Agricultural Economics, 2009 (vol. 55), issue 8

Structural changes in the beef meat demand in Slovakia and demand elasticity estimation

D. Hupková, P. Bielik, N. Turčeková

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2009, 55(8):361-367 | DOI: 10.17221/41/2009-AGRICECON  

The article focuses on assessing the consumer habits attitudes and behaviour towards the beef meat demand. The main objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of the households' beef meat consumption using the main economic factors. Determining and analysis of consumer behaviour on the individual household categories level and the subsequent comparison of impact factors on consumer decision will give us an assumption to the complex understanding of the consumer behaviour determinants. We used panel data to estimate the beef meat demand in Slovakia. The data were obtained from the Household Budget Survey of the Slovak Statistical Office....

The selected theoretical and practical viewpoints to managing cultural diversity in the international business

E. Horská, A. Krasnodębski

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2009, 55(8):368-374 | DOI: 10.17221/6/2009-AGRICECON  

The paper is a contribution to the theoretical and applied research in the area of managing cultural diversity from the viewpoint of performing different managerial and marketing tasks. It includes the primary research results conducted during the period from 2007 to 2008 on the set of 200 agri-food companies in Slovakia, Spain, Poland and Austria. This study helps to understand the concept of the internationalization of business activities of the agri-food companies depending on the diversity of their external environment and market position. The main attention is devoted to the international trade links development with those businesses which for...

The competitiveness and comparative advantage of the Slovak and the EU agri-food trade with Russia and Ukraine

A. Qineti, M. Rajcaniova, E. Matejkova

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2009, 55(8):375-383 | DOI: 10.17221/42/2009-AGRICECON  

The paper investigates comparative advantages and competitiveness of Slovak and the EU 27 agri-food trade in markets of two countries: Russia and Ukraine. Our aim is to see the dynamics of the agri-food trade for the analyzed countries especially in the post-accession period. Applying a trade dataset from the EUROSTAT and based on the approach applied by Bojnec and Fertő (2006), we describe the pattern of agri-food trade in Slovakia and the EU using the Balassa index. The extent of trade specialization exhibits a declining trend in the country. It has lost comparative advantage for a number of product groups over time. The indices of specialization...

Increasing of competitiveness of dairy products in Slovakia through the application of information systems

A. Látečková, M. Kučera, K. Brédová

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2009, 55(8):384-391 | DOI: 10.17221/43/2009-AGRICECON  

Global trends in world economy intervene into each sector of national economy. In the article, we focused on the dairy industry. The research was oriented at the national market of dairy products with the goal to assess the current situation on the market with these commodities. According to the acquired data, we compiled an overview of the current situation in the market and we pointed out the direction that should be followed by producers. The implementation of information systems is a necessary requirement to increase competitiveness in accordance with the specifics of dairy production.

The profit and added value creation and development analysis of agricultural companies in selected regions in Slovakia

J. Miklovičová, Ľ. Gurčík

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2009, 55(8):392-399 | DOI: 10.17221/44/2009-AGRICECON  

: In the paper, we deal with the profit or loss creation analysis and with the added value analysis, which is an important factor by profit creation in the companies. We calculate the profit or loss and added value with the pyramidal decomposition, determining the factors with positive or negative influence on their creation and development. We execute the quantification in agricultural companies of the Bratislava and Žilina region in the Slovakia. The companies farm in different natural conditions. The added value is in companies of the Bratislava region more than four times higher than in the companies of the Žilina region. The profit after taxes...

Utilisation of the direct EU payments in Slovak agriculture after the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy reform

L. Drenková, P. Schwarcz, A. Bandlerová

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2009, 55(8):400-405 | DOI: 10.17221/2629-AGRICECON  

The paper analyses and compares the EU direct payments in the conditions of the Slovak Republic during the monitored period 2004-2006. The 2003 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (hereafter CAP) introduces a considerable simplification of the EU producers' support and a general improvement of the market orientation of agriculture. The Slovak Republic has temporarily adopted the system of the Single Area Payment Scheme (SAPS) which is used in the old member states. The Slovak Republic can use this system until the end of the year 2010. The amount of the direct payments in 2004 was 53.1% of the EU average. The prediction for 2007 was 70% of the...

The estimation of the Marshallian demand functions for the selected foodstuff groups according to the households income quartils

I. Zentková, E. Hošková

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2009, 55(8):406-412 | DOI: 10.17221/62/2009-AGRICECON  

The article deals with the modelling of demand for the food group of milk and milk products and the food group of meat, meat products, eggs and fish using the Marshallian demand functions for the individual income quartils of Slovak households. The criterium for the foodstuff groups selection is their position in the Healthy Eating Pyramid which is one of the recommended optimal food basket forms. We suppose that the significant income differentiation of households will manifest as different consumer behaviour in the food market. The analysis confirms this hypothesis.