Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: D. Kopta Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Title: Possibilities of financial health indicators used for prediction of future development of agricultural enterprises Abstract: The paper presents the possibilities how financial health indicators can be used both for the prediction of future value of agricultural holdings and for the prediction of the potential risk and dangers. The limited predicative ability of all indicators as compared to th recommended values is revealed in the first part of the paper. The second part of the article proves the hypothesis of the efficiency of indices in the inter-enterprise and time comparison. According to this hypothesis, holdings with a higher index value should be more successful in the following years. This part of investigation has shown the conditional efficiency of the Gurčík index and the IN99 index for the prediction of the increase in the value of a company. The relation between the calculated value of an index and the value of its future profit/loss has been proved for those indices. The possibilities how to predict a bankruptcy are limited. Agricultural holdings are threatened both with a long-term negative profitability and with a sudden fluctuation in the profit/loss from operations together with a high debt ratio. Each type of danger largely applies to a different kind of holding and each type of danger is indicated by a different kind of index. The possible problems with the long-term negative profitability have been indicated reliably by the OP index of financial health and by the Gurčík index. Problems with solvency have been partially predicted by the IN95 index and the Chrastinová index (these results were not statistically significant). The final part of the paper is aimed at the analysis of the advantages and disadvantaged of individual indices. A number of financial indicators for agricultural holdings correlate with the future development of a holding but the relation is non-linear (e.g. debt ratio indicators) or outweighed by another factor (e.g. activity indicators, where the development corresponds rather to the production specialization). Another reason for unsatisfactory results of the prediction are the frequent extreme values of the non-standardized indicators. The predicative ability of individual indicators is also reduced by the unsuitable setting of weights for indicators. Keywords: bankruptcy, financial analysis, financial health, shareholder's capital value, prediction of future development, variability, agricultural holding Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 111-125 Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 DOI: 10.17221/589-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/589-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200903-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:55:y:2009:i:3:id:589-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: F. Shirani Bidabadi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran Author-Name: M. Hashemitabar Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture (Saravan), Sistan and Baluchestan University, Zahedan, Iran Title: The induced innovation test (co-integration analysis) of Iranian agriculture Abstract: Technological change is a determinant index for agriculture that can lead to the productivity growth by either increasing the total output or increasing the usage of relatively cheap inputs and reducing the relatively expensive inputs. The determination of the magnitude and the direction of technological change in agricultural production has attracted much attention and has become the focal point of intense research efforts over the last couple decades. This topic is frequently studied in two different ways. One is considering the efforts of investment in the research and development technological change. The other is explaining the technological change by testing induced innovation hypothesis that was first proposed by Hicks. Therefore, in this study, with the help of time series by using the cointegration analysis, the induced innovation hypothesis is tested and the effect of investment in agricultural research on technological changing is considered. Keywords: induced innovation, agriculture, cointegration analysis, Iran Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 126-133 Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 DOI: 10.17221/588-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/588-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200903-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:55:y:2009:i:3:id:588-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: M. Odehnalová Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Increasing the company's performance in knowledge society Abstract: The management of changes, innovations, knowledge and human resources of a company are among the crucial factors having an impact on the performance of the company. An organizational change is one of the first conditions for the successful increase in the company's performance if the system approach to the management of changes is observed. A company or its management, if it wants to be successful and to increase the company performance, must strive to change the processes, values and thinking of people, bring new innovative ideas into business and to verify them in the everyday practice. All corporate potential must be used for high-quality innovations that bring profit in the end. If the knowledge management is implemented, the corporate knowledge can be used more efficiently. Management of human resources and work performance ranks among the most-demanding management spheres, having an impact on the overall corporate performance. Keywords: management of changes, innovations, knowledge, knowledge management, human resources Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 134-138 Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 DOI: 