Agricultural Economics, 2004 (vol. 50), issue 11
RIAFE anniversary
G. Blaas
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):485 | DOI: 10.17221/5237-AGRICECON 
Economic and financial position of agricultural enterprises in the period before the accession to the European Union
Z. Chrastinová
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):486-494 | DOI: 10.17221/5238-AGRICECON
In the year before the accession to the European Union, the Slovak agricultural sector reported a loss of SKK 2.4 billion and following a profitable year, the earnings were reduced by SKK 2.8 billion. The situation was caused by a number of reasons, namely reduced sales of agricultural products, damage resulting from adverse weather effects (cold weather, hail, drought and swine fever), as well as widening of the price gap compared to the year before (increasing input prices in agriculture and decreasing purchase prices of agricultural products, especially in livestock production). Legal entities and natural persons experienced mixed business success....
Economic performance of the Slovak food industry
S. Belešová
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):495-501 | DOI: 10.17221/5239-AGRICECON
The requirements for compliance with the manufacturing and quality standards and the related investments in the hygienic and structural upgrading of establishments before Slovakia's accession to the European Union meant that the Slovak food processors had to intensify their effort, revise their objectives (where necessary) and increase the volume of investments, particularly during 2003. Many entrepreneurs, particularly in the animal production, decided to go out of business, mainly because the continued operation of obsolete slaughterhouses would require considerable investment effort; at the end of the day, some meat producers closed their slaughter...
Reform of the sugar sector and its impacts on the Slovak sugar market
M. Božík, T. Izakovič
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):502-508 | DOI: 10.17221/5240-AGRICECON
A full liberalisation of the sugar market is hardly acceptable for Slovakia, because it would significantly affect not only the economic performance and employment across different sectors, but also their production structures, particularly in the farming-intensive regions. We nonetheless believe that the reform is necessary as the sugar sector remains the last unreformed CAP sector in the EU, which puts it in a better position vis-ŕ-vis other producers and farms. On the other hand, the justified claims of producers for the compensation of losses, similarly as the claims laid during the 1992 CAP reform, would disrupt the EAGGF budgetary framework through...
Productivity of factors in the enlarged EU
G. Blaas
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):509-513 | DOI: 10.17221/5241-AGRICECON
The paper is examining the productivity of production factors in the EU-15 and some of the New Member States. International comparison shows that Slovakia is considerably lagging behind the EU-15 countries in the productivity of land and productivity of labour, but it is rather competitive in productivity of the fixed and variable capital. In order to get comparable data, the author adjusted figures on production of agricultural activities published in the Economic Accounts of Agriculture, and excluded the influence of different price - and support levels in the EU-15 and New Member Countries.
Competitiveness in the production of selected crops from the perspective of variable costs
D. Matošková
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):514-523 | DOI: 10.17221/5242-AGRICECON
This article deals with the issue of Slovakia's competitiveness vis-ŕ-vis the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Austria and France in terms of basic variable costs invested into seeds (planting stocks), fertilisers and chemical protective in the period from 2001 to 2003. In addition to these costs, the article also compares total revenues, profit, effect of inputs into production and the variable costs profit margin. This comparative analysis uses data published for 2002. While the data for years 2001 and 2003 for Slovakia and the Czech Republic are actual, those for other countries have been simulated. The basic variable costs per tonne of...
The overview of methodology aspects in product economics in Slovak agriculture
J. Varoščák
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):524-528 | DOI: 10.17221/5243-AGRICECON
The accession to the European Union has brought a number of issues that the new member states have to deal with, namely to use the rules and procedures applicable in the EU. These include the transition from the enterprise towards the product-oriented economy in the agricultural production enterprises. The article describes the aspects of methodology regarding this issue within the framework of the Slovak agriculture. The article emphasizes that the product economics allows to define three levels of profit, namely: market, product and enterprise profit. This issue will be illustrated on the example of a Slovak agricultural enterprise, in terms of its...
Labour market and agricultural population
S. Buchta
Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2004, 50(11):529-534 | DOI: 10.17221/5244-AGRICECON
The article analyses situation on the labour market in 1999-2003, with particular focus on the agricultural population, and explains the pressure that forces agricultural employers to reduce their full-time staff and rely more on the seasonal and short-term employment arrangements. In the recent past, the segment of rotating workers (who take up short-term seasonal jobs between periods of unemployment), has taken on quite a significant dimension. The article also analyses territorial aggregations with high incidence of agricultural unemployment. It points at the regular, seasonal and increased layouts of agricultural workers who end up in the register...