scholarly journals Effect of Policy Measures Supporting the Agricultural Sector in Bulgaria After EU Membership

2020 ◽  
pp. 91-104

The agricultural sector in Bulgaria has undergone significant changes over the past three decades. In the early 1990s, the land was shattered between small owners. This leads to a drastic decline in revenue and a reduction in productivity per unit area. In recent years, as a part of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union (EU), which is one of the most important EU policies, due to its high share in the Community budget – almost 50%, and also to the large territory and the large number of people directly affected by it, the country has implemented a number of measures aimed to support farmers and for land consolidation. They are targeted to supporting various activities and are aiming to improve the quality of production, reducing the cost per unit and improving the overall quality of life of farmers and the population in rural areas as a whole. The main objective of the paper is to evaluate the overall impact of the implementation of policy measures targeted to stimulate the agricultural sector in Bulgaria in last ten years.

Author(s):  
Krzysztof Pawłowski ◽  
Wawrzyniec Czubak

The 2nd pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy plays a very significant role in shaping the image of a modern, European village. It’s impact on the development of agriculture and rural areas seems to be obvious, for example because of the place it occupies in the structure of the European Union budget. However, it’s very important to precisely determine the effects of its implementation. Therefore, in this article the main goal was to show the reasons for diversifying the implementation of the Rural Development Program 2007–2013 in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Against the background of differences in the economic and production situation of the agricultural sector, the design of the Programs was evaluated and it’s impact on changes in the agricultural sectors of these countries was compared. To show the impact of the funds of the second pillar of the CAP, the time range presenting changes in agriculture covers the years before and after integration. Based on them, a comparison of the implemented activities and the structure of their financing has been made.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artiom Volkov ◽  
Tomas Balezentis ◽  
Mangirdas Morkunas ◽  
Dalia Streimikiene

The effects of globalization have often been adverse for the agricultural sector, especially its most vulnerable element—the small farm. The importance of the agricultural sector as a whole and small farms in the sense of ensuring food security, employment and viability of rural areas, implies a necessity to support the sector and small farms in particular. For this purpose, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) seeks to boost the sustainability of agriculture in multiple dimensions. The 2013 reform of the CAP has provided a particularly strong impetus towards this direction. This paper establishes an indicator system to quantify the effects of the CAP direct payments on the socioeconomic sustainability of small farms. Expert survey and multi-criteria assessment are used to this end. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method is applied for the multi-criteria analysis. Lithuania is taken as a case study. The results show that, in the case of Lithuania, the direct payment system did not contribute to the improvement in socioeconomic sustainability of small farms up until 2013 CAP reform when its impact became undeniable.


Author(s):  
B.A. Voronin ◽  
◽  
I.P. Chupina ◽  
Ya.V. Voronina ◽  
◽  
...  

The article discusses a non-standard view of the formation of human capital for work in organizations of the agricultural sector of the economy, in the context of modern socio-economic transformations. In the classical sense, human capital for agriculture should be formed and developed in rural areas. But in real life, this is not always the case, because there are many factors that prevent the classical solution of this problem. First, the demographic factor affects, second, social and household factors, and third, in many rural areas there are no working agricultural organizations where qualified agricultural specialists can work. All these and other circumstances actualize the problem of the quality of human capital in rural areas in relation to the development of agricultural production.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Chiodi ◽  
◽  
Verónica Escudero

What works to reduce child labor in agriculture? In this paper, we evaluate two randomized livelihood intervention programs, aimed to reduce child labor, particularly in its most exploitative forms, in rural areas of Peru and the Philippines. In the first randomized experiment, we evaluate a livelihood intervention provided to farmers in Peru that use the labor of their children on their family farms, accompanied by an education intervention aimed to improve the quality of schools and an awareness-raising intervention. In the second randomized experiment, we evaluate the incremental effect of the livelihood intervention implemented within a similar program in the Philippines, focused on the sugarcane agricultural sector. We find that when livelihood interventions were provided alone, they did not manage to improve economic conditions, and hence generally failed to reduce child labor rates in rural areas. However, when the livelihood intervention was combined with measures to improve the quality of education in Peru, we see a reduction in hazardous child labor and child labor overall. Awareness-raising interventions, aimed at changing the perceptions of parents through community interaction, appear to have also had an effect in the reduction of child labor, and these effects were reinforced by education interventions. Results indicate that a comprehensive approach including livelihood support with education and awareness-raising components is a more effective way to reduce child labor and hazardous labor for children in the agricultural sector.


