Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: G. Blaas Title: RIAFE anniversary Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 485 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5237-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5237-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5237-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Z. Chrastinová Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Economic and financial position of agricultural enterprises in the period before the accession to the European Union Abstract: In the year before the accession to the European Union, the Slovak agricultural sector reported a loss of SKK 2.4 billion and following a profitable year, the earnings were reduced by SKK 2.8 billion. The situation was caused by a number of reasons, namely reduced sales of agricultural products, damage resulting from adverse weather effects (cold weather, hail, drought and swine fever), as well as widening of the price gap compared to the year before (increasing input prices in agriculture and decreasing purchase prices of agricultural products, especially in livestock production). Legal entities and natural persons experienced mixed business success. While 51% of legal entities made profit, the figure rose to 76% in the group of natural persons. Both the agricultural cooperatives and trading companies performed with a loss. The loss per hectare of agricultural land (a.l.) was substantially lower in the case of business companies. Natural persons - private farmers were profitable over the period. The gap between the profitable and loss-making enterprises has widened. Some 60% of profitable enterprises owned by legal entities made only a small profit below SKK 0.5 million. The loss-making performance was typical for more productive areas of Slovakia. This was related to stronger effects of adverse climate in 2003. Keywords: earnings, income, costs, added value, solvency, investments Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 486-494 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5238-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5238-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200411-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5238-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: S. Belešová Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Economic performance of the Slovak food industry Abstract: The requirements for compliance with the manufacturing and quality standards and the related investments in the hygienic and structural upgrading of establishments before Slovakia's accession to the European Union meant that the Slovak food processors had to intensify their effort, revise their objectives (where necessary) and increase the volume of investments, particularly during 2003. Many entrepreneurs, particularly in the animal production, decided to go out of business, mainly because the continued operation of obsolete slaughterhouses would require considerable investment effort; at the end of the day, some meat producers closed their slaughter operations and focused on specialised meat processing. Compared with the year before, the profit of food processors declined by 23%. This was due to the faster decline in revenues than expenses, increased cost of revenues, and the reduced output. Although profitable companies still prevailed, the percentage of loss-making companies increased in comparison with the previous year. The starch industry, sugar industry and the confectionery (including coffee substitutes) industry were some of the sectors where all operators were profitable. Keywords: expenses, revenues, profit, loss, production, value added, assets, liabilities, receivables, productivity of labour, investments Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 495-501 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5239-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5239-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200411-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5239-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: M. Božík Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Author-Name: T. Izakovič Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Reform of the sugar sector and its impacts on the Slovak sugar market Abstract: A full liberalisation of the sugar market is hardly acceptable for Slovakia, because it would significantly affect not only the economic performance and employment across different sectors, but also their production structures, particularly in the farming-intensive regions. We nonetheless believe that the reform is necessary as the sugar sector remains the last unreformed CAP sector in the EU, which puts it in a better position vis-ŕ-vis other producers and farms. On the other hand, the justified claims of producers for the compensation of losses, similarly as the claims laid during the 1992 CAP reform, would disrupt the EAGGF budgetary framework through 2013, because only the claims of Slovak sugar beet producers would amount to some € 200 million during 2010-2015. We believe that the solution and consensus lies in the combination of reforms based on the scenarios of fixed quotas and falling prices, and/or the application of the "Midway situation" after 2011. The alternative setting of quotas, based the administratively assessed production efficiency levels for the individual EU countries, would also be unacceptable for Slovakia. In the recent past, the volume of investments in the Slovak sugar industry has been considerable and the most viable sugar refineries have already emerged from the selection process. The situation in the sugar beet sector is similar and the results of the "Fall in Prices" scenario until 2011 are largely similar to the situation before the accession to the EU. Keywords: price, sugar, impacts, intervention quota, liberalisation AGRO-3 model, reform, simulations, Common Agricultural Policy Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 502-508 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5240-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5240-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200411-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5240-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: G. Blaas Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Productivity of factors in the enlarged EU Abstract: The paper is examining the productivity of production factors in the EU-15 and some of the New Member States. International comparison shows that Slovakia is considerably lagging behind the EU-15 countries in the productivity of land and productivity of labour, but it is rather competitive in productivity of the fixed and variable capital. In order to get comparable data, the author adjusted figures on production of agricultural activities published in the Economic Accounts of Agriculture, and excluded the influence of different price - and support levels in the EU-15 and New Member Countries. Keywords: production factor, agriculture, comparison, European Union, Economic Accounts for Agriculture Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 509-513 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5241-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5241-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200411-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5241-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: D. Matošková Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Foodstuffs Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Competitiveness in the production of selected crops from the perspective of variable costs Abstract: This article deals with the issue of Slovakia's competitiveness vis-ŕ-vis the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Austria and France in terms of basic variable costs invested into seeds (planting stocks), fertilisers and chemical protective in the period from 2001 to 2003. In addition to these costs, the article also compares total revenues, profit, effect of inputs into production and the variable costs profit margin. This comparative analysis uses data published for 2002. While the data for years 2001 and 2003 for Slovakia and the Czech Republic are actual, those for other countries have been simulated. The basic variable costs per tonne of the produced crop (average figure for 2001 and 2003) in Slovakia are lower, i.e. it is competitive in the production of cereals, sunflower and sugar beet vis-ŕ-vis the observed EU-15 countries, barley, sunflower and sugar beet vis-ŕ-vis the Czech Republic, wheat and barley vis-ŕ-vis Poland and barley vis-ŕ-vis Hungary. Keywords: competitiveness, total revenue, basic variable costs, profit margin, gross margin Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 514-523 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5242-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5242-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200411-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5242-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: J. Varoščák Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Foodstuffs Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: The overview of methodology aspects in product economics in Slovak agriculture Abstract: The accession to the European Union has brought a number of issues that the new member states have to deal with, namely to use the rules and procedures applicable in the EU. These include the transition from the enterprise towards the product-oriented economy in the agricultural production enterprises. The article describes the aspects of methodology regarding this issue within the framework of the Slovak agriculture. The article emphasizes that the product economics allows to define three levels of profit, namely: market, product and enterprise profit. This issue will be illustrated on the example of a Slovak agricultural enterprise, in terms of its planned calculated generation of profit. Keywords: methodology issues, product economy, enterprise economy, market profit, product profit, enterprise profit Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 524-528 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5243-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5243-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200411-0007.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5243-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: S. Buchta Author-Workplace-Name: Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Labour market and agricultural population Abstract: The article analyses situation on the labour market in 1999-2003, with particular focus on the agricultural population, and explains the pressure that forces agricultural employers to reduce their full-time staff and rely more on the seasonal and short-term employment arrangements. In the recent past, the segment of rotating workers (who take up short-term seasonal jobs between periods of unemployment), has taken on quite a significant dimension. The article also analyses territorial aggregations with high incidence of agricultural unemployment. It points at the regular, seasonal and increased layouts of agricultural workers who end up in the register of unemployed. It identifies the social risk connected with the seasonal type of work arrangements in agriculture from the viewpoint of the labour and social protection and increased social marginalisation of this social group. Keywords: regionalisation of agricultural unemployment, contribution of agriculture to unemployment, seasonal workers, social protection of workers in agriculture, social marginalisation of agricultural population Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 529-534 Volume: 50 Issue: 11 Year: 2004 DOI: 10.17221/5244-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/5244-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200411-0008.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:50:y:2004:i:11:id:5244-AGRICECON