SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Dufhues, Thomas; Beuchelt, Tina; Fischer, Isabel; Fritzsch, Jana; Wolz, Axel; Reinsberg, Klaus; Kasarjyan, Milada; Korff, Rudiger.

Although interest in the structure and relational features of social capital and its underlying networks has grown since the early 1990s, the terms do not embody any ideas that are really new to sociologists, but are indeed rather new to economists. Until the 1950s, land, labour, and financial capital (i.e., levels of investment) were seen as being relevant for economic growth. Then technology (physical capital) was added to the list. In the early 1960s, convincing empirical evidence showed that labour without know-how and entrepreneurial skills (human capital) limit the potential of the other production factors. Today, labour and skills are usually simultaneously addressed when talking of human capital. In development economics, and more recently in...

Tipo: Book

Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Farm Management; Food Security and Poverty.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93010

Semi-subsistence Farm Households in Central and South-eastern Europe: Current State and Future Perspectives

Fritzsch, Jana; Wegener, Stefan; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Curtiss, Jarmila; Gomez y Paloma, Sergio.

The European Union (EU) introduced a special transitional semi-subsistence measure to promote the smallest agricultural producers, so-called semi-subsistence farm households (SFHs) in the enlargement process. An outlook on the future of SFHs requires comprehensive and reliable information on the phenomenon and the impact of policy measures on their development. Therefore, a survey using a standardised questionnaire was conducted in Poland (175 households), Romania (185 households), and Bulgaria (184 households) from July to September 2007. In a first step, four major types of SFHs could be identified by means of cluster analysis: (i) rural diversifiers, (ii) rural pensioners, (iii) farmers, and (iv) rural newcomers. In a second step, a multiobjective...

Are Cooperatives Hybrid Organizations? An Alternative Viewpoint

Palavras-chave: Semi-subsistence; Policy analysis; Transition countries; Multiobjective linear programming; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; C61; P27; Q12.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51444

Valentinov, Vladislav; Fritzsch, Jana.

This paper questions the designation of cooperatives as hybrids of market and hierarchy on the grounds that cooperatives possess more differences from these governance mechanisms than commonalities with them. It is argued that the definition of a governance mechanism’s hybridity depends on the definition of the governance continuum, with the conventional market-hierarchy continuum failing to accommodate the specificity of the cooperative organization. Utilizing the logic of the property rights theory of the firm, the paper develops an alternative continuum for cooperative, hierarchical, and market organization. These governance mechanisms are shown to exhibit growing difference in the extensiveness of property rights assigned to the involved contractual...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Agribusiness.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/58688

The Impact of Social Capital on Economic Performance of Agricultural Producers in the Czech Republic

Wolz, Axel; Fritzsch, Jana; Pencakova, Jitka.

In the Czech Republic, agricultural production is still dominated by corporate farms. Private farms have been established since the change of the political regime, but their role is not that relevant as originally anticipated. Among both groups, some have been economically more successful than others. In general, a varying adoption of pr oduction factors is identified as being of influence. Whether their ability to collaborate with other farms is an additional factor which has been discussed under the concept of social capital since quite some time will be analyzed in this paper. Based on the findings of a survey among a sample of 62 farms by adopting factor and multiple regression analysis it can be deduced that social capital is indeed a significant...

STRUCTURAL SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE: FINDINGS OF EMPIRICAL FARM DATA IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Palavras-chave: Corporate farms; Private farms; Social capital; Cross sectional models; Czech Republic; Farm Management; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; C21; P0; Q12; Z13.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25767

Wolz, Axel; Fritzsch, Jana; Pencakova, Jitka.

With the change of the political regime in Central and Eastern Europe, both managers of corporate farms and newly established private farmers had to adjust to the rules of the market economy. Among both groups, some are economically more successful than others. In general, a varying adoption of production factors is identified as being of influence. Whether their ability to collaborate with other farms is an additional factor which has been discussed under the concept of social capital since quite some time will be analyzed in this paper. Based on the findings of a survey among a sample of 62 farms in the Czech Republic it can be shown by adopting factor and multiple regression analysis that social capital is indeed a significant factor determining the...

