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• Production Efficiency Analysis of the Hungarian Meat Processing Industry

  23-42

  Zombor Berezvai

  Views:

  143

  This paper analyzes the performance of the Hungarian meat processing industry in the wake of the global financial crisis. Between 2011 and 2013 many high-capacity meat processors went bankrupt in Hungary. Possible reasons for that could be unfavorable market situation and inefficiency in production. In this paper, the latter hypothesis is examined. Two different types of production function estimation techniques are used to calculate firm-specific inefficiency estimates. Based on the estimation results, the lower bound of average firm-level efficiency is 0.50, while the upper bound is 0.88. Estimated firm-level inefficiencies are compared to the characteristics of the given firms. Pre-tax profit, company size and domestic ownership are associated with lesser inefficiency. On the other hand, time trend of inefficiencies indicate that the global financial crisis negatively affected the production efficiency of the meat processors. This can be a reason behind the bankruptcies happened.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: C33, L66

• The Development of Growth Accounting Techniques in the Mirror of Economic Growth

  85-103

  Levente Nadasi

  Views:

  160

  In this article we present the development of certain growth theories that model the main sources of growth. Since the elasticity of substitution – one of the most important parameters of production function – is not unity, as the Cobb-Douglas production function assumes, it can be different from a value of 1; hence we need a more general CES-type (Constant Elasticity of Substitution) production function. Another important question is the classification of factors of production. The elasticity of substitution is an efficiency factor as well, thus it receives special attention in the analysis. Finally we summarize the main papers that are mainly concerned with growth accounting, and try to answer the question of which factors play a significant or less significant role in economic growth. Growth accounting is strongly connected to growth theories so we refer back to growth theory at certain points.

  JEL classification: E13, O47

• Analysis of the Competitiveness in the Agri-food sector: The case of Latin America and the Caribbean Region

  92-117

  Giovanna Maria Borges Aguiar

  Jeremias Mate Balogh

  Views:

  247

  Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries are among the global leaders in the production and exports of agricultural and fisheries commodities, accounting for 15% of the world’s average agri-food export from 1995 to 2019. With rising global market competitiveness, considering the agri-food sector, it is important to assess if the region can compete against other global rivals, and in what products. Accounting for regional potential economic power, remarkable agricultural food export and market expansion, this paper explored the LAC agricultural trade patterns and export competitiveness through the analysis of the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index, and its modifications - SRCA (Symmetric Revealed Comparative Advantage), RTA (Relative Trade Advantage, and RC (Revealed Competitiveness) - in the agricultural sector for the period of 1995-2019. This paper contributes to the literature by presenting the export characteristics in Latin American developing countries, which can be an important instrument for decision-makers in the agricultural trade policy. Throughout the research period, the results indicated that Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico were the TOP agri-food exporters in LAC. The highest RCA, SRCA, and RTA were found in Guatemala, whereas the greatest RC was found in Argentina. At the product level analysis, oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit, industrial or medicinal plants, and straw and fodder (HS12) were the most exported items at the 2-digit level. Fruit and nuts, edible; peel of citrus fruit or melons (HS08) had the most competitiveness in the worldwide market, with the highest SRCA and RC indices, whereas coffee, tea, mate, and spices (HS9) had the highest BRCA and RTA values. The evidence suggests that among the TOP 10 exporters in LAC, all indices in the global agri-food trade are said to be relatively stable, whereas survival rates do not persist over time.