Food Demand in Slovenia

The objective of this research is to analyse food consumption patterns in Slovenia for households segmented by quartile income levels and for whole Slovenian population. Food items are divided into seven commodity groups. Cross-sectional household data from Household Budget Survey 2001 were used. We apply the linearly approximated Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS). Empirical results show positive expenditure elasticities being close to one where in general demands for dairy products and for vegetables have expenditure elasticities higher than unity. All Marshallian and Hicksian own price elasticities are negative and less than one. Demand for meat and fish is quite price inelastic whereas demand for vegetables is pretty sensitive to its own price changes. Results indicate that Slovenia is losing consumption characteristics typical for countries in transition however, some unique food habits persist.food demand system, LA/AIDS, expenditure and price elasticities, Household Budget Survey, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

INTERTEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS ON AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS IN SLOVENIA

The paper attempts to quantify determinants influencing dynamics of employment decisions on agricultural households in Slovenia and to test specific aspects of labour reallocation during transition period by application of agricultural household model. Through the use of 1991-2000 panel data for 22,055 farm households, quantitative analysis of intertemporal employment decisions of farm holders is carried out by the use of probit techniques. Determinants tested refer to personal characteristics of reference persons (gender, age, education level, opportunity off-farm income), household characteristics (size, structure),characteristics of the agricultural holding (economic size, labour input,labour intensity) and local labour market conditions. The model results generally confirm the existing empirical evidence on asymmetrical and irreversible participation of holders at the labour market. Despite intensive restructuring of agriculture and profound changes in non-farm labour market in the analysed period, labour supply of farm holders remains rigid. Mobility of labour supply is lower than expected, which can be attributed to the importance of structural problems constraining intersectoral mobility. A marked tendency towards upkeeping of the same employment status is more distincted in the case of holders employed on the farm. A low level of labour supply mobility worsens efficiency of labour allocation on agricultural holdings in Slovenia. Elements of this problem emerge on both, supply (e.g. low level of educational and professional attainment of reference persons) and demand side of labour market (e.g. unfavourable local labour market conditions).employment decisions, mobility of labour supply, off-farm employment, probit model, Labor and Human Capital, J2, J6,

FOUNDATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL MARKET ANALYSIS AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY, Koester, Ulrich (2020): Verlag Franz Vahlen, 439 p.

German professor emeritus Ulrich Koester is a giant of European agricultural economics, specialised in the analysis of agricultural policy in Europe and transition economies. Since the late 60’s, he has published numerous articles and books on this topic, in which he critically assessed the market impacts and policy failures of domestic and EU Common agricultural policy. Perhaps even more important is his impact on building a new generation of agricultural economists in Germany and Eastern Europe. For his supervision of PhD theses and especially for his agricultural economics textbooks, he was awarded three honorary doctorates..

UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS EDUCATION: CHANGING FUNCTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Agricultural economics is a branch of applied economics born at the turn of the 20th century. Its primary role was to use economic and its own newly developed methods to contribute towards an improved use of resources in agricultural production. It is recognized as one of the fundamental disciplines in university-level agricultural education, with its own subjects, modules and programmes. University-level education in agricultural economics (UEAE) traditionally rests on four pillars: agricultural economics, farm management, food marketing and agricultural policy, complemented by numerous other fields that extend beyond the narrow framework of economics and into other social sciences

Change in Farm Production Structure Within Different CAP Schemes – an LP Modelling Approach

After accession to European Union in 2004 direct payments became very important income source also for farmers in Slovenia. But agricultural policy in place at accession changed significantly in year 2007 as result of CAP reform implementation. The objective of this study was to evaluate decision making impacts of direct payments scheme implemented with the reform: regional or more likely hybrid scheme. The change in farm production structure was simulated with model, applying gross margin maximisation, based on static linear programming approach. The model has been developed in a spreadsheet framework in MS Excel platform. A hypothetical farm has been chosen to analyse different scenarios and specializations. Focus of the analysis was on cattle sector, since it is expected that decoupling is going to have significant influence on its optimal production structure. The reason is high level of direct payments that could in pre-reform scheme rise up to 70 % of total gross margin. Model results confirm that the reform should have unfavourable impacts on cattle farms with intensive production practice. The results show that hybrid scheme has minor negative impacts in all cattle specializations, while regional scheme would be better option for sheep specialized farm. Analysis has also shown growing importance of CAP pillar II payments, among them particularly agri-environmental measures. In all three schemes budgetary payments enable farmers to improve financial results and in both reform schemes they alleviate economic impacts of the CAP reform.CAP reform, optimal farm structure, linear programming

