Agricultural Economics, 2017 (vol. 63), issue 9

Legal and environmental aspects of authorizing edible insects in the European UnionOriginal Paper

Nicole GRMELOVA, Tomas SEDMIDUBSKY

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(9):393-399 | DOI: 10.17221/3/2016-AGRICECON  

Nutritional values of different foodstuffs have been examined in various studies on a number of occasions. However, so far, little attention has been paid to the legal aspects of introducing edible insects in the European Union. Yet, the rearing of this mini-livestock for food and feed has a potential of developing into a new agricultural sector, which is sustainable, unlike the breeding of the traditional livestock. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal background of authorizing edible insects in the European Union, taking into account the environmental impacts thereof. At present, the Member States are free to...

On-line Agricultural Products Navigation System on the Google EarthOriginal Paper

Christina Ling-hsing CHANG, Weng-yi-lang HSIAO

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(9):400-410 | DOI: 10.17221/26/2016-AGRICECON  

In the agricultural industry, many brokers exploit the benefits between farmers and customers and decrease the farmers' income. As the technology has developed, the internet has become the best advertising medium for many industries. In light of this, this study based on the Google Earth has designed an on-line Agricultural Products Navigation System operated by mobile devices which can easily exclude brokers, and build the bridge between farmers and customers in order to increase the farmers income and customer benefits. Moreover, based on the IS success model of DeLone and McLean, by using the qualitative methodology, it is expected that this model...

Heterogeneity and efficiency of food processing companies in the Czech RepublicOriginal Paper

Tamara RUDINSKAYA

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(9):411-420 | DOI: 10.17221/1/2016-AGRICECON  

In the paper, the observed heterogeneity and technical efficiency of Czech food processing companies are investigated. Recent studies proved that food processing firms' heterogeneity can influence the result of the efficiency estimation. For the empirical study, the panel data set from the years 2005-2012 containing 2854 observations of 607 food processing companies was used. Variables representing heterogeneity factors were incorporated in the mean of inefficiency term distribution of the Battese and Coelli model (1995). The models were estimated in the form of translogarithmic production function using the Stochastic Frontier Approach. The results...

Differential land rent and agricultural taxationOriginal Paper

Alexander RYMANOV

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(9):421-429 | DOI: 10.17221/127/2016-AGRICECON  

The paper addresses the influence of various types of taxes on changes in differential (Ricardian) land rent, and the economic performance of agricultural producers. Labour and capital taxes lead to higher prices for agricultural products, causing a decrease in consumer demand and lower income for agricultural producers (mostly utilizing marginal land). A polynomial single-product model has been used to demonstrate that reducing the tax burden on agricultural producers - specifically taxes on labour and capital - will result in increases in differential land rents on the average and relatively better plots, and/or the emergence of the rent on the marginal...

Bioeconomy as a new S-curve for Thai economyOriginal Paper

Narumon SAARDCHOM

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2017, 63(9):430-439 | DOI: 10.17221/78/2016-AGRICECON  

Thai economic growth lags behind all other ASEAN countries because its export dependence along with the political and economic vulnerabilities. With the growing bioeconomy worldwide, Thailand needs a clear bioeconomy roadmap as a new growth engine for its economy. Four potential clusters to build bioeconomy in Thailand include the bioenergy, bio-based industry, bio-food and bio-agriculture, and bio-medicine and health. There are roadmaps for only the first two clusters. The paper discusses the potential bio-based products for the bio-food and bio-agriculture as well as bio-medicine and health and proposes the use of the Pracharath strategy to build...