Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2016, 62(6):247-259 | DOI: 10.17221/127/2015-AGRICECON

Improving agricultural performance for the working poverty reduction in the European UnionOriginal Paper

Emilia HERMAN
Faculty of Economics, Law and Administrative Sciences, Petru Maior University of Tirgu Mures, Romania

The main objective of the paper is to highlight the impact of agricultural performance on working poverty in the EU countries, in the 2008-2013 period, for identifying some measures that need to be taken to increase the agricultural performance so that the in-work poverty reduces. The comparative analysis shows that agricultural performance, according to the agricultural indicators analysed and the phenomenon of working poverty vary significantly across the EU countries. The correlation and regression analysis results suggest that the high level of employment in agriculture in some EU countries can be mainly explained by the small scale agriculture, a high share of subsistence holdings and a low agricultural labour productivity. The results of the multiple regression analysis highlight that working poverty at the EU level is influenced positively by the employment in agriculture, and is influenced negatively by the economic size farm and land productivity. Moreover, the results show large cross-country differences in terms of agricultural performance-working poverty link, fact which emphasizes the need to take specific actions to improve efficiency of the EU agricultural sector for reducing the working poverty. The findings of the study can be useful for the policymakers to formulate policies for a decent and productive employment within a sustainable development of agriculture.

Keywords: agricultural holdings, employment, in-work at-risk-of-poverty, labour and land productivity

