commercial Utilisation Behaviour Lens among Urban Agro-producer Households in a Developing Economy
Views:328Small-urban farm businesses utilise agro-food waste emanating from own production and other levels of food supply chain activities to supplement conventional inputs. Out of these, the food produce surplus from agro-producer households is offloaded to the urban market. As such, the aim of the study was to assess the determinants of agro-food waste commercial utilisation behaviour among urban agro-producer households. An electronically-designed research tool was administered to 456 agro-producer households to collect self-reported estimates of their agro-food waste utilisation behaviour. Results indicated higher budget share towards conventional inputs (0.73) compared to agro-food waste (0.27) but the observed suboptimal production intensification could be rectified with increased use of agro-food waste. Structural equation modelling results indicated that attitude, environmental awareness and concern, motivation and perceived moral obligation had positive significant influence on commercial utilisation intention. The adopted constructs for the model could explain 79.1% of the commercial utilisation behaviour variance. Furthermore, commercial utilisation intention, risk perceptions and perceived behavioural control had significant influence on the commercial utilisation behaviour. Findings are an indicator that agro-food waste commercial utilisation intentions among small-urban farm businesses would likely transition to commercial utilisation behaviour. Since behaviour can be learnt and developed, aspects that contribute to commercial utilisation intentions and behaviour would need to be stimulated. As a strategy of reducing the collectible waste, urban authorities may introduce tailor-made programs meant to stimulate commercial utilisation intention and behaviour in small-urban farm businesses. In valuation of agro-food waste, methodologies that could factor in utility would provide more precise insights in its commercial utilisation.
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Determinants of job satisfaction amongst employees in the poultry sub-sector of Ghana: a test of equity theory
97-104Views:644The study investigated the factors affecting job satisfaction amongst workers of the poultry sub-sector: a test of equity theory in the Dormaa Municipality in the Bono Region of Ghana. The multistage sampling technique was employed in collecting data from 100 poultry workers with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The logit model was employed in modeling the factors affecting job satisfaction. The empirical findings reveal that occupational level, pay, and relationships with co-workers were the statistically significant determinants of job satisfaction. Moreover, the study found that based on equity theory if poultry workers are satisfied with their pay, they would want to stay longer compared to referent others who are not satisfied. Benevolent poultry workers were dominant (52%), followed by equity sensitive (28%) and entitled (20%) poultry workers. Moving forward, the relevance of equity theory on workers in the cocoa value chain should also be investigated as cocoa remains a staple crop in Ghana.
JEL Code: Q10
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THE INVISIBLE HANDS IN THE PRODUCTION OF GHANA’S PREMIUM COCOA: WOMEN AS KEY CONTRIBUTORS
Views:278So often, what women do especially in relation to productive work is ignored by various researchers. This study tries to bring to the limelight the extent to which women are contributing to the production of Ghana’s premium cocoa which is an envy all over the world. A cross-sectional data from 400 women cocoa farmers in Mampong and Tepa Cocoa Districts in the Ashanti Region of Ghana was taken. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as percentages, mean, standard deviations, frequencies, multiple linear regression were used for the data analysis. Findings from the study showed that women cocoa farmers play enormous role in the production of cocoa. They play roles in both the pre-harvest stage, and in the post-harvest stage. The results show that women in partnership with their spouses play more active role in cocoa production than women who are sole owners. Marital status, farming experience and educational level are the key factors influencing women farmers production roles. Again, marital status, pre-planting and harvesting activities influence women farmers’ access to resources, privilege, power, and control. Women farmers in partnership with their spouses face the challenge of support from their husbands while women operating as sole owners face the challenge of high cost of labour. Results prove that women cocoa farmers must be massively supported by key stakeholders in the cocoa value chain in order to make them count.
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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:312Fruit 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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