Agricultural Economics, 2017 (vol. 63), issue 1

Factors affecting farm size on the European level and the national level of the Czech RepublicOriginal Paper

Vratislava Janovska, Petra Simova, Josef Vlasak, Petr Sklenicka

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(1):1-12 | DOI: 10.17221/317/2015-AGRICECON  

Extreme differences in agricultural holding size, existing not only among the countries within the EU as a whole but also within the farm structures of the individual countries, create a considerable uncertainty for establishing the optimal political and economic instruments to support sustainable rural development. The study explores the determinants influencing the spatial volatility of agricultural holding size at both the EU scale and the national scale of the Czech Republic, the latter of which has the largest mean agricultural holding size in the EU. While some factors are identical for both the EU and the Czech Republic, other effects can only...

The land use structure of agricultural holdings in the Central and East European Countries and its evolutionOriginal Paper

Jacek STROJNY, Jakub PIECUCH

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(1):13-23 | DOI: 10.17221/237/2015-AGRICECON  

The taxonomy of agricultural holdings' land use structure of the CEEC countries that are the EU members aims to investigate the diversity of this phenomenon and its evolution in 2005-2010. In order to establish homogenous clusters of land use, a structural taxonomy technique called the vectors elimination method was employed. The research outcome was the split of the entire data set into 5 subgroups characterizing more homogenous land use structures. Migrations of countries between the taxonomic subgroups over time were determined by the character of the transformation of the land use structure.

Factors determining the financial structure of Czech and Slovak agricultural enterprisesOriginal Paper

Lenka KALUSOVA, Peter BADURA

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(1):24-33 | DOI: 10.17221/325/2015-AGRICECON  

The financial structure of enterprises is constantly a subject of research of many academics. Despite the fact that many scientific studies deal with this area of financial management, the research is mostly focused on industrial companies. In our opinion, there is a wide scope for research into the segment of agricultural enterprises and their financial structure, as well. The aim of the paper is, therefore, to analyse the direction and intensity of action of the selected internal corporate factors and external factors of the macro-environment on the financial structure of Czech and Slovak agricultural enterprises and to identify differences in the...

Economic efficiency of suckler cow herds in the Czech RepublicOriginal Paper

Jan SYRUCEK, Jindrich KVAPILIK, Ludek BARTON, Mojmir VACEK, Ludek STADNIK

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(1):34-43 | DOI: 10.17221/263/2015-AGRICECON  

The objective of the study was to assess the profitability of suckler cow herds located in different regions of the Czech Republic. Data on 2164 suckler cows were collected for 2013 from 20 beef farms using a questionnaire and the covered production, reproduction, and economic traits. Model calculations were used to determine the level of profitability with support payments either included (2.15%) or excluded (-45.5%). Break-even points defined as the points when the operation reaches zero profitability were estimated for the number of calves weaned and sold (81 calves/100 cows) and for the selling price of calves (54.6 CZK/kg). Fixed cost as a proportion...

Innovation in the Hungarian food economyOriginal Paper

Jozsef TOTH, Imre FERTO

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(1):43-51 | DOI: 10.17221/196/2015-AGRICECON  

The paper investigates the innovation process in the Hungarian agri-food sector using the concept of open innovation. The empirical analysis is based on the data from a 2011 survey of more than 200 small and medium size agricultural producers, food processors and retailers. There is determined the impact of open innovation and a company's absorptive capacity on the innovation performance employing two stage approaches. First, a cluster analysis is applied to categorise companies based on their open innovation absorptive capacity, firm and managerial characteristics. Second, using semi-non parametric probit models, there is found that open innovation...