Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Maja KOŽAR Author-Workplace-Name: Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia Author-Name: Markus KEMPEN Author-Workplace-Name: University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, Bonn, Germany Author-Name: Wolfgang BRITZ Author-Workplace-Name: University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, Bonn, Germany Author-Name: Emil ERJAVEC Author-Workplace-Name: University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Ljubljana, Slovenia Title: Flattening and redistribution of the CAP direct payments for the EU27 regions Abstract: The paper presents key results regarding a possible reform of the Common Agricultural Policy direct payments, based on a scenario analysis by the CAPRI (Common Agricultural Policy Regionalized Impact) modelling system. Combining aggregate programming models at the NUTS 2 level with a global spatial multi-commodity model, it enables depicting the impacts of different policy and economic scenarios from regional to the global scale. The paper discusses simulated impacts on farm income and agricultural markets from implementing the European flat rate hectare payment corrected for the purchasing power disparities across the Member States while reducing the overall budget outlays for direct payments by 50% and dismantling the remaining coupled support to ruminants. The results are an outcome of a comparative static analysis against a reference scenario which assumes the Health Check policy in 2020. The model results suggest a drop of the agricultural gross value added by 9% at the aggregate EU27 level compared to the reference scenario. Impacts differ between the Member States groups, Member States and regions, depending on the share of premiums in the income from agriculture, specialization and competitiveness of production. The largest reduction is projected for the suckler cow herd, dropping by 6% compared to the reference scenario. The drop is caused by removing the coupled support and affecting mostly the herds in Spain and France. Keywords: agriculture, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), sector modeling, mathematical programming Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 443-453 Volume: 58 Issue: 10 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/144/2011-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/144/2011-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201210-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:58:y:2012:i:10:id:144-2011-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Eva CIHELKOVÁ Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Regional environmental governance: the NAFTA case Abstract: The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 elaborated the idea of sustainable development. A comprehensive document called the Agenda 21 provided an explanation how to achieve a sustainable economic development. Along the tools presented in the document, there emerged in practice a new regionalism which is based on the preferential trade agreements. Currently, regional agreements are of a more complex nature, so that they may include environmental cooperation, too. The aim of this paper is to illustrate, on the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a possible approach of regional agreements to environmental cooperation. The paper is divided into four sections. The first one summarizes a general approach to addressing environmental issues within the integration groupings. The second tries to answer the question of whether the NAFTA confirms the general approach to the regional environmental governance. The third deals with the meaning and the failure of the regional governance for the assessment of the cross-border impact of the NAFTA/NAAEC on the environment. The fourth and last section gives an answer to whether the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), as the environmental part of the NAFTA, is a good basis for the effective environmental governance in North America. Keywords: governance, integration, North American Free Trade Agreement, regionalism Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 454-466 Volume: 58 Issue: 10 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/76/2012-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/76/2012-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201210-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:58:y:2012:i:10:id:76-2012-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Meng-Shiunn LEE Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Business Administration, Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan, Taiwan Title: An analysis of the critical factors that affect the competitive advantages and developmental strategies of leisure farms in Taiwan Abstract: Leisure farms in Taiwan are currently undergoing a fast development. The utilization of distinctive strategies to create successful operational competitiveness is becoming the guiding policy of enterprises for their future development. This study adopts the value chain perspective to develop criteria for different dimensions and to develop a strategic hierarchical structure by using the fuzzy Delphi method. Through the FANP (Fuzzy Analytic Network Process) method, this study discovers the critical factors influencing the competitive advantages of leisure farms in Taiwan: (1) the uniqueness of the landscape and ecological resources, (2) the richness of agricultural resources, (3) the attractiveness of the landscape and ecological resources, (4) service quality, (5) the convenience of the accommodation, (6) the provision of education and guiding services, and the like. Finally, according to the research results of the study, the authors make suggestions on the corresponding developmental strategies of leisure farms, including (1) creating the characteristics of a leisure farm through the development and utilization of the farm's internal and surrounding environmental resources and (2) perceiving the tourists' needs and improving the service quality. With the suggestions made and the reference data concluded in this study, the authors expect to enhance effectively the current competitive advantages of leisure farms. Keywords: leisure farms, competitive advantages, critical factors, developmental strategies Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 467-481 Volume: 58 Issue: 10 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/128/2011-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/128/2011-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201210-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:58:y:2012:i:10:id:128-2011-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marie ŠTOLBOVÁ Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: Michala MÍČOVÁ Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information, Prague, Czech Republic Title: The farm size in the less-favoured areas and the economy of support spending on public goods production in the case of the Czech Republic Abstract: Opportunities for savings in both human labour and technical equipment were tested on the case of large farms situated in the less-favoured areas (LFA). Large LFA farms were found to be undoubtedly more efficient than the small ones, as well as the diversification of activities (to non-agricultural) was much wider at the large farms in the Czech Republic (CR). The targeting of the objectives of the LFA measure was analysed on the cases of the selected types of the small and large farms and also the amounts of support, devoted to reach these objectives. The paper further analyses economic results of the small and large farms in the LFA within the CR, and evaluates the impacts of the current LFA measures, where the payment distribution is based only on the grassland area, regardless of the farm size in the CR. Based on these analyses, it was suggested to distribute the LFA payments in the CR per 1ha of utilised agricultural area of farm. Also, it was showed that it would be suitable to introduce a graded decrease of the LFA payments rates according to the farm size. The analysis proves that the economic survival of the large farms, measured as the farm net value added per one annual work unit, will not be endangered. Keywords: farm size, less favoured areas, public goods production, economic results of farms Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 482-496 Volume: 58 Issue: 10 Year: 2012 DOI: 10.17221/177/2011-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/177/2011-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201210-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:58:y:2012:i:10:id:177-2011-AGRICECON