Income Situation of Agricultural Households in Slovenia after EU Accession: Impacts of Different Direct Payments Policy Options

Paper investigates income effects of different direct payments policy options after the accession of Slovenia to the EU by application of a static deterministic total income model for rural households in Slovenia (TIM). Model is based on actual income data of 120 agricultural households in Slovenia. With respect to pre-accession baseline situation and accession agreement, income situation of analyzed households is likely to improve under all analyzed policy scenarios. Estimated benefits are highest in case of standard direct payments scheme, followed by basic flat-rate area payment option (entirely decoupled). Model results reveal also that policy reform will have redistributive impacts in favour of agricultural households engaged in extensive agricultural production.EU enlargement, CAP reform, total income, income impacts, Slovenia, Farm Management, Q12, Q18,

"Veliki prasak" proširenja i reforma Zajedničke poljoprivredne politike

The article analyses the influence of the 2004 enlargement and of the 1998-2002 accession negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. In contrast to the dominant liberal institutional political economy models that explain preenlargement CAP reforms in terms of the negative trade related policy externalities, the common budget expenses and the specific role played by the common institutional setting, a critical realist explanatory model is proposed. In accordance with the model, the reforms were facilitated by the conflicting interests and the differences in capacity of the capital fixed to agricultural production in the member states and the candidate countries. The capacity of the agro-capital is defined by comparing the agricultural production structures, which were in the case of the old member states sustaining high levels of the fixed capital and which were in the case of the candidate countries, on average, underdeveloped and under-capitalized. The model is supported by the empirical analysis of the CAP reform and the accession negotiations process.U članku se analizira utjecaj proširenja iz 2004. i pristupnih pregovora od 1998. do 2002. na reformu Zajedničke poljoprivredne politike (ZPP). Za razliku od prevladavajućih političko-ekonomskih modela liberalnog institucionalizma, koji ZPP reforme iz vremena prije proširenja objašnjavaju negativnim trgovinskim vanjskim učincima, zajedničkim proračunskim rashodima i specifičnom ulogom koju je odigrao zajednički institucionalni okvir predlaže se kritičko- -realistički model tumačenja. U skladu s modelom, reforme su olakšane zbog sukobljenih interesa i razlika u kreditnoj sposobnosti povezanoj s poljoprivrednom proizvodnjom u zemljama članicama i zemljama kandidatkinjama. Kapacitet agrokapitala definiran je usporedbom struktura poljoprivredne proizvodnje, koje su u slučaju starih država članica održavale visoke razine fiksnoga kapitala, a koje su u slučaju zemalja kandidatkinja, u prosjeku, bile nerazvijene i potkapitalizirane. Model podupire empirijska analiza reforme ZPP-a i procesa pristupnih pregovora

The Impact of CAP and EU Cohesion Support on Growth and Convergence of the Eastern Slovenia Region in the Period 2007-2013

The paper investigates economic performance of the Eastern Slovenia region in the changed economic and policy environment after the accession to the EU. The likely impacts of public expenditure in the field of cohesion and agricultural policy in the period of the Community financial perspective 2007-2013 are analysed by the regional InputOutput model estimated with modified GRIT methodology. Results of the impact analysis carried out by application of various policy scenarios suggest that: (i) the analysed funds can significantly contribute to the overall output growth of the regional economy; (ii) EU budgetary inflows contribute to economic convergence of the region; (iii) differences between the projected impacts primarily depend on the regional division of Slovenia at the NUTS 2 level; (iv) favourable prospects can be impaired by various limiting factors. Concerning the impacts of CAP expenditure, the paper argues against the popular opinion about its low redistributive and short-term effects.regional input-output model, Slovenia, Common Agricultural Policy, EU cohesion policy, International Relations/Trade, R11, R15, R58, Q18,

