Agricultural Economics, 2018 (vol. 64), issue 8

Agricultural performance in the V4 countries and its position in the European UnionOriginal Paper

Luboslav SZABO, Miroslav GRZNAR, Michal ZELINA

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2018, 64(8):337-346 | DOI: 10.17221/397/2016-AGRICECON  

The paper is devoted to an analysis of the development of agrarian farms in Visegrad Group (V4) countries, primarily in terms of results and the most important production inputs of production factors and their efficiency in the period from 2004 to 2013 based on the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). The results of the analysis show that if farms in the V4 countries want to achieve the same performance as developed countries, they must invest more in purchasing intensification factors and adjust the structure of assets production specification. It will be necessary to stop the reduction in the numbers of livestock and to strive for growth in gross...

Drivers of grain price volatility: a cursory critical reviewOriginal Paper

Fabio Gaetano Santeramo, Emilia Lamonaca, Francesco Contò, Gianluca Nardone, Antonio Stasi

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2018, 64(8):347-356 | DOI: 10.17221/55/2017-AGRICECON  

Understanding the determinants of price volatility is a key step to prevent the potential negative consequences of the uncertainty faced by farmers. The presented critical review provides a novel categorization of grain price volatility drivers. The authors distinguish the endogenous and exogenous causes and conclude on the potential effects that each of the identified factors may generate on the price dynamics. In particular, there is deepened the contribution of endogenous factors, such as the spatial and temporal arbitrage, as well as the drivers of shocks of demand and supply.

Trade of agri-food products in the EU enlargement process: Evidence from the Southeastern EuropeOriginal Paper

Bojan Matkovski, Stanislav Zekic, Mirko Savic, Boris Radovanov

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2018, 64(8):357-366 | DOI: 10.17221/134/2017-AGRICECON  

Since the last decade, significant changes have occurred in the trade flows of agri-food products of the Southeastern European countries (SEE) due to adjustment to international market. Namely, as all countries of the SEE strive to be full members of the EU; market opportunities have been changing, primarily because of the reduced barriers on trade with the EU, as well as with the regional countries. In order to investigate the effects of the liberalization process of the agri-food sector of the SEE countries on their export, as well as the total foreign trade, a gravity model based on panel data in the period 2005-2015 has been estimated. According...

Intensive agriculture, marketing and social structure: the case of south-eastern SpainOriginal Paper

Gonzalo HERRANZ DE RAFAEL, Juan Sebastian FERNANDEZ-PRADOS

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2018, 64(8):367-377 | DOI: 10.17221/318/2016-AGRICECON  

The main purpose of this study was to analyse the opinions of farmers in the province of Almería concerning the state of the fruit and vegetable sector, to learn about the main considerations in their decision-making processes when marketing their products and their assessment of the image of companies and cooperatives and to analyse the social structure of this collective. To that end, the analysis was conducted on three levels: a descriptive analysis on two levels - a quantitative analysis of the socio-demographic, socio-economic and marketing characteristics of farmers in the province of Almería and a qualitative analysis based on the opinions of...

Semi-parametric analysis of agricultural production under dichotomy of inputsOriginal Paper

Naveed IQBAL, Maqbool Hussain SIAL

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2018, 64(8):378-388 | DOI: 10.17221/327/2016-AGRICECON  

Inputs used in agriculture play asymmetric roles during the production process. Growth inputs, i.e. water, nutrients, seed and soil environment, become a part of the biological growth of plants, whereas facilitating inputs, i.e. labour, capital and pesticides, help regulate the functions of growth inputs from outside of the plants. This insight about the asymmetric role of agricultural inputs has been incorporated into agricultural economics on the basis of agronomic principles of crop production. The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of facilitating inputs on the technical efficiency of growth inputs. This analysis has been carried...