Published: June 30, 2016  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
HERMAN E. Improving agricultural performance for the working poverty reduction in the European Union. Agric. Econ. - Czech. 2016;62(6):247-259. doi: 10.17221/127/2015-AGRICECON.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Andreß H.J., Lohmann H. (ed.) (2008): The Working Poor in Europe: Employment, poverty and globalization. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham. Go to original source...
    2. Bodea G., Herman E. (2014): Factors behind working poverty in Romania. Procedia Economics and Finance, 15: 711-720. Go to original source...
    3. Bresciani F., Valdés A. (ed.) (2007): Beyond Food Production: The Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction. FAO/Edward Elgar Publishing. Go to original source...
    4. Byerlee D., Diao X., Jackson C. (2005): Agriculture, rural development, and pro-poor growth, country experiences in the post-reform era. Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper 21, World Bank. Available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/PPG_final.pdf (accessed February 2015).
    5. Byerlee D., de Janvry A., Sadoulet E. (2009): Agriculture for development: Toward a new paradigm. Annual Review of Resource Economics, 1: 15-31. Go to original source...
    6. Carver R.H., Nash J.G. (2011): Doing Data Analysis with SPSS Version 18. Cengage Learning, Canada.
    7. Cervantes-Godoy D., Dewbre J. (2010): Economic Importance of Agriculture for Poverty Reduction. OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Working Papers, No. 23, OECD Publishing. Available at http://www.oecd.org/countries/gambia/44804637.pdf (accessed April 2015).
    8. Chatterjee S., Hadi A.S. (2006): Regression Analysis by Example. 4 th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey. Go to original source...
    9. Christiaensen L., Demery L. (2007): Down to Earth Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Africa. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank, Washington DC. Go to original source...
    10. Christiaensen L., Demery L., Kuhl J. (2010): The (Evolving) Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction: An Empirical Perspective. Working Paper No. 2010/36, UNUWIDER. Available at http://www.oecd.org/agriculture/agricultural-policies/46412732.pdf (accessed February 2015).
    11. Crettaz E., Bonoli G. (2010): Why are some workers poor? The mechanisms that produce working poverty in a comparative perspective. REC-WP 12/2010. Available at https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/3985/1/ REC-WP_ 1210_Crettaz_Bonoli.pdf (accessed February 2015).
    12. Davoine L., Erhel C., Guergoat-Lariviere M. (2008): Monitoring quality in work: European employment strategy indicators and beyond. International Labour Review, 147: 163-198. Go to original source...
    13. De Janvry A. 2010: Agriculture for development: New paradig m and options for success. Ag ricultural Economics, 41 (S1): 17-36. Go to original source...
    14. De Janvry A., Sadoulet E. (2010): Agricultural growth and poverty reduction: Additional evidence. World Bank Research Observer, 25: 1-20. Go to original source...
    15. Diao X., Hazell P., Resnick D., Thurlow J. (2007): The role of agriculture in development: Implications for sub-Saharan Africa. Research report 153. Washington, DC. Available at http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pubs/abstract/153/rr153.pdf (accessed March 2015)
    16. Diao X., Hazell P., Thurlow, J. (2010): The role of agriculture in African development. World Development, 38: 1375- 1383. Go to original source...
    17. Dos Santos, M.J.P.L. (2013): Segmenting farms in the European Union. Agricultural Economics - Czech, 59: 49-57. Go to original source...
    18. EC (2014): CAP context indicators 2014-2020. Agriculture Rural and Development. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-indicators/context/2014/full-text_en.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    19. EC (2010): EUROPE 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, COM (2010) 2020. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/pdf/COMPLET%20EN%20BARROSO%20%20%20007%20-%20Europe%202020%20-%20EN%20version.pdf (accessed April 2015).
    20. Er S., Özçelik A. (2014): The clustering of agricultural products and determining important countries for these clusters by the factor analysis. Agricultural Economics - Czech, 60: 503-508. Go to original source...
    21. EU (2012): Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2011. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738〈Id=en&pubId=6176 (accessed February 2015).
    22. EU (2014): The EU's common agricultural policy (CAP): for our food, for our countryside, for our environment. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
    23. Eurostat Database (2015): Available at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_ database (accessed February 2015).
    24. Fraser N., Gutierrez R., Pena Casas R. (ed.) (2011): Working Poverty in Europe: A Comparative Approach. Palgrave Macmillan, Bakingstoke. Go to original source...
    25. Grabowski R. (2011): The evolution of the state and taxation: Role of agriculture. International Journal of Development Issues, 10: 188-203. Go to original source...
    26. Grznár M., Szabo Ą. (2012): Disparities in the utilisation of production factors in the agriculture of Slovakia and of the European Union. Agricultural Economics- Czech, 58: 49-55. Go to original source...
    27. Hair J.F. Jr., Black W.C., Babin B.J., Anderson R.E. (2010): Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th ed. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
    28. Hellier J., Chusseau N. (ed) (2013): Growing Income Inequalities: Economic Analyses, Palgrave Macmillan, Bakingstoke. Go to original source...
    29. Herman E., Georgescu M.A. (2012): Employment Strategy for Poverty Reduction. A Romanian Perspective. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58: 406-415. Go to original source...
    30. Herman E. (2014): Working poverty in the European Union and its main determinants: An empirical analysis. Inzinerine Ekonomika-Engineering Economics, 25: 427-436. Go to original source...
    31. ILO (2011): Global Employment Trends 2011: The challenge of a jobs recovery, International Labour Office, Geneva.
    32. ILO (2012a): World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy. International Labour Office, Geneva. Go to original source...
    33. ILO (2012b): Understanding deficits of productive employment and setting targets: a methodological guide. International Labour Office, Employment Sector, Geneva.
    34. ILO (2014): Global Employment Trends 2014: Risk of a jobless recovery? International Labour Office, Geneva.
    35. Khorami A.R., Pierof S. (2013): The role of agriculture in Iran's economic development. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 6: 1928-1939. Go to original source...
    36. Landau S., Everitt B.S. (2004): A handbook of statistical analyses using SPSS. Chapman & Hall/CRC Press LLC, Florida. Go to original source...
    37. Lewandowski P., Kaminska A. (2015): In-work poverty in Poland: diagnosis and possible remedies. World Bank Group. Washington, DC. Available at http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/01/23800056/in-workpoverty-poland-diagnosis-possible-remedies (accessed March 2015).
    38. Mooi E., Sarstedt M. (2011): A Concise Guide to Market Research: The Process, Data, and Methods Using IBM SPSS Statistics. Springer, Berlin; ISBN 978-3-642-12541.
    39. OECD (2001): Multifunctionality: Towards an Analytical Framework. Available at http://www.oecd.org/agriculture/agricultural-policies/1894469.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    40. OECD (2009): The role of agriculture and farm household diversification in the rural economy of Germany. OECD, Trade and Agriculture Directorate. Available at http://www.oecd.org/agriculture/agricultural-policies/43245382.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    41. OECD (2010) Agricultural policies and rural development - A synthesis of recent OECD work, OECD, Trade and Agriculture Directorate. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/sustainable-agriculture/44668202.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    42. Palacios R.G., Rodríguez A.M.G., Peña-Casas R. (2009): Earnings inequality and in-work-poverty, REC-WP 07 / 09. Available at http://www.socialpolicy.ed.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/30112/REC-WP_0709_Gutierrez_Guillen_Pena-Casas.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    43. Pena-Casas R., Latta M. (2004): Working Poor in the European Union. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin. Available at http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2004/ 67/ en/1/ef0467en.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    44. Radu M. (2010): In-work poverty and labour market segmentation. A Study of National Policies, European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=9013〈Id=en (accessed March 2015).
    45. Ravallion M. (2009): Are there lessons for Africa from China's success against poverty. World Development, 37: 303-313. Go to original source...
    46. Ravallion M., Chen S. (2007): China's (uneven) progress against poverty. Journal of Development Economics, 82: 1-42 Go to original source...
    47. Schneider K., Gugerty M.K. (2011): Agricultural Productivity and Poverty Reduction: Linkages and Pathways. The Evans School Review, 1: 56-74. Go to original source...
    48. ©pička J., Machek O. (2015): Change in the production efficiency of European specialized milk farming, Agricultural Economics - Czech, 61: 1-13. Go to original source...
    49. Stănculescu M.S. (2008): Working Poor in Romania. Poverty Monitoring AAA Program. Working Paper; Available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTDEBTDEPT/Resources/468980-1218567884549/5289593-1224797529767/RomaniaDFSG03.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    50. Zografakis S., Karanikolas, P. (2012): Tracing the Consequences of Economic Crisis in Rural Areas - Evidence from Greece, Rural Development - Contemporary Issues and Practices, Available at http://www.intechopen.com/books/rural-development-contemporary-issues-and-practices/tracing-the-consequences-of-economic-crisis-in-ruralareas-evidence-from-greece (accessed March 2015).
    51. UNDP (2013): Human Development Report 2013.The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World. Available at http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/14/hdr2013_en_complete.pdf (accessed March 2015).
    52. World Bank (2007): World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for development. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank. Available at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/5990/WDR%202008%20-%20English.pdf?sequence=3 (accessed March 2015).
    53. W TO (2014): World Trade Report 2014. Trade and development: recent trends and the role of the WTO. World Trade Organization, Geneva; ISBN 978-92-8703912-5.
    54. WTO Database (2015): Merchandise trade by commodity. Available at http://stat.wto.org/StatisticalProgram/WSDBStatProgramSeries.aspx?Language=E (accessed March 2015).

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content