Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Peter ARENDAS Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Banking and International Finance, Faculty of National Economy, University of Economics in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: The Halloween effect on the agricultural commodities markets Abstract: The financial markets are impacted by various seasonal anomalies. One of the best known of them is the Halloween effect. The Halloween effect means that the summer period (May-October) asset returns are lower compared to the winter period (November-April) asset returns. In the paper, price series of 20 major agricultural commodities over the 1980-2015-time period are tested for the presence of the Halloween effect. The data show that 15 out of the 20 commodities recorded a higher average winter period than summer period returns and in 10 cases, the differences are statistically significant. The data also show that out of the 5 commodities with higher summer period returns, only in the case of poultry the differences are statistically significant. Keywords: abnormal returns, agriculture, commodity, investing, seasonal anomaly Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 441-448 Volume: 63 Issue: 10 Year: 2017 DOI: 10.17221/45/2016-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/45/2016-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201710-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:63:y:2017:i:10:id:45-2016-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marilena FURNO Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy Author-Name: Francesco CARACCIOLO Title: Beyond the mean: Estimating consumer demand systems in the tails Abstract: The study proposes a novel approach to estimate price demand elasticities at the various levels of expenditures. Through the expectile estimator, the demand system can be estimated not only at the mean, as is generally done when implementing the OLS, but also at the lower and higher levels of expenditure. A simple demand system of equations focusing on five basic goods: Food, Recreation, Clothing, Transport, Rent, using the Canadian Family Expenditure Survey data was estimated. The comparison of the estimated elasticity of each commodity at the selected expectiles is tested to verify the statistical relevance of any difference among the estimates in the tails and those computed at the centre of the conditional distribution. The results show with a strong evidence that the elasticity of Food and Recreation grows across the expectiles. Clothing variations are less evident, while the Transport and Rent elasticity is basically constant across the expectiles. Keywords: elasticity, expectiles, demand system Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 449-460 Volume: 63 Issue: 10 Year: 2017 DOI: 10.17221/70/2016-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/70/2016-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201710-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:63:y:2017:i:10:id:70-2016-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nadezda JANKELOVA Author-Workplace-Name: University of Economics in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Zuzana JONIAKOVA Author-Workplace-Name: University of Economics in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Jana BLSTAKOVA Author-Name: Ildiko NEMETHOVA Author-Workplace-Name: University of Economics in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Readiness of human resource departments of agricultural enterprises for implementation of the new roles of human resource professionals Abstract: This paper is part of a broader study which aims to investigate the success factors of agricultural enterprises. It attempts to present the partial results of a questionnaire survey whose goal was to determine the quality of HRM (Human Resource Management) departments in basic agricultural enterprises. Studies focusing on the HRM of basic agricultural enterprises have been published in many countries. In the Slovak Republic, experts and academics from the Slovak University of Technology in Nitra, and the Slovak Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics have arrived at perceptive conclusions on the current state of human capital in the agri-food sector and have proposed innovative directions for further development. Surprisingly, however, academia still fails to perceive HR management as a partner in an enterprise, rather than simply a service unit in the organisational structure of the agricultural enterprise. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of the role of HRM departments is missing and this paper aims to fill that gap. The methodology of research is based on Ulrich's model of the mixed roles of HR departments (2009), which is used as a framework to determine the quality levels of role performance, defined by the model, of HRM departments. The survey sample consists of 70 basic agricultural enterprises. Keywords: HR management, basic agricultural enterprises, roles of HR departments Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 461-470 Volume: 63 Issue: 10 Year: 2017 DOI: 10.17221/189/2016-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/189/2016-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201710-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:63:y:2017:i:10:id:189-2016-AGRICECON Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Muhammad AKBAR Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan Author-Name: Abdul JABBAR Author-Workplace-Name: International Institute of Islamic Economics, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan Title: Impact of macroeconomic policies on national food security in Pakistan: simulation analyses under a simultaneous equations framework Abstract: The UN's Vision 2050 regarding food security emphasizes a doubling of food production by 2050 to ensure sufficient food availability. It should also be considered that economic accessibility to food depends mainly on food prices in developing countries. Vision 2050 requires proper planning at the national level to ensure that targets are met in the coming years. This study was conducted to analyse the impact of macroeconomic policy decisions on domestic food production and food inflation in Pakistan. A simultaneous equations model, estimated using the generalized method of moments (GMM) with annual data from 1963-1964 to 2013-2014, was developed. Simulation analyses were conducted by using the model to analyse the impact of monetary policy, fiscal policy and energy price policy; policy recommendations are also given. A significant increase in public expenditure for the development of infrastructure and the lowering of energy prices would significantly improve the availability and accessibility parameters of food security in Pakistan. The recent fall in energy prices will also be advantageous for both the availability as well as economic accessibility to food. Tight monetary policy for a limited time period may be helpful to control food inflation, but may also exert some minor adverse effects on food production. Moreover, monetary policy decisions must be taken while considering all sectors of the economy. The results of the study provide some important guidelines for national food security policy that may help in realising the UN's Vision 2050. Keywords: food security, macroeconomic policies, simultaneous equations, simulation analyses, Pakistan Journal: Agricultural Economics Pages: 471-488 Volume: 63 Issue: 10 Year: 2017 DOI: 10.17221/96/2016-AGRICECON File-URL: http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/96/2016-AGRICECON.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/age-201710-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:63:y:2017:i:10:id:96-2016-AGRICECON