Forestry industry trade by degree of wood processing in the enlarged European Union countries

This paper analyses the forestry industry trade of the New Member States (NMS-11) of the European Union (EU) on the enlarged EU-27 markets, focusing on three groups of wood products: raw wood, semi-finished and finished wood products in the 1999-2010 period. The best performing NMS-11 country in the forestry industry trade with the enlarged EU-27 is Cyprus with a trade surplus mostly based on finished or at least semi-finished wood products. The results suggest a convergence in the forestry industry trade specialisation of the NMS-11 countries. A significant variation in the mobility of the forestry industry trade specialisation is found, but with a deterioration in forestry industry trade specialisation patterns over time. The results suggest the crucial role that the wood-processing and furniture industries can play with finished wood products and their backward linkages to raw wood and semi-finished wood products for forestry industry competitiveness. Forestry industry management should focus on better quality and greater trade competitiveness in the vertical wood industry supply chains from lower to higher value-added and marketed wood products. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Quality of institutions and the BRIC countries agro-food exports

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of institutional quality (IQ) in exporting and importing countries on agro-food exports from the world's leading emerging economies: Brazil, the Russian Federation, India and China (BRIC countries). Design/methodology/approach – Measuring is based on using the gravity trade model and econometric panel data analysis for the period 1998-2009. Findings – Agro-food exports from the BRIC countries, particularly Brazil and China, have increased. The Russian Federation has experienced stagnating and volatile patterns. Brazil and India have strengthened market shares in the existing importing markets, while the Russian Federation has experienced severe deterioration. The export of existing products is more important than of new products. Agro-food exports are positively associated with IQ and the size of the gross domestic product in exporting and importing countries, but negatively with distance. Research limitations/implications – Among IQ variables, the focus is on the indices of legal structure and security of property rights and freedom to trade internationally in agro-food importing countries and the BRIC exporting countries. Practical implications – Different institutions and their quality can affect agro-food exports differently. The impact of institutions is not uniform across product groups. Originality/value – This paper adds the impacts of IQ on agro-food exports. Except for processed products for final household consumption, agro-food exports from the BRIC countries are positively associated with the quality of the legal structure, the security of property rights and the freedom to trade internationally as IQ in exporting and importing countries. </jats:sec

The impacts of EU accession on the agriculture of the Visegrad Countries

The Visegrad Countries (VC)2 joined the European Union in 2004, which has offered several possibilities and challenges for their agriculture. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the status of the sector in the light of latest available data as well as to identify the factors lying behind different country performances. Results suggest that EU accession has had a diverse impact on the Visegrad Countries’ agriculture and member states capitalised their possibilities in a different manner, due to initial conditions and pre- and post-accession policies

Challenges associated with formal education in rural areas, Policy brief Rural NEET Youth Network

The youth demographic in rural areas continues to experience a global decline despite significant efforts from both national and international organisations to downturn this ne gative trend. Such efforts aim to create conditions for learning as well as opportunities that can enable young people to develop knowledge, skills, and competencies. Despite the economic recovery trends of recent years (before the COVID-19 pandemic), young people continue to be particularly vulnerable and especially during times of crisis. Youth disengagement from the labour market can lead to economic loss, demotivation, margina lisation, and be reflected in challenges such as a lack of qualifications, health issues, poverty, and other forms of social exclusion. To address such challenges, it is vital that a detailed understan ding of youth needs is developed. This work should be based on heterogeneous characteristics (personal vs institutional) that include (although not limited to) socio-economic, demographic, financial, technical, and institutional perspectives. This information should subsequently inform both future policy-making and decision-making processes

Efficiency and productivity change across the economic sectors in Lithuania (2000–2010): the DEA–MULTIMOORA approach

Reasonable strategic management requires the complex assessment of the regulated area. This study, thus, presents a multi-criteria framework for frontier assessment of efficiency and productivity across the Lithuanian economic sectors throughout 2000–2010. The data envelopment analysis was employed to estimate efficiency in terms of an output indicator (value added) and input indicators (intermediate consumption, capital consumption, and remunerations). Furthermore, the decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index enabled to describe the impact of frontier shifts and catch-up effect on the overall change in efficiency. The multi-criteria decision making method MULTIMOORA aggregated different indicators of efficiency and productivity and thus resulted in the ranking of the economic sectors. The analysis suggests that services sector was the most efficient one, whereas manufacturing was second best. Certain branches of manufacturing, namely pharmaceutical, wood, food, and furniture industry, were rather efficient

Typology and distribution of small farms in Europe: Towards a better picture

The contribution of small farms to local food supply, food security and food sovereignty is widely acknowledged at a global level. In the particular case of Europe, they often are seen as an alternative to large and specialised farms. Assessing the real role of small farms has been limited by a lack of information, as small farms are frequently omitted from agricultural censuses and national statistics. It is also well acknowledged that small farms differ widely, and are distributed according to different spatial patterns across Europe, fulfilling different roles according to the agriculture and territorial characteristics of each region. This paper presents the result of a novel classification of small farms at NUTS-3 level in Europe, according to the relevance of small farms in the agricultural and territorial context of each region, and based on a typology of small farms considering different dimensions of farm size. The maps presented result from an extensive data collection and variables selected according to European wide expert judgement, analysed with advanced cluster procedures. The results provide a fine grained picture of the role of small farms at the regional level in Europe today, and are expected to support further data analysis and targeted policy intervention

Meat export competitiveness of European Union countries on global markets

The purpose of this research is to provide insight into the export competitiveness of meat products of the European Union (EU-27) member states on global markets. The revealed comparative advantage index is used to analyze the levels, compositions, and evolutions in patterns of development in the export competitiveness of meat products and their levels of stability at the product level. Except for some niche meat products, a larger number of the EU-27 member states have experienced comparative disadvantages on global markets over the analysed years of 2000 to 2011. The revealed comparative advantages on the global markets are the most robust for Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Cyprus and Hungary. The revealed comparative advantage indices and their survival rates differ across the meat product groups. The heterogeneity in export competitiveness of the EU-27 member states suggests the importance of the differentiation of meat products in competitive export specialization on global markets