Some Conceptional Thoughts on the Impact of Social Networks on Non-farm Rural Employment

Palavras-chave: Corporate farms; Private farms; Social capital; Cross sectional models; Czech Republic; Farm Management.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14956

Traikova, Diana; Mollers, Judith; Fritzsch, Jana; Buchenrieder, Gertrud.

Everybody knows: rural regions offer fewer possibilities for non-farm employment than urban areas. For this reason, it was the semi-subsistence farm structures that had to absorb the released workers from the big rural state enterprises and the urban-rural migrants fleeing unemployment in the towns in the course of economic transformation. This has created hidden unemployment in farm households and thus low agricultural labour productivity in the European transition economies. From a policy point of view, it is therefore desirable to promote new jobs outside the farm sector in order to decrease the livelihood dependency on agriculture. But do rural people actually have a choice? And if so, will they go for non-farm employment? In Europe's transition...

APPLYING FUZZY THEORY CONCEPTS TO THE ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYMENT DIVERSIFICATION OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS: METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Palavras-chave: Rural non-farm employment; Social networks; Transition; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7801

Fritzsch, Jana.

The Deliverable 7.2 (D7.2) of the SCARLED project provides methodological considerations for applying fuzzy set theory to the analysis of employment diversification of farm households. It presents a Mamdani's type fuzzy inference model and describes its application within the project's framework. The model consists of ten variables that are grouped into the four factors: (i) necessity to diversify, (ii) internal preconditions, (iii) external preconditions, and (iv) attitudes. The coherence of these four factors with the integrated framework for the analysis of nonfarm rural employment is discussed. The model will be realised in the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox from MATLAB®. Forty four membership functions and 138 rules are going to be implemented, tested, and...

Structural change in Europe’s rural regions – Farm livelihoods between subsistence orientation, modernisation and non-farm diversification

Palavras-chave: International Development; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91953

Salasan, Cosmin; Curtiss, Jarmila; Gomez y Paloma, Gomez; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Fritzsch, Jana; Wegener, Stefan; Glauben, Thomas; Hockmann, Heinrich; Moller, Lioudmila; Pieniadz, Agata; Renner, Swetlana; Davidova, Sophia; Fredriksson, Lena; Petrovici, Dan Alex; Mishev, Mishev; Hubbard, Carmen; Gorton, Matthew; Wolek, Tomasz.

Edited volume of the contributions to the mini-symposium of the same title at the IAAE conference 2009.

Tipo: Book

Palavras-chave: EU; Enlarged EU; Structural change; Farm livelihoods; Modernization; Rural development; Success stories; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; International Development.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/53334

FARM INCOME AMONG HOUSUEHOLD PLOT FARMERS IN UKRAINE – THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL CAPITAL

Wolz, Axel; Fritzsch, Jana; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Nedoborovskyy, Andriy; Zinovchuk, Vitaly.

Following the two rounds of land reform in Ukraine since independence, household plot farmers emerged as the major suppliers of agricultural goods. But they form a very heterogeneous group. Not all of them are equally successful and integrated to markets. In general, a varying degree of access and adoption of production factors is identified as being of influence. In this paper, we argue that social capital is an additional factor contributing to higher agricultural incomes. We tested our hypothesis using primary evidence from a survey in Ukraine among 255 household plot farmers. Based on 23 social capital indicators we deduced four separate index variables linking the social capital dimension of form, i.e. structural and cognitive, with the social capital...

A Composite Fuzzy Indicator for Assessing Farm Household Potential for Non-farm Income Diversification

Palavras-chave: Empirical survey; Household farming; Agricultural income; Social capital; Ukraine; Institutional and Behavioral Economics.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52668

Fritzsch, Jana.

