Interdependence Between Social Values and National Performance Indicators: The Case of the Enlarged European Union

Based on the desk research, the paper provides an empirical insight into correlations between some social values and five selected economic performance indicators for 20 European Union countries. We concentrated on Composite Trust. This is a one-dimensional representation of citizens’ trust on national level and is calculated from three different types of trust that van Oorschot and Arts (2005) derived from the European Values Study (2001). We confirmed correlations between trust and economic performance, but we have also noticed a very different pattern for the old and the new EU member states. The old EU member states show a positive correlation, on the other hand there is no such correlation for the new member states. A plausible hypothesis is that the same level of Composite Trust causes different effects in different societies and economies. We could also assume that social structures in the new EU member states are still distorted and are not in the equilibrium which characterizes EU countries with long democratic and market economy traditions. Economic performance in the new EU member states is based mainly on economic and not on social incentives. On the other hand, correlation between trust and innovativeness is strong in all studied countries. It confirms many studies which see trust as a fundamental social enabler and stimulator for innovativeness.trust, composite trust, social capital, social values, economic performance, innovativeness, European Union, new EU member states

COMPETITIVE ABILITY OF MAIZE IN MIXTURE WITH CLIMBING BEAN IN ORGANIC FARMING

Intercropped crops represent an important production system in organic farming, especially maize/climbing bean mixture due to its high content of protein in bean seeds for human diet, and producing silage for ruminants. To test this hypothesis, the effects of maize (Zea mays L.) sown as a sole crop and maize/climbing bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Cipro) mixtures on maize plant height, maize leaf area index, bean leaf area index and grain yield were investigated in field experiments on an organic farm following accepted rules of certification. The maize/climbing bean mixture increased maize plant height as well as maize and bean leaf area and reduced maize grain yield in comparison with maize sown as sole crop, but 477.5 kg ha-1seed yield of bean sown in mixture was obtained. Maize was a stronger competitor than bean. The overall conclusion is that maize/bean mixture has promise for producing valuable yield of maize and bean, but mixtures needs further investigation

Importance of Underutilized Field Crops for Increasing Functional Biodiversity

Despite the suggestions to include two or three crops into crop rotation that is widely considered to support the richer biodiversity on fields, industrial field crop production systems are still based mainly on monoculture, where the farmers produce permanently mainly one crop. Review and analyses of different possibilities showed that more diverse functional (also important for diverse nutritional and health products of food) biodiversity of underutilized field crops needs to be established, especially if beneficial social and economic effects of introducing underutilized crops into small-scale farms are taken into account. We can conclude that functional biodiversity based on rich crop rotations associated with underutilized crops increases biodiversity in the soil and has an effect on richer and sustainable behavior of cultural plants with good balance of pests and plant diseases

Družbena odgovornost in profesionalna etika v managementu: nekaj empiričnih ugotovitev na ravni držav

In the presented exploratory study, we demonstrated some empirical evidences on relations between social responsibility of business, managerial ethics, and economic environment at county levels. We conducted desk research on 41 countries using different secondary information sources. We confirmed hypotheses, which associate higher social responsibility and ethics to openness and competitiveness of people and management, enhanced economic performance, higher economic freedom, and lower level of corruption. The rationale behind the research hypothesis is disputed question if socially responsible and ethically managed business is economically more successful and sustainable. Evidently, in the most developed countries unsocial and unethical business behavior is not generally acceptable. However, in less developed economies profit is so high on the priority list that social responsibility and ethics are academic questions.We hypothesize that companies consciously select where it is beneficial to be socially responsible and ethical, and where it is more profitable to make business ruthlessly. We also tested the hypothesis that social responsibility contributes to the resilience of economy. This hypothesis was partially confirmed and partially rejected. Finally, we addressed a question if our results are meaningful for individual organizations, as well.We could just say that more developed countries have a larger proportion of businesses that behave affirmatively regarding social and ethical issues, which means that they find it beneficial also at individual level