Agricultural Economics, 2019 (vol. 65), issue 6

Evaluation of total factor productivity and environmental efficiency of agriculture in nine East Asian countriesOriginal Paper

Truc Linh Le, Pai-Po Lee, Ke Chung Peng, Rebecca H. Chung

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2019, 65(6):249-258 | DOI: 10.17221/50/2018-AGRICECON  

This study assessed the change in productivity and environmental efficiency of agriculture for nine East Asian countries for the time period from 2002 to 2010. Data were collected and then analysed by data envelopment analysis (DEA) approaches, including Malmquist total factor productivity (TFP) index and slacks-based measure (SBM) with the consideration of undesirable outputs. The results showed that there existed relatively large differences in productivity growth and environmental performance in the agricultural sector between countries in the sample. Overall, the countries examined in the present study experienced a decline in TFP due to decreases...

Alternative Food Networks (AFNs): Determinants for consumer and farmer participation in Lombardy, ItalyOriginal Paper

Stefano Corsi, Chiara Mazzocchi

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2019, 65(6):259-269 | DOI: 10.17221/230/2018-AGRICECON  

Scaling up supply chains in the interest of cost-effectiveness has led to an increasing disconnection between producers and consumers in today's globalised food system. This paper assesses the agricultural and territorial drivers that influence the development of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), where consumers and producers act together, by implementing an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression. The analysis was carried out at a municipal scale in Lombardy, in northern Italy. The territorial characteristics of the local areas were less important in explaining the level of consumer and producer participation...

Short and medium-term impact of dairy barn investment on profitability and herd size in SwitzerlandOriginal Paper

Benedikt Kramer, Anke Schorr, Reiner Doluschitz, Markus Lips

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2019, 65(6):270-277 | DOI: 10.17221/170/2018-AGRICECON  

Investing in larger barns and increasing herd size are crucial milestones in dairy production. Based on the Swiss Farm Accountancy Data Network and data on government-supported investments, we investigate the development of two key variables over the first eight years after investment: change in herd size and calculated profit, that is, farm income minus opportunity costs for family labour and capital. We apply a fixed-effects panel regression and test for autocorrelation present in the time series. Compared to the year before the investment, calculated profit decreases in the first three years, while in the...

Sectoral growth linkages of agricultural sector: Implications for food security in PakistanOriginal Paper

Hafiz Asim, Muhammad Akbar

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2019, 65(6):278-288 | DOI: 10.17221/314/2017-AGRICECON  

Does the growth in non-agricultural sectors spill over to the agricultural sector of an economy? There is limited evidence available on the issue for the developing world, especially for Pakistan which has undergone large structural changes since its independence. This study examined the impact of sectoral growth linkages on agricultural output of Pakistan for the period of 1960-2016. We have estimated an econometric model which incorporates inter-sectoral linkages of Pakistan economy using a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). Our analysis revealed that the economy of Pakistan has shifted from an agricultural...

Approaches to estimation the farm-level economic viability and sustainability in agriculture: A literature reviewReview

Jindrich Spicka, Tomas Hlavsa, Katerina Soukupova, Marie Stolbova

Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2019, 65(6):289-297 | DOI: 10.17221/269/2018-AGRICECON  

Estimation of farm economic sustainability and viability became more topical when redesigning the Common Agricultural Policy which should stabilise farm income and make agribusiness more viable and sustainable (typically in Czech areas facing natural constraints). The key question is how to calculate the income of farms or farm households not only to survive but also to grow sustainably. The article summarises and compares knowledge from 51 studies to provide a comprehensive discussion on different ways how to measure economic viability and sustainability to set income support for farms in the areas with natural...