Implications of EU Enlargement for Agricultural Markets in the New Member States

The paper presents an analysis of the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy implementation on the agricultural markets of the eight new EU Member States. The study is based on the AGMEMOD (AGricultural MEmber states MODelling) national econometric models. Two scenarios are simulated for each country. The "Baseline" scenario assumes the implementation of the Single Area Payment Scheme until 2008 and the subsequent introduction of the Single Payment Scheme from 2009 onwards. Complementary national direct payments would remain in force until 2013. The second scenario assumes the full decoupling of direct payments from 2007 and the introduction of modulation from 2013 onwards in the 2004 enlargement new Member States (EU-8). The baseline scenario projections suggest that the introduction of direct payments would expand EU-8 aggregate production, mainly of oilseeds, grains, sheepmeat and cheese, while beef and veal production would also increase. Consumption of more expensive beef and veal meat would be substituted by poultry and pigmeat. Full decoupling of direct payments will have only a moderate impact on the balance of supply and use for crop and animal production.commodity markets, CAP reform, new Member States, econometric model, Marketing,

Pridruživanje Europskoj uniji na području poljoprivrede - slovensko iskustvo

The paper presents Slovenia\u27s experience with the new European Union (EU) enlargement process in the area of agriculture. The pre-accession process incorporates the harmonisation of legislation, institution building, adjustment of the agricultural policy, accession negotiations, and adjustment and restructuring of agriculture and food-processing industry for the competitive conditions of the EU internal market. The development of agriculture and the agricultural policy in Slovenia have been considerably different from that in the EU. Slovenia, therefore, has to undergo a thorough agricul¬tural policy reform, marked particularly by the introduction of direct payments and other comparable mechanisms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The reform is supported by the new Agricul¬ture Act, which provides a basis for implementing comparable agricultural policy. The Agency for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development has been established as an organisation responsible for implementation of the CAP measures. During the negotiating process Slovenia has so far carried out a thorough two-year screening of legislation and submitted its negotiating position. In the posi¬tion, Slovenia expressed its readiness to adopt the acquis, it requested some minor permanent or tem¬porary derogation from the acquis, and required to have a status equal to that of the present Member States with regard to the distribution of budgetary funds (in particular direct payments). Reforms and the negotiating process have over the period been supported by the agricultural economic research, based on a comparative analysis of agriculture and agricultural policy, and the model-based and sectoral estimation of effects of accession. Accession will be favourable for the Slovenian agriculture only in case, which is politically less realistic, that it will be treated equally to the present Member States and that it achieves equal level of competitiveness of agriculture and food-processing industry.U radu je prikazano slovensko iskustvo s novim procesom širenja Europske unije (EU), vezano uz područje poljoprivrede. Postupak koji prethodi pridruživanju obuhvaća usklađivanje zakonodavstva, izgradnju institucija, prilagođavanje poljoprivredne politike, pregovore o pridruživanju te usklađivanje i restrukturiranje poljoprivrede i prehrambene industrije prema uvjetima na unutrašnjem tržištu EU. Razvoj poljoprivrede i poljoprivredna politika u Sloveniji znatno se razlikuje od stanja u EU. Stoga Slovenija mora provesti temeljitu reformu poljoprivredne politike, prvenstveno uvođenjem izravnih plaćanja i drugih komparativnih mehanizama Zajedničke poljoprivredne politike (Common Agricultural Policy, CAP). Reformi će pomoći novi Zakon o poljoprivredi kojim su osigurane pretpostavke za provedbu usporedive poljoprivredne politike. Ured za poljoprivredno tržište i razvoj sela ustanovljen je kao organizacija odgovorna za provedbu mjera predviđenih CAP-om. Tijekom procesa pregovaranja Slovenija je obavila dvogodišnje snimanje stanja zakonodavstva i dostavila svoja pregovaračka stajališta. U stajalištima je iskazana spremnost za usvajanje pravnog poretka EU (acquis), uz zahtjev za manjim trajnim ili privremenim odstupanjima od acquisa, te status jednak statusu današnjih zemalja članica kada je riječ o dodjeli proračunskih sredstava (posebno izravnih plaćanja). Reforme i proces pregovaranja bile su praćene agroekonomskim istraživanjima, uz usporednu analizu poljoprivrede i poljoprivredne politike, te su rađene procjene posljedica pridruživanja temeljene na modelima i stanju grane. Pridruživanje bi za slovensku poljoprivredu bilo povoljno tek kada bi, što je politički manje realno, Slovenija imala tretman jednak današnjim zemljama članicama i kada bi ostvarila jednaku razinu konkurentnosti poljoprivrede i prehrambene industrije