Author(s):  
Oksana Yurynets ◽  

Today, more and more companies focus on problems in customs clearance of products crossing the border during the implementation of export-import activities. In the context of European and Euro- Atlantic integration, which promote the accession of Ukrainian enterprises to the single European market, one of the priority tasks is the urgent solution of existing problems in the customs sphere. After all, one of the integral stages of Ukraine’s economic integration into the European Union is the successful accession of customs authorities to the Customs Union through harmonization of customs procedures with European norms, introduction of common customs principles and permanent improvement of customs activities on the basis of progressive customs instruments. The results of the survey of domestic exporters and importers that was conducted by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting indicated the following key problems in the work of Ukrainian customs authorities: insufficient quality of customs legislation; low level of transparency and openness of customs authorities; corruption and bribery among customs officers; intentional overstatement of the customs value of goods; low level of quality of technical support of customs authorities; low level of qualification of customs officers; frequent changes in the organizational management structure of customs authorities and their management; burdensome fiscal function of customs authorities. The identified problems in the work of customs authorities of Ukraine in the context of European and Euro-Atlantic integration made it possible to identify priority directions for improving customs procedures: increasing efficiency, transparency and non-discrimination of customs procedures for export-import operations, reducing the cost of customs clearance for export-import, absolute harmonization of domestic customs legislation with European norms, unification of customs procedures with European customs practices in export-import operations, reduction of bureaucracy of customs procedures in export-import operations, optimization of customs payments in export-import operations, etc. The implementation of these directions of improvement of customs procedures in the export-import operations should take place with the use of specific urgent customs instruments, which will promptly solve the existing urgent problems in the work of customs authorities.


Author(s):  
М. Sakhatskyi ◽  
G. Zapsha ◽  
M. Sakhatskyi ◽  
G. Didur ◽  
I. Klochan

Abstract. The article highlights the relevance of the modernization of production and economic activity of enterprises and farms of the agricultural sector in the context of institutional transformations. The analysis of modernization studies by fundamental and applied economic science is carried out, the problem statement is made.The results of researches of agrarian economic science on the main directions of modernization of production and economic activity of agricultural enterprises and farms are given. The generalization about belonging of modernization to economic categories has been made, which reflects the general properties of real reality and serves as a natural mechanism of its upward development due to the improvement of the man of production and economic activity, provides economic progress and improvement of the level and quality of life of the population. Institutional changes have been identified, as evidenced by an overall increase in the number of agricultural enterprises, a decrease in farms and annual fluctuations in the number of agricultural entities. It is established that in agriculture, agricultural enterprises and farms are focused on the production of grain and legumes, sunflower and sugar beet, while households are mainly engaged in growing potatoes, vegetables, fruits and berries. In animal husbandry, agricultural enterprises have a certain advantage in the production of meat (in slaughter weight) and eggs, and households dominate dairy cattle, sheep and beekeeping.The importance of each category of farms in the agrarian sector of the economy in the production of basic agricultural products is determined. The arguments about the need for modernization of production and economic activity of agricultural enterprises and farms are presented.The complex of measures of modernization of production and economic activity of the studied subjects is substantiated, economic individualization of which is combined with processes of cooperation and agro-industrial integration in clusters of integrated territorial communities of rural areas. Keywords: modernization, production and economic activity, enterprise, farm, institutional transformations. JEL Classification Q12, Q14,Q18 Formulas: 0; fig.: 0; tabl.:2; bibl.: 12.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-37
Author(s):  
Alena Dorakh