European politicians encourage the income diversification of rural households through various measures. Although being aware of farm households’ potential for non-farm income diversification seems important for finely-targeting such policy measures, no attempt has thus far been made to summarise the various determinants of income diversification in a single figure. This contribution aims to close this gap. A composite fuzzy indicator that measures farm household potential for non-farm income diversification is developed and applied to 1,053 farm households in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia. The indicator summarises the incentives of and capacities for non-farm income diversification on the individual household member level, and on the...

Agricultural economics and transition: What was expected, what we observed, the lessons learned Proceedings (Volume I / II)

Palavras-chave: Composite indicator; Fuzzy logic; Rural non-farm income diversification; Transition countries; Consumer/Household Economics; C65; J24; Q12; R23.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/114349

Csaki, Csaba; Forgacs, Csaba; Koester, Ulrich; Liefert, William M.; Banse, Martin; Gay, Stephan Hubertus; McDonald, Scott; M'Barek, Robert; Swinnen, Johan F.M.; Kim, Hanho; An, Donghwan; Hubbard, Lionel J.; Rieger, Laszlo; Szoke, Gyula; Cristoiu, Adriana; Udovc, Andrej; Kagan, Adam; Sassi, Maria; Takacs, Istvan; Takacs, Emese; Cimpoies, Dragos; Ertsey, Imre; Kovacs, Sandor; Przygodzka, Renata; Dziemianowicz, Ryta Iwona; Magda, Robert; Borodina, Elena; Borodina, Alexandra; Gavrilescu, Dinu; Pecze, Denes; Balogh, Peter; Cechura, Lukas; Sayin, Cengiz; Cengiz, M. Nisa; Osanami, Fumio; Szabo, Gabor G.; Karaman, Suleyman; Szekely, Geza; Szczepaniak, Iwona; Szczegolska, Monika; Serova, Eugenia; Pieniadz, Agata; Barmon, Basanta Kumar; Kondo, Takumi; Becvarova, Vera; Levkovych, Inna; Hockmann, Heinrich; Bezlepkina, Irina V.; Kupavych, Alexander; Konig, Gabor; Halmai, Peter; Vasary, Viktoria; Vincze, Maria-Magdolna; Lerman, Zvi; Kolcsey, Andrea; Bokusheva, Raushan; Turtoi, Crina Sinziana; Toma, Camelia; Gavrilescu, Camelia; Davidova, Sophia; Blaas, Gejza; Antonova, Maria; Zeller, Manfred; Deininger, Klaus W.; Savastano, Sara; Carletto, Calogero; Caceres-Clavero, Francisco; Lucena-Cobos, Blanca; Latruffe, Laure; Takacs-Gyorgy, Katalin; Bandlerova, Anna; Sadowski, Adam; Gomez y Paloma, Sergio; Luca, Lucian; Cristoiu, Adriana; Ciaian, Pavel; Pokrivcak, Jan; Drabik, Dusan; Voneki, Eva; Tonini, Axel; Burger, Anna; Szep, Katalin; Majewski, Edward; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide; Maccarini, Elisa Ricci; Monasterolo, Irene; Vandeplas, Anneleen; Jongeneel, Roelof A.; Novak, Petr; Brasili, Cristina; Meyer, William H.; Kuhne, Bianka; Fanfani, Roberto; Gellynck, Xavier; Molnar, Adrienn; Gagalyuk, Taras; Traikova, Diana; Mollers, Judith; Cochrane, Nancy J.; Kazlauskiene, Natalija; Fekete-Farkas, Maria; Molnar, Jozsef; Szucs, Istvan; Popp, Jozsef; Udovecz, Gabor; Florkowski, Wojciech J.; Fritzsch, Jana; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Kasarjyan, Milada; Podruzsik, Szilard; Korff, Rudiger; Wilkin, Jerzy; van Leeuwen, Myrna; Bartova, Lubica; Erjavec, Emil; Katona-Kovacs, Judit; Baranyai, Zsolt; Hubbard, Carmen.

Over fifteen years have elapsed since the transition from the centrally planned economic system started in the early 1990’s. During this time agricultural and rural areas of Central and Eastern Europe have undergone profound structural changes with wide variations in the degree of transformation and in the rate of success in creating a competitive market and private ownership based food and agricultural system. By becoming member of the European Union the "transition" in its traditional interpretation has been concluded in ten of the Central East European countries. The transition to market based agriculture, however, is far from completion in Southern and Eastern Europe and especially in the CIS countries. International Association of Agricultural...

The Impact of Social Capital on Farm and Household Income: Results of a Survey among Individual Farmers in Poland

Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; Agricultural Finance; Farm Management; Financial Economics; Industrial Organization; International Development; International Relations/Trade; Land Economics/Use; Production Economics.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/92319

Wolz, Axel; Fritzsch, Jana; Reinsberg, Klaus.

Private farming is the dominant mode of agricultural production in most European countries. Not all farmers are equally successful, economically. In this paper it is analysed whether social capital is an important factor contributing to higher agricultural incomes. Based on the findings of a farm survey in Poland among 410 farmers by adopting factor and multiple regression analysis it can be deduced that social capital is indeed a significant factor determining the level of agricultural income. However, its impact not that clear-cut as anticipated. More in-depth analysis will be needed in the future.

Market Integration of Household Plots in Ukraine - The Impact of Social Capital

Palavras-chave: Cross sectional models; Empirical research; Farm income; Individual (private) farms; Social capital; Poland; Farm Management.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24442

Wolz, Axel; Fritzsch, Jana; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Nedoborovskyy, Andriy.

Following the two rounds of land reform in Ukraine since independence, household plot farmers emerged as the major suppliers to agricultural production. But they form a very heterogeneous group. Not all of them are equally successful, economically, and integrated to markets. In general, a varying adoption of production factors is identified as being of influence. In this paper, we argue that social capital is an additional factor contributing to higher agricultural incomes. We tested our thesis using primary evidence from a survey in Ukraine among 255 household plot farmers in 2006. Based on 24 social capital indicators we deduced four separate index variables linking the social capital dimension of form, i.e. structural and cognitive, with the social...

THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE FOR OVERCOMING RURAL POVERTY IN ROMANIA

Palavras-chave: Production factors; Social capital; Ukraine; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43842

Salasan, Cosmin; Fritzsch, Jana.

Topical literature sees agriculture's ability to provide food and cash income as a major role in poverty reduction. However, it can only be a driving force for economic development for very poor countries. Economic indicators confirm that Romania is not a very poor country, although poverty has been an issue. During recent years, Romania has progressed successfully in reducing poverty. On the one hand, this can be attributed to its positive overall economic development. On the other hand, agriculture has served as a social safety net for many millions of people. Now the agricultural sector is dominated by subsistent and semi-subsistent farm households headed by persons of retirement age without formal agricultural training. Only 40% of the utilised...

Semi-subsistence farm households and the non-farm rural economy - Perspectives and challenges

Palavras-chave: Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Farm Management; Food Security and Poverty; International Development.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91907

Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Fritzsch, Jana; Wegener, Stefan; Curtiss, Jarmila; Gomez y Paloma, Sergio.

Semi-subsistence farm households (SFHs) have persevered in Central and Southeastern Europe. An outlook on future perspectives of SFHs asks for reliable information on the phenomenon of SFHs and the impact of policy measures on their development options: (1) intensifying farming, (2) diversifying income creating activities, or (3) exiting farming for waged employment. This article focuses on SFHs and rural non-farm employment (RNFE). On the basis of a comparative 2007-survey of 489 SFHs in Bulgaria, Poland and Romania, three countries with particularly many SFHs, four major types of SFHs (rural pensioners, farmers, rural diversifiers, rural newcomers) were identified. For policy analysis, a multiobjective linear programming household model was developed. In...