10.17221/585-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/585-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200903-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:55:y:2009:i:3:id:585-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: P. Paudel Author-Workplace-Name: The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Ehime University, Ehime, Japan Author-Name: A. Matsuoka Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture, Ehime University, Ehime, Japan Title: Cost efficiency estimates of maize production in Nepal: a case study of the Chitwan district Abstract: This study was carried out to analyze the cost efficiency of maize production in the Chitwan district, Nepal with a view to predict economic efficiencies using stochastic frontier cost function. The primary data were collected from 180 maize farmers representing 12 village development committees (VDCs) including one municipality of the district during May-June 2005 for the cropping year 2004-2005. Among various factors, use of manure accounted the highest share in the production cost followed by labour and tractor costs. The maximum-likelihood (ML) estimates of the parameters revealed that estimated coefficients of cost of tractor, animal power, labour, fertilizer, manure, seed and maize output gave positive coefficients and were significant at 5% level. Further, quantitative estimates obtained from the cost function shows the mean cost efficiency of 1.634 indicating that an average maize farms from the study incurred about 63% costs above the frontier cost-an indication of inefficiency. Also, the significant years of schooling of the household head and maize area in the inefficiency model indicated the positive effect of these factors on cost efficiency of the farms. From the analysis of scale effect among maize farms, it was revealed that the maize farms experienced an increasing return to scale, that is, the output increased more proportionately than the total production cost. Keywords: Zea mays L, stochastic frontier model, cost efficiency, economies of scale Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 139-148 Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 DOI: 10.17221/1002-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/1002-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200903-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:55:y:2009:i:3:id:1002-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: R. Pospíšil Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic Title: Costs related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy control in the Czech Republic in 2001-2008 Abstract: This paper pays attention to and analyses two of the economic impacts of the BSE occurrence in the Czech Republic, namely the financial compensations to the farmers whose herds had been affected and the costs of animal killing and carcass disposal in the rendering plant. Between February 2001 and the end of June 2008, a total of 1 263 749 cows were examined and 28 cases of the BSE were detected. Consequently, 4 022 cows in cohorts were killed and their carcasses were safely disposed of. The farmers whose herds had been affected were provided compensations for the losses suffered. The total of the compensations in this period reached CZK 198,413 thousand. Of these, 83.3% (CZK 164.9 million) were compensations for the value of the killed animals, 9.7% (CZK 19.2 million) for the related costs, i.e., killing, safe disposal of carcasses and the examination for the BSE, and 6.9% (CZK 13.5 million) for the losses due to non-materialised production. The average costs per 1 BSE-positive animal were CZK 7.08 million and the average costs per 1 cohort animal were CZK 49 331. In the rendering plant responsible for killing the infected and cohort animals and safely disposing of their carcasses, the total of 2 221 tons of raw material was processed between March 2003 and February 2008, and this cost CZK 9 315 thousand. The fact that there were only two cases of the BSE in 2007 and none in 2008 suggests a trend towards the disease eradication, which is in agreement with the situation in the other EU countries. Keywords: financial compensation, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), cattle, infectious diseases, financial law, rendering plant Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 149-155 Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 DOI: 10.17221/586-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/586-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200903-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:55:y:2009:i:3:id:586-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: M. Hrabánková Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics, South-Bohemian University, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Author-Name: I. Boháčková Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Conditions of sustainable development in the Czech Republic in compliance with the recommendation of the European Commission Abstract: The Program Period of the European Union for the years 2007-2013 is focused on the support of standardization of rural development and the creation of a space for its sustainable development. Agriculture is in the structure of production and non-production functions an important factor of social-economic development of countryside and it contributes to the increase of its growth potential. Diversification of activities in the countryside has a significant influence on the stability of settlement, the development of employment in the countryside, and the sustenance of entrepreneurial structures in rural regions. Keywords: sustainable development of the countryside, multifunctional agriculture, diversification of activities, EU Operational Program Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 156-160 Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Year: 2009 DOI: 10.17221/587-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/587-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-200903-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:55:y:2009:i:3:id:587-AGRICECON