Despite recent concerns about the increasing influence of outside investors on the European Union (EU) and Western Balkans, the developed European countries are still a dominant source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region, confirming the benefits of EU membership. At the same time, fast-growing connectivity and lower trade costs in accession and neighboring countries determine the FDI growth from China, particularly via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). By applying panel data over 2000-2019 for 34 countries, which form 89% of all European FDI, we first examine FDI patterns around Europe, compare the EU, NMS, and Western Balkans; verify the importance of EU membership for FDI, caused reducing trade costs and improving connectivity. Thus, the new EU member states (NMS) and Western Balkans appear both as a home country and as a pre- entry destination to the EU. Then, we calculate trade costs indices for each selected country and partners over time and find that Europe and China are closely interconnected through trade and FDI. It means that stronger ties with China can be realized for the sample countries at the cost of easing relations with the EU. Finally, incorporating trade costs indices into the FDI model; we evaluate the impact of connectivity on FDI and estimate how BRI affected FDI in Europe. Additionally, we validate that the old framework of horizontal and vertical FDI not representative well and even new complex vertical or export-oriented FDI strategies are shifting today.


Author(s):  
Oleksii Hryhorovych Korytnyi ◽  

The need for constant monitoring of existing practices to improve the efficiency of the agricultural sector and identify important guidelines for further development of this area.Using modern experience of EU countries to increase the efficiency of the national agricultural sector.Practical and theoretical issues of development of the agricultural sector and the use of existing practical experience in this field were considered by O. Borodin, O. Bublienko, V. Granovska, N. Karaseva, I. Klymenko, R. Kosodiy, M. Skoryk and others.Active development of economic processes in the agricultural sector requires current research on the existing practical experience of developed countries.Analysis of practical experience in ensuring the effective functioning of the agricultural sector of the EU.An effective direction of the transition to sustainable development of rural areas is organic production (regulatory principles are reflected in the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU). The institutional norms of the CAP EU act as a guarantor of positive transformations and a "substitute" for the interests of producers in conditions of market competition. In practice, the Council and the EU Commission are responsible for implementing the common policy. European policy for the development of the agricultural sector is funded by the European Agrarian Fund for Rural Development. EU countries use various mechanisms (subsidies, grants, state loan guarantees, etc.) for the development of the agricultural sector. The best results in the direction of sustainable development of the agricultural sector were achieved by countries that took radical steps quickly, decisively, comprehensively. The experience of the EU countries shows that it is also justified to limit government intervention in this sector, or to implement it through market-type mechanisms


Author(s):  
Esther Ruiz Ben ◽  
Michaela Wieandt ◽  
Martina Maletzky

In the context of globalization and internationalization, offshoring processes in the ICT Industry have increased considerably in the software and service sector in recent years due to the cost saving strategies and market entry policies of ICT organizations. Through the heterogeneity of the European ICT sector a regionalization trend regarding host country selection for ICT offshore is, nevertheless, observable. Historical and cultural ties between host and home countries as well as related national stereotypes play an important role in the regionalization process. Moreover, due to favorable EU policies and regulations, off- and nearshoring within the European Union acquire an additional attractive character for some major European producers, such as, for example, Germany. Thus the Eastern European Member States, which already build out certain sectoral specialization in regard to ICT service provision, have benefited from direct foreign investments. Off- and nearshoring also imply risks and hidden costs linked to structural aspects in host countries as well as to the overestimation of cultural and historical nearness. In our chapter we discuss the trends of the internationalization process in the European ICT sector taking into account related risks in off- and nearshore processes. We argue, furthermore, that long-term cooperation and intercultural training, with the support of local and European institutions, should be considered to confrontin a better way the challenges of the internationalization of ICT in Europe.


2022 ◽  
pp. 134-154
Author(s):  
Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho

The social role of the farms is, especially, relevant in the rural areas where the socioeconomic problems are, often, more visible. In this perspective, this study aims to investigate the interrelationships of the labour input with other variables inside the farms and assess how the sector may create more employment in a sustainable way. For that, the labour input was, first, correlated with other farm variables and after analysed through factor analysis approaches and cross-section econometric methodologies, considering as basis the Cobb-Douglas and Verdoorn-Kaldor models. The main findings highlight relevant insights to improve the social dimension of the European Union farms. The labour input growth rate is positively influenced by the total output growth rates and negatively impacted by the total productivity growth. The effects from the investment and from the subsidies are residual or not significant.


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