The Impact of Social Capital on Agricultural Income Among Corporate Farms in the Czech Republic

Palavras-chave: Semi-subsistence; Rural non-farm economy; Policy analysis; Transition countries; Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Land Economics/Use; Political Economy; C61; P27; Q12.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52804

Wolz, Axel; Fritzsch, Jana; Reinsberg, Klaus.

In the Czech Republic, agricultural production is still dominated by corporate farms. However, not all of them had been equally successful, economically. In general, a varying adoption of production factors is identified as being of influence. Whether their ability to collaborate with other farms is an additional factor which has been discussed under the concept of social capital since quite some time will be analysed in this paper. Based on the findings of a survey among a sample of 166 corporate farms by adopting factor and multiple regression analysis it can be deduced that social capital is indeed a significant factor determining the level of agricultural income.

REPAYMENT PERFORMANCE UNDER JOINT LIABILITY BORROWING. DOES SOCIAL CAPITAL MATTER?: EVIDENCE FROM ARMENIA

Palavras-chave: Corporate farms; Social capital; Cross sectional models; Czech Republic; Agribusiness; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; C31; P32; Q12; Z13.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24695

Kasarjyan, Milada; Fritzsch, Jana; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Korff, Rudiger.

The aim of this paper is to test empirically the role of both cognitive and structural social capital in explaining the repayment performance of individual members under joint liability borrowing in rural Armenia. Based on unique primary data collected in 2006 in Ararat, Armavir and Vayots Dzor provinces, overall 86 observations, we estimated the Logit model to identify the determinants associated with good or bad repayment behavior of individual members. The results revealed that the members with higher level of structural and cognitive social capital as well as with higher farm productivity performed better. This indicates the importance of social as well as economic determinants for the decision and the ability of borrowers to repay the credit.

Non-farm income diversification of rural farm households in Central and Southeastern Europe: an application of fuzzy set theory

Palavras-chave: Microcredit; Social capital; Group liability; Repayment; Financial Economics; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7796

Fritzsch, Jana; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Mollers, Judith.

A fuzzy logic model for quantifying farm households’ potential for non-farm income diversification is developed and applied to 1,077 farm households in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia. About three quarters of households have a diversification potential, but not all households use it. An analysis of diversification potential and diversification behaviour shows that there are seven household types in the sample. Not all development options, i.e. farm development, farm exit, or starting non-farm employment, are equally suitable for all households thus fine targeting of policy measures according to the household type could be important for policy makers.

SOCIAL CAPITAL AMONG AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: ITS IMPACT ON ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

Palavras-chave: Rural development; Non-farm rural employment diversification; Fuzzy logic; Transition countries; Community/Rural/Urban Development; C65; D33; J24; Q12.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95321

Wolz, Axel; Fritzsch, Jana; Pencakova, Jitka.

The change of the political regime from the socialist central planning system to a market economy and pluralistic society required the reorganisation not only of agricultural production, but also of the organisations in their support. In the Czech Republic, agricultural production is characterised by a dualistic structure in these days, i.e. private farmers on the one side and corporate farms on the other. However, among both groups some had been economically more successful than others. In general, a varying adoption of production factors, i.e. land, labour and capital is identified as being of influence. Whether their ability to collaborate with other farms is an additional factor, which has been discussed under the concept of social capital since quite...

Employment diversification of farm households and structural change in the rural economy of the New Member States

Palavras-chave: Corporate farms; Private farms; Social capital; Cross sectional models; Czech Republic; Landwirtschaftliche Großbetriebe; Familienbetriebe; Sozialkapital; Tschechische Republik; Agribusiness; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Farm Management; Industrial Organization; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; Political Economy; C31; P32; Q12; Z13.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91965

Fritzsch, Jana; Mollers, Judith; Buchenrieder